EMPLOYMENT AND TRAINING
ADMINISTRATION (ETA), DEPARTMENT OF LABOR
AUTHORIZATION:
Social Security Act, Section 403(a)(5), 42 U.S.C. 601 et
seq., as amended; Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation
Act of 1996; Balanced Budget Act of 1997; Welfare-to-Work and Child Support
Amendments of 1999; Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2001, Public Law
106-554.
The Welfare-to-Work Grants program was designed to
assist States and localities to help move hard-to-employ welfare recipients,
certain non-custodial parents, certain former foster care recipients, and
low-income custodial parents into lasting unsubsidized jobs and achieve self
sufficiency.
TYPES OF ASSISTANCE:
Formula Grants. Place Cursor Here for Definition
Project Grants. Place Cursor Here for Definition
USES AND USE RESTRICTIONS:
Formula and project (competitive) grant funds are used
to provide: Job readiness activities, limited pre-employment vocational
educational training or job training, community service or work experience
programs, job creation through public or private sector employment wage
subsidies, on-the-job training, job placement services, post-employment
services, and job retention and support services. Local formula grant
operators (Local Workforce Investment Boards) must provide job readiness, job
placement, and post-employment services through vouchers or contracts with
public or private providers. The program is comprised of: (1) Formula grants
to States who, in turn, distribute no less than 85 percent of their allotments
to Local Workforce Investment Areas in the state as administered by Local
Workforce Investment Boards; and (2) competitive grants to eligible, non-state
organizations, awarded on the basis of periodic Solicitation for Grant
Application announcements and awards process.
ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS:
Applicant Eligibility: States
are the only eligible Federal grantees for formula funds, although State sub-grantees
include eligible applicable Local Workforce Investment Area agencies under the
supervision of the Local Workforce Investment Board in the area.
Beneficiary Eligibility:
Not more than 30 percent of the funds allotted or awarded to an operating
entity may be expended upon individuals enrolled under the "Other
Eligibles" category, which includes: (1) welfare recipients with
characteristics of long-term welfare dependence or significant barriers to
self-sufficiency; (2) former foster care recipients aged 19-24 at the time of
application to WtW; and (3) custodial parents with incomes below the poverty
line. The remaining funds allotted or awarded to an operating entity must be
expended upon individuals enrolled under the "Primary Eligibility"
category, which includes long-term welfare recipients and non-custodial
parents. Long-term welfare recipients are eligible for WtW if they (1) have
received welfare for at least 30 months, or (2) are within 12 months of losing
eligibility for welfare due to time limits, or (3) have already exhausted
eligibility for welfare due to reaching time limits. Non-custodial parents are
eligible for WtW if (1) they are unemployed, underemployed, or having
difficulty paying child support, and (2) the custodial parent or minor child
is a long-term welfare recipient; or the minor child received welfare during
the preceding year; or the minor child is eligible for or receiving assistance
under a welfare, Food Stamps, Supplemental Security Income, Medicaid, or
Children's Health Insurance program; and (3) they are in compliance with a
personal responsibility contract under which they commit to cooperating in the
establishment of paternity and a child support order, paying child support,
and participating in employment or related activities to enable them to make
regular child support payments."
Credentials/Documentation:
Formula and competitive grant programs are subject to the Act and regulation
requirements. Formula Grants: All States must submit a WtW State Plan and must
complete the required certification/assurances and grant documents prior to
receipt of each year allotment of funds. Competitive Grants: Applicants must
comply with the documentation submission requirements published in the
Solicitation for Grant Application.
Pre-application Coordination:
Formula Grants: State WtW Plans must comply with the plan coordination and
submission requirements of the Act and regulations as indicated in the
Department planning guidance and instructions to the States. Competitive
Grants: All competitive fund applications must comply with the coordination
requirements in the Act and the regulations as specified in a given
Solicitation for Grant Application issuance. This program is excluded from
coverage under E.O. 12372.
Application Procedure: To
receive its formula allotment, each State must submit a WtW State Plan to the
Secretary of Labor for each fiscal year of funds provided in accordance with
the procedures and schedule provided by the Secretary to the States. The
application procedure for competitive grant awards will be contained in each
Solicitation for Grant Application document issued.
Award Procedure: Formula
funds are allotted to the States for FY 1998 and FY 1999 fiscal year.
Competitive grant funds are awarded to eligible non-State entities on the
basis of a competitive Solicitation for Grant Application (SGA) process. These
SGAs are announced periodically in the Federal Register.
Deadlines: Each State must
submit its State WtW plan for each fiscal year of formula funds in accordance
with instructions provided to the States by the Secretary of Labor. Deadlines
for submission of competitive grant solicitations are announced in each of the
published Solicitation for Grant Applications which will be issued
periodically during a given fiscal year.
Range of Approval/Disapproval Time:
State WtW plans for formula grants will be reviewed for each year of funding
provided in accordance with the announced schedule provided to the States.
Competitive grant fund applications submitted in response to a given
Solicitation for Grant Application will be reviewed usually within 45 to 60
days of receipt.
Appeals: Formula Grants:
Not applicable. Competitive Grants: None.
Renewals: Not applicable.
ASSISTANCE CONSIDERATIONS:
Formula and Matching Requirements:
Formula funds are allotted to the States in accordance with the statutory
formula at Section 403(a)(5)(A) of the Social Security Act as amended.
Matching of formula funds is required on the basis of $1 match for each $2 of
Federal formula funds allotted. The regulations (20 CFR 645.300) allow up to
75 percent of in-kind match to meet this requirement. Competitive grant fund
applications are funded on the basis of the specific guidelines, criteria and
process established under each Solicitation. However, there are no statutory
formula or matching fund requirements for these funds.
Length and Time Phasing of Assistance:
Formula funds to States are available during fiscal years 1998 and 1999. Each
fiscal year allotment is authorized for the maximum 5-year expenditure period
from the date of grant award. Competitive grant funds are subject to the
performance period approved under the terms and conditions of each grant (up
to a 5-year maximum period).
POST ASSISTANCE REQUIREMENTS:
Reports: Reporting
requirements pertain to quarterly expenditure and participant reporting as
specified in the OMB approved forms (one unified form for each type of
program, Formula and Competitive).
Audits: Audits will be
performed in accordance with the applicable OMB "common rule"
requirements for each type of grantee organization as codified by the
Department of Labor regulations at 29 CFR 96 and 97.
Records: States and other
grantees are required to maintain adequate records in accordance with the
applicable OMB common rule requirements as codified by the Department at 29
CFR 95 and 97 as applicable to the type of applicant organization.
FINANCIAL INFORMATION:
Account Identification:
16-0177-2-1-504.
Obligations: (Formula
Grants) FY 01 $1,026,057,658; FY 02 est $1,025,789,656; and FY 03 est Not
available.
Range and Average of Financial Assistance:
No established range. Formula grants to States are based on statutory formula.
Competitive grant awards are based on project applications approved under a
given Solicitation for Grant Application.
The WtW program served 208,168 new participants in
fiscal year 2001. In fiscal year 2001, 49 percent of WtW participants placed
in unsubsidized employment remained in the workforce for two quarters after
the placement quarter, with a 59 percent average earnings increase. While the
WtW program continues to enroll new participants and provide services, we
finished making new grant awards to State and competitive applicants in fiscal
year 1999.
REGULATIONS, GUIDELINES, AND LITERATURE:
20 CFR Part 645.
INFORMATION CONTACTS:
Regional or Local Office:
Contact the appropriate Employment and Training Administration Regional Office
listed in Appendix IV of the Catalog.
Headquarters Office:
Division of Welfare-to-Work, Office of Adult Services, Employment and Training
Administration, U.S. Department of Labor, Room N-4665, Constitution Avenue,
NW., Washington, DC 20210. Telephone: (202) 693-3910. Fax: (202) 693-2982.
Web Site Address: http://wtw.doleta.gov (not www)
EXAMPLES OF FUNDED PROJECTS:
Funded competitive grant programs can be found at
http://wtw.doleta.gov/competitive/default.asp. Funded formula grant programs
can be found at
http://wtw.doleta.gov/formula/default.asp.
CRITERIA FOR SELECTING PROPOSALS:
Formula grants to States are allotted on the basis of a
statutory formula. Competitive grant awards are subject to the criteria
indicated in the applicable Solicitation for Grant Application.
