JTPA allotments and Wagner-Peyser planning estimates for 1998

TRAINING AND EMPLOYMENT GUIDANCE LETTER NO. 03-97

Classification: JPTA. Correspondence symbol: TDCR. Issue date: March 9, 1998. Rescissions: None. Expiration date: Continuing.

TO: STATE JTPA LIAISONS; STATE EMPLOYMENT SECURITY AGENCIES; STATE WORKER ADJUSTMENT LIAISONS; ONE-STOP CAREER CENTER SYSTEM LEADS

FROM: DAVID HENSON, Director, Office of Regional Management

SUBJECT: JTPA Allotments for Program Year (PY) and Calendar Year (CY) 1998 and Wagner-Peyser Act Preliminary Planning Estimates for PY 1998

1. Purpose. To provide States with Job Training Partnership Act (JTPA) Titles II-A, II-C, and III allotments for PY 1998; Title II-B allotments for CY 1998; and preliminary planning estimates for PY 1998 public employment service (ES) activities, as required by Section 6(b)(5) of the Wagner-Peyser Act, as amended.

2. References. Wagner-Peyser Act, as amended (29 U.S.C. 49); 20 CFR 652 and 20 CFR 653; JTPA Sections 202, 252, 262, 302, and 601, as amended by the Job Training Reform Amendments Act of 1992; Training and Employment Guidance Letters (TEGL) Nos. 4-88, 4-95, and 2-97.

3. Background. The JTPA Titles II-A, II-C, and III allotments, and the Wagner-Peyser preliminary planning estimates, are for the program period July 1, 1998, through June 30, 1999. The Title II-B allotments are for the CY 1998 summer program. These allotments and preliminary planning estimates will be published in the Federal Register.

The JTPA allotments and the Wagner-Peyser preliminary planning estimates are part of the Fiscal Year 1998 funds appropriated in the Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act of 1998, P.L. 105-78.

These appropriations include $955,000,000 for Title II-A, a 6.7 percent increase from the PY 1997 Title II-A level; $871,000,000 for Title II-B, the same as the CY 1997 Title II-B level; $129,965,000 for Title II-C, a 2.6 percent increase from the PY 1997 Title II-C level; $1,350,510,000 for Title III, a 5.0 percent increase from PY 1997; and $761,735,000 for allotments to States under Wagner-Peyser, the same as the PY 1997 level.

4. JTPA/ES Wagner-Peyser Act Joint Planning and Coordination Provisions. As plans are developed in accordance with relevant statutory provisions and schedules issued by the Department, States are reminded that particular attention needs to be given to the Governor's statement of goals and objectives for JTPA, and joint ES Wagner-Peyser Act/JTPA planning initiatives consistent with Section 8(b) of the Wagner-Peyser Act, as amended.

5. Program Emphasis. A detailed program emphasis statement is contained in TEGL No. 2-97, dated February 19, 1998. The program emphasis also includes ETA's Government Performance and Results Act (GPRA) strategic goals and performance measures.

6. Procedures. Notices of Obligation (NOOs) for the Title II-A, II-C, and III programs will be issued by July 1, 1998, under the PY 1998 JTPA Grant Agreement. A second NOO will be issued to each State after November 1, 1998, for Title III, to increase or reduce the funds available to the State to reflect the amount of reallotted funds the State gains or loses, as discussed in TEGL No. 4-88.

Title II-B Summer Youth Employment and Training Program (SYETP) funds were appropriated as Fiscal Year (FY) 1998 funds, not as Program Year 1998 funds. Separate NOOs for the CY 1998 Title II-B program were issued on February 9, 1998, under the current PY 1997 JTPA Grant Agreement. Thus, States will be required to submit a separate JTPA Title II Quarterly Status Report (JQSR) for these FY 1998 Title II-B funds. Additionally, States will draw cash under the Payment Management System (PMS) for Title II-B FY 1998 funds, and these II-B funds will not be combined with other Title II funds under PMS.

7. Title II-A Allotments. Attachment I is a comparison of PY 1997 and PY 1998 JTPA Title II-A allotments by State. For all States, Puerto Rico and the District of Columbia, the following data were used in computing the allotments:

• Data for Areas of Substantial Unemployment (ASUs) are averages for the 12-month period, July 1996 through preliminary June 1997.
• The number of excess unemployed individuals or the ASU excess (depending on which is higher) are averages for this same 12-month period.
• The economically disadvantaged adult data (age 22 to 72, excluding college students and military) are from the 1990 Census.

The allotments for the Insular Areas are based on unemployment data from the 1990 Census, or if not available, the most recent data available. A 90-percent relative share "hold-harmless" of the Title II-A PY 1997 allotments for these areas and a minimum allotment of $75,000 were also applied in determining the allotments.

Title II-A funds are to be distributed among designated SDAs according to the statutory formula contained in Section 202(b) of JTPA, as amended by Title VII of the JTPA Amendments of 1992. This is the same formula that was used in the previous program year.

8. Title II-B Allotments. Attachment II is a comparison of CY 1997 and CY 1998 Title II-B allotments by State. The data used for these allotments are the same data as were used for Title II-A allotments, except that data for the number of economically disadvantaged youth (age 16 to 21, excluding college students and military) from the 1990 Census was used.

For the Insular Areas and Native Americans funding, the allotments are based on the percentage of Title II-B funds each received during the previous summer.

Title II-B funds for the CY 1998 SYETP are to be distributed among designated SDAs in accordance with the statutory formula contained in Section 252(b) of JTPA, as amended by the JTPA Amendments of 1992. This is the same formula that was used in the previous program year.

9. Title II-C Allotments. Attachment III is a comparison of PY 1997 and PY 1998 JTPA Title II-C allotments by State. The data used for these allotments are the same data as were used for Title II-B allotments.

The allotments for the Insular Areas are based on unemployment data from the 1990 Census or, if not available, the most recent data available.

Title II-C funds are to be distributed among designated SDAs according to the statutory formula contained in Section 262(b) of JTPA, as amended by Title VII of the JTPA Amendments of 1992. The Title II-C formula is the same as for Title II-B. This is the same formula that was used in the previous program year.

10. Title III Allotments. Attachment IV shows the PY 1998 JTPA Title III allotments by State. The total appropriation includes 80 percent allotted by formula to the States, while 20 percent is retained for the National Reserve account, including funds allotted to the Insular Areas.

The unemployment data used for computing these State allotments, relative numbers of unemployed and relative numbers of excess unemployed, are averages for the October 1996 through September 1997 period. Long-term unemployed data used were for CY 1996. Allotments for the Insular Areas are based on the PY 1998 Title II-A allotments for these areas.

Title III formula funds are to be distributed to State and substate grantees in accordance with the provisions in Section 302(c) and (d) of JTPA, as amended.

Reallotments of these Title III formula funds, as provided for by Section 303 of JTPA, as amended, will be based on completed program year expenditure reports submitted by the States and received by October 1, 1998. The Title III allotment for each State will be adjusted upward or downward, based on whether the State is eligible to share in reallotted funds or is subject to recapture of funds.

11. ES Planning Estimates. Attachment V shows the ES preliminary planning estimates for PY 1998. These preliminary estimates have been produced using the formula set forth at Section 6 of the Wagner-Peyser Act, 29 U.S.C. 49(e). They are based on averages for the most current 12 months ending September 1997 for each State's share of the civilian labor force (CLF) and unemployment. Final planning estimates will be published in the Federal Register, based on Calendar Year 1997 data, as required by the Wagner-Peyser Act.

The total planning estimate does include $18,000,000 or 2.363 percent of the total amount available which is being withheld from distribution to States to finance postage costs associated with the conduct of Employment Service business for PY 1998.

The Secretary of Labor has set aside 3 percent of the total available funds to assure that each State will have sufficient resources to maintain statewide employment services, as required under Section 6(b)(4) of the Wagner-Peyser Act. In accordance with this provision, $22,312,050 is set aside for the administrative formula allocation. These set-aside funds are included in the total planning estimate. Set-aside funds are distributed in two steps to States which have lost in relative share of resources from the prior year. In step one, States which have a CLF below one million and are below the median CLF density are maintained at 100 percent of their relative share of prior year resources. All remaining set-aside funds are distributed on a pro rata basis in step two to all other States losing in relative share from the prior year but which do not meet the size and density criteria for step one.

Ten percent of the total sums allotted to each State shall be reserved for use by the Governor to provide performance incentives for public ES offices; services for groups with special needs; and for the extra costs of exemplary models for delivering job services.

12. Action.

a. States should allocate the JTPA allotments as follows:

(1) Title II-A allotments according to the requirements contained in Sections 162(e) and 202(b) of JTPA, as amended.

(2) Title II-B allotments according to the requirements contained in Sections 162(e) and 252(b) of JTPA, as amended.

(3) Title II-C allotments according to the requirements contained in Sections 162(e) and 262(b) of JTPA, as amended.

(4) Title III allotments according to the requirements contained in Sections 302(c) and (d) of JTPA, as amended.

b. States should initiate planning for PY 1998 consistent with the program emphasis statement discussed in TEGL 2-97. Planning should also be consistent with provisions of JTPA Federal Regulations and the Wagner-Peyser Act.

13. Inquiries. Questions regarding this TEGL should be directed to your Regional Office.

14. Attachments. I. Title II-A Comparison; II. Title II-B Comparison; III. Title II-C Comparison; IV. Title III Allotments; V. Wagner-Peyser Preliminary Estimates.

Official Attachments I–V: https://www.dol.gov/sites/dolgov/files/ETA/advisories/TEGL/1998/TEGL3-97_Attach.pdf (accessed October 26, 2026).

Attachment I — JTPA Title II-A (Adult Training), comparison of PY 1997 and PY 1998 allotments

Attachment II — JTPA Title II-B (Summer Youth), comparison of CY 1997 and CY 1998 allotments

Attachment III — JTPA Title II-C (Youth Training), comparison of PY 1997 and PY 1998 allotments

Attachment IV — JTPA Title III (EDWAA), PY 1998 state allotments

Attachment V — Employment Service (Wagner-Peyser), preliminary PY 1998 allotments to states