Concentrated Employment Program local area designation under WIOA

CLASSIFICATION
   EMPLOYMENT AND TRAINING ADMINISTRATION                WIOA Governance
               ADVISORY SYSTEM                           CORRESPONDENCE SYMBOL
          U.S. DEPARTMENT OF LABOR                       ETA - OWI
             Washington, D.C. 20210                      DATE
                                                         May 12, 2015

ADVISORY:       TRAINING AND EMPLOYMENT GUIDANCE LETTER WIOA NO. 27-14,
                CHANGE 1
                OPERATING GUIDANCE for the WORKFORCE INNOVATION AND
                OPPORTUNITY ACT (WIOA or Opportunity Act)

TO:             STATE WORKFORCE AGENCIES
                STATE WORKFORCE ADMINISTRATORS
                STATE WORKFORCE LIAISONS
                STATE AND LOCAL WORKFORCE BOARD CHAIRS AND DIRECTORS

FROM:           PORTIA WU /s/
                Assistant Secretary

SUBJECT:        Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act Transition Authority for Immediate
                Implementation of Governance Provisions

1. Purpose. This guidance updates Training and Employment Guidance Letter (TEGL) No.
   27-14, Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act Transition Authority for Immediate
   Implementation of Governance Provisions, to specify that Concentrated Employment
   Programs (CEPs) are eligible to request initial and subsequent designation as local areas
   under WIOA. Additionally, this guidance corrects a typographical error concerning new
   requests for local area designation.

2. Local Area Designation Provision Clarifications to TEGL No. 27-14.

   A. Correction to Section 5.D. of TEGL 27-14 – Section 5.D of TEGL No. 27-14 is corrected
      as follows: “Requirements for designation of new local areas. At any time, the Chief
      Local Elected Official (CLEO) and Local Board from any unit of general local
      government or combination of units may submit a request for designation as a workforce
      development area. The State Board must determine if the new local area meets the
      Governor's policy criteria established in section 5.B. of this guidance and recommend
      designation. The Governor may approve or deny the request for designation, in
      accordance with established policy.”

   B. Special Provisions for Concentrated Employment Programs. A CEP grant recipient that
      requested designation as a local area in accordance with Workforce Investment Act
      (WIA) sec. 116(a)(2)(B) and which was designated a local area for the two-year period

 RESCISSIONS                                             EXPIRATION DATE
 None                                                    Continuing

         preceding the date of enactment of WIOA may request designation as a local area under
         WIOA in accordance with the procedures in 5.C. of TEGL No. 27-14. 1 Any such
         requests for initial designation are subject to the requirements in WIOA sec. 106(b)(2)
         that the CEP local area performed successfully and sustained fiscal integrity. The
         procedures for initial designation are outlined in section 5.C. of TEGL No. 27-14.

         WIA sec. 116(a)(2)(B) specifically provided that areas served by CEPs of demonstrated
         effectiveness would be automatically designated as local areas under WIA if the CEP
         grant recipient requested such designation. While WIOA sec. 106(b) does not
         specifically reference the initial designation of CEPs as local areas, the Department of
         Labor interprets WIOA secs. 106(b)(2) to permit CEPs that were designated as local areas
         under WIA to follow the process for initial designation to retain their status as local areas,
         just as the section applies to other areas designated as local areas under WIA. Note that
         any CEP local areas that receive initial designation as local areas under sec. 106(b)(2) of
         WIOA will also be eligible for subsequent designation in accordance with WIOA sec.
         106(b)(3).

3. Requested Action. States must evaluate CEP requests for initial or subsequent
   designation as a local area in a manner consistent with all other requests for initial or
   subsequent designation, and they must observe the typographical correction to section 5.D.
   of TEGL No. 27-14.

4. Inquiries. Please direct any questions about WIOA implementation to the appropriate
   ETA regional office.

1
  While the Department of Labor’s recently issued Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act; Notice of Proposed
Rulemaking (80 FR 20690, Apr. 16, 2015) states that CEPs are not eligible to apply for initial designation as a local
area, upon further review of the relevant provisions of WIOA, the Department has determined that WIOA permits
CEPs to seek initial and subsequent designation.