First extension of Tiger Team grant interest deadline

RESCISSIONS: None
EXPIRATION DATE: Continuing

CLASSIFICATION
   EMPLOYMENT AND TRAINING ADMINISTRATION                  Unemployment Insurance
               ADVISORY SYSTEM                             CORRESPONDENCE SYMBOL
          U.S. DEPARTMENT OF LABOR                         OUI/DPM
             Washington, D.C. 20210                        DATE
                                                           February 16, 2022


ADVISORY:        UNEMPLOYMENT INSURANCE PROGRAM LETTER NO. 2-22,
                 Change 1

TO:              STATE WORKFORCE AGENCIES

FROM:           ANGELA HANKS
                Acting Assistant Secretary

SUBJECT:        Extension of Time for States to Express Interest in the Grant Opportunity
                Announced in Unemployment Insurance Program Letter (UIPL) No. 2-22 to
                Support States Following a Consultative Assessment for Fraud Detection and
                Prevention, Promoting Equitable Access, and Ensuring the Timely Payment of
                Benefits, including Backlog Reduction, for all Unemployment Compensation
                (UC) Programs.

1. Purpose. To notify states that the deadline for expressing interest in the grant opportunity
   announced in UIPL No. 2-22 is extended to September 30, 2022.

2. Action Requested. The U.S. Department of Labor’s (Department) Employment and
   Training Administration (ETA) requests that State Workforce Agency Administrators
   provide information contained in this UIPL to appropriate staff.

3. Summary and Background.

   a. Summary – On November 2, 2021, the Department issued UIPL No. 2-22 announcing the
      availability of up to $200 million dollars to be awarded to states that agreed to implement
      recommendations to enhance their business processes to: 1) prevent and detect fraudulent
      activity, and to recover funds from fraud; 2) promote equitable access; and 3) ensure
      timely payment of benefits and reduce backlogs across all UC programs. States must
      first engage with the Department to complete a consultative assessment of their UC
      program, during which time the Department will leverage a multi-disciplinary team of
      experts (i.e., Tiger Teams) designed specifically to analyze state UC systems and process
      challenges. The Tiger Teams will work with states to identify areas to enhance their
      existing efforts towards achieving these three goals and make actionable
      recommendations for the states to implement. The Department and states will negotiate
      how to prioritize the recommendations for implementation (i.e., negotiated
      recommendations).

       UIPL No. 2-22 established a deadline of March 31, 2022, for states to express interest in
       the Tiger Team consultative process. The Department has determined that states may


       need additional time to ensure they have the appropriate supports in place to foster a
       successful consultative process, and is extending that deadline to September 30, 2022.
       Further, states should express such interest by contacting their appropriate ETA Regional
       Office rather than [email protected].

   b. Background – On March 11, 2021, the President signed the American Rescue Plan Act of
      2021 (ARPA) into law (Public Law (Pub. L.) 117-2). Section 9032, ARPA, creates a
      new Section 2118 of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act
      (Pub. L. 116-136) and provides a $2,000,000,000 appropriation to the Secretary of Labor
      to detect and prevent fraud, to promote equitable access, and to ensure timely payment of
      benefits to eligible workers with respect to UC programs. See section 5.b. of UIPL No.
      2-22 for information on allowable uses for such funds to detect and prevent fraud,
      promote equitable access, and ensure timely payment of benefits across UC programs.

4. Guidance. Section 5.c. of UIPL No. 2-22 sets out the steps necessary for states to express an
   interest in the grant opportunity made available through that UIPL. Section 2 of UIPL No. 2-
   22 provides that the deadline for expressing an interest in a Tiger Team consultative
   assessment is March 31, 2022. The Department has determined that states may need
   additional time to ensure they have the appropriate supports in place to foster a successful
   consultative process. Therefore, the Department is extending the deadline for states to
   express interest in a Tiger Team consultative assessment to September 30, 2022. States
   should express such interest by contacting their appropriate ETA Regional Office rather than
   [email protected]. All other guidance and information in UIPL No. 2-22 remains the same.

   The Department encourages states to express their interest as early as possible and to reach
   out if a state would like to discuss this grant opportunity in more detail.

5. Inquiries. Please direct inquiries to the appropriate ETA Regional Office.

6. References.

   •   American Rescue Plan Act, Pub L. 117-2, enacted March 11, 2021;
   •   CARES Act, Pub. L. 116-136, enacted March 23, 2020; and
   •   UIPL No. 2-22, Grant Opportunity to Support States Following a Consultative
       Assessment for Fraud Detection and Prevention, Promoting Equitable Access, and
       Ensuring the Timely Payment of Benefits, including Backlog Reduction, for all
       Unemployment Compensation (UC) Programs,
       https://wdr.doleta.gov/directives/corr_doc.cfm?DOCN=6683.

7. Attachment(s). None.