Extended Tiger Team unemployment 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
                                                          September 19, 2022


ADVISORY:       UNEMPLOYMENT INSURANCE PROGRAM LETTER NO. 02-22,
                Change 2

TO:             STATE WORKFORCE AGENCIES

FROM:           BRENT PARTON
                Acting Assistant Secretary
SUBJECT:        Extension of Time for States to Express Interest in the Grant Opportunity
                Announced in Unemployment Insurance Program Letter (UIPL) No. 02-22, 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 the deadline for expressing interest in the grant opportunity
   announced in UIPL No. 02-22, Change 1, is extended to March 31, 2023; and to provide
   updated guidance on Tiger Team grant funding submission(s), including updated SF-424
   instructions.

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. 02-22 announcing the
     availability of up to $200 million to be awarded to states that engage in a consultative
     assessment with the Department’s Tiger Teams and agreed to implement
     recommendations to enhance their UC systems and 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. To
     be eligible for the grant funding opportunity, states interested in participating in a Tiger
     Team consultative process were requested to express interest by March 31, 2022. On
     February 16, 2022, the Department issued UIPL No. 02-22, Change 1, extending the
     deadline for states to express interest in the Tiger Team consultative process to September
     30, 2022. This UIPL extends the deadline to March 31, 2023. Additionally, this UIPL
     provides updated application instructions, with Attachment I to this UIPL replacing
     Attachment II to UIPL No. 02-22.


          Since the development of the Department’s Tiger Teams, twenty-four (24) states have
          engaged in the consultative assessment process as a means to access funds for agreed upon,
          near-term recommendations to states to strengthen program integrity; optimize operational
          processes and procedures to ensure timely payment of benefits; and promote equitable access
          to UC programs.

      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.

          In June 2022, the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) added “the UI system to its
          list of federal areas at ‘High Risk’ for waste, fraud, abuse, and mismanagement, or in need of
          broad-based transformation.”1 The GAO report explains that the UI system was added to the
          list “to bring greater attention to the challenges facing UI and to help spur needed changes.”

    4. Guidance. Section 4.b. of UIPL No. 02-22 sets out the steps necessary for states to express an
       interest in the grant opportunity made available through that UIPL. Attachment I to UIPL No.
       02-22 identifies the available funding allotment for each state. Section 5.c. of UIPL No. 02-22
       provides the application instructions for submitting form SF-424. Section 4 of UIPL No. 02-
       22, Change 1, provides that the deadline for expressing an interest in a Tiger Team consultative
       assessment is September 30, 2022. This UIPL makes the following changes to guidance:

      a. Provides updated instructions for completing the SF-424 as set out in Attachment I (which
         replaces Attachment II in UIPL No. 02-22). These updated instructions include an
         amendment to the end date period of performance of the grant awards to two years from
         the start date of the award and instructions for the states to submit the SF-424a (OMB No.
         4040-0006) when applying for grant awards,
         https://apply07.grants.gov/apply/forms/instructions/SF424A-V1.0-Instructions.pdf. Once a
         state and ETA agree on the assessment recommendations to implement, states should to
         submit these forms via www.grants.gov.

      b. Based on the initial success of this initiative as a means of technical assistance to states
         and given the U.S. Government Accountability Office’s (GAO) designation of “the UI
         system to its list of federal areas at ‘High Risk’ for waste, fraud, abuse, and
         mismanagement, or in need of broad-based transformation,” the Department is strongly
         encouraging states to express interest in this consultative assessment and grant
         opportunity. The Department recognizes that states may need additional time to ensure
         they have the appropriate supports in place to foster a successful consultative process.
         This UIPL is extending the deadline for states to request participation in a consultative
         assessment with the Department to March 31, 2023. States should express such interest by
         contacting their appropriate ETA Regional Office.

   Aside from the updated deadline and the updated application instruction guidance, all other
   guidance and information in UIPL No. 02-22 remains the same. The Department
   encourages all states that have not yet participated in a Tiger Team consultative assessment
   to take advantage of the extensive UI subject matter expertise and resources offered
   through this grant opportunity.

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;
   •   Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, Pub. L. 116-136, enacted
       March 23, 2020;
   •   UIPL No. 02-22, 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, issued November 2, 2021,
       https://www.dol.gov/agencies/eta/advisories/unemployment-insurance-program-letter-no-
       02-22;
   •   UIPL No. 02-22, Change 1, Extension of Time for States to Express Interest in the
       Grant Opportunity Announced in Unemployment Insurance Program Letter
       (UIPL) No. 02-22 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, issued February 16, 2022,
       https://www.dol.gov/agencies/eta/advisories/unemployment-insurance-program-letter-no-
       02-22-change-1; and
   •   GAO Report 22-105162, Unemployment Insurance: Transformation Needed to
       Address Program Design, Infrastructure, and Integrity Risks, issued on June 7,
       2022, at https://www.gao.gov/assets/gao-22-105162.pdf.

7. Attachment(s).

   •   Attachment I: Updated Instructions for Completing the SF-424.


                                                         Attachment I to UIPL No. 02-22, Change 2

                          Updated Instructions for Completing the SF-424

I.   Application for Federal Assistance (SF-424)
     Refer to Attachment III to UIPL No. 02-22 for Instructions for Completing the UI Tiger Team
     Project Synopsis.

           Use the current version of the form for submission. Expired forms will not be accepted.
           SF-424, Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Control No. 4040-0004 (Grants.gov).
           https://apply07.grants.gov/apply/forms/sample/SF424_4_0- V4.0.pdf

           Section # 8, APPLICANT INFORMATION:
           • Legal Name: The legal name must match the name submitted with the System for
              Award Management (SAM). Please refer to instructions at
              https://sam.gov/content/home.
           • Employer/Tax Identification Number (EIN/TIN): Input your correct 9-digit EIN and
              ensure that it is recorded within SAM.
           • Unique Entity Identifier (UEI): Starting on April 4, 2022, the DUNS Number was
              replaced by a new, non-proprietary identifier requested in and assigned by the System
              for Award Management (SAM) at SAM.gov. This new identifier is being called the
              Unique Entity Identifier (UEI), or the Entity ID. To learn more about SAM’s rollout of
              the UEI, please visit the U.S. General Service Administration (GSA), Unique Entity
              Identifier Update webpage. Before submitting, states must also ensure its registration
              with SAM.gov is current. (SAM replaced the Central Contractor Registry.) States can
              find instructions for registering with SAM at https://sam.gov/content/entity-
              registration. An awardee must maintain an active SAM registration with current
              information at all times during which it has an active Federal award or an application
              under consideration. To remain registered in the SAM database after the initial
              registration, states must review and update the registration at least every 12 months
              from the date of initial registration. Failure to register with SAM and maintain an active
              account will result in a rejection of your submission.
            • Address: Input your complete address including Zipcode+4; Example: 20110-831. For
                lookup, use link at https://tools.usps.com/go/ZipLookupAction!input.action.
            • Organizational Unit: Input appropriate Department Name and Division Name, if
                applicable.
            • Name and contact information of person to be contacted on matters involving this
                application. Provide complete and accurate contact information including telephone
                number and email address for the point of contact.

            Section # 9, Type of Applicant 1: Select Applicant Type: Input “State Government”.

            Section # 10, Name of the Federal Agency: Input “Employment and Training
            Administration”.


Section # 11, Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance Number: Input “17.225”; CFDA
Title: Input “Unemployment Insurance”

Section # 12, Funding Opportunity Number and Title: Input “UI Tiger Team Grant
2021”.

Section # 13, Competition Identification Number: Leave Blank.

Section # 14, Areas Affected by Project: Input the place of performance for the project
implementation; Example “NY” for New York.

Section # 15, Descriptive Title of Applicant’s Project: Input “UI Tiger Team Grant
2021”.

Section # 16, Congressional Districts of:
   a. Applicant: Input the Congressional District of your home office. For lookup, use
       link at https://www.house.gov/ with Zipcode + 4.
   b. Program/Project: Input the Congressional District where the project work is
       performed. If it is the same place as your home office, input the congressional
       district for your home office. For lookup, use link at https://www.house.gov/ with
       Zipcode+4.

Section # 17, Proposed Project Dates
   a. Start Date: Input a valid start date for the project.
   b. End Date: Input a valid end date for the project (initially two years from the start
       date; this can be amended upon formal request as needed).

Section # 18, Estimated Funding ($):
Input the applicable funding allotment as listed for your state in Attachment I to UIPL 02-
22.

Section #s 19 – 20: Complete as per instructions for Form SF-424.

Section # 21, Authorized Representative: Please select the “I AGREE” check box and
provide complete information for your authorized signatory including contact information
such as telephone number and email address. If your Authorized Representative has
changed from your previous application submission for this program, please include a
letter from higher-level leadership authorizing the new signatory for the application
submission.

Remember to have the SF-424 and SF-424a
(https://apply07.grants.gov/apply/forms/instructions/SF424A-V1.0-Instructions.pdf)
signed and dated by the Authorized Representative.

Footnote

1. See GAO Report issued on June 7, 2022, entitled “Unemployment Insurance: Transformation Needed to Address
Program Design, Infrastructure, and Integrity Risks” at https://www.gao.gov/assets/gao-22-105162.pdf.