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Fiscal year 2010 state unemployment quality service plans
Summary ETA initiated the fiscal year 2010 State Quality Service Plan process for state unemployment agencies and supplied instructions that supplemented its planning handbook. Two attachments provide planning material. ETA now lists the letter as Canceled.
Document
Federal guidance
Agency
U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (ETA)
Document number
UIPL No. 25-09
Date issued
June 1, 2009
Status
Withdrawn
ETA lists this letter Canceled as of 2026-10-24; its PDF prints an expiration date of June 1, 2010.
Status last verified October 24, 2026
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About this page: The full text below is the official document from U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (ETA). Ezel adds the plain-English summary and tracks the document's status. The official source linked on this page is authoritative for any reliance.
UIPL25-09acc.pdf (https://www.dol.gov/sites/dolgov/files/ETA/advisories/UIPL/2009/UIPL25-09acc.pdf)
CLASSIFICATION
EMPLOYMENT AND TRAINING ADMINISTRATION UI/SQSP
ADVISORY SYSTEM CORRESPONDENCE SYMBOL
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF LABOR OWS/DPM
Washington, D.C. 20210 DATE
June 1, 2009
ADVISORY: UNEMPLOYMENT INSURANCE PROGRAM LETTER NO. 25-09
TO: STATE WORKFORCE AGENCIES
FROM: DOUGLAS F. SMALL /s/
Deputy Assistant Secretary
SUBJECT: Call Memo for the Fiscal Year (FY) 2010 Unemployment Insurance (UI)
State Quality Service Plan (SQSP)
1. Purpose. To initiate and issue supplemental instructions for the preparation of the FY 2010
SQSP.
2. References. ET Handbook No. 336, 18th Edition, Unemployment Insurance
Program Letter (UIPL) No. 14-05; UIPL No. 14-05, Change 1; UIPL No. 14-05, Change 2;
UIPL No. 14-05, Change 3; Workforce Investment Act Final Rule, 20 CFR Parts 652,
660 et al.; UIPL No. 22-05; UIPL No. 22-05, Change 1; UIPL No. 22-05, Change 2; UIPL
No. 3-07; UIPL No. 3-07, Change 1; UIPL No. 12-08; TEGL 20-07; and UIPL 17-08.
3. Background. As part of UI Performs, the comprehensive performance management system
for the UI program, the SQSP is the principal vehicle that the state UI programs use to plan,
record, and manage improvement efforts as they strive for excellence in service.
Additionally, it is the grant document through which states receive Federal UI administrative
funding. ET Handbook No. 336, 18th Edition, contains general instructions for the SQSP.
The Handbook is designed as a permanent instruction for the annual planning and budget
process and provides states with planning guidelines and instructions for reporting UI
financial and staff year information. This annual Call Memo supplements those instructions
and provides guidance and instructions specific to the upcoming fiscal year.
States must participate in the annual UI Performs SQSP process regardless of whether or not
they opt to include the UI program as part of their two-year Strategic Unified State Plan
submitted under Section 501 of the Workforce Investment Act of 1998.
4. Federal Emphasis. The five-year Department of Labor (Department) Strategic Plan forms
the basis for the Federal emphasis for FY 2010. Required by Congress under the Government
Performance and Results Act of 1993 (GPRA), the Strategic Plan is an integral part of the
budget process and requires a commitment from all Department programs to attain expressed
RESCISSIONS EXPIRATION DATE
June 1, 2010
goals and outcomes. Achieving these outcomes requires the combined efforts of the Federal
and state partners.
The UI program goal, shown below, supports the Department’s strategic goal of “A Secure
Workforce.”
Make timely and accurate benefit payments to unemployed workers,
facilitate the reemployment of unemployment insurance beneficiaries,
and set up unemployment tax accounts promptly for new employers.
In recognition of the Employment and Training Administration’s (ETA’s) priorities, we are
focusing our attention on the following GPRA goals for FY 2010. States should continue to
strive to reach or exceed these GPRA goals and targets in FY 2010:
• Make Timely Benefit Payments
o Target: 87.9% of intrastate first payments for full weeks of
unemployment will be made within 14/21 days from the week ending date
of the first compensable week.
• Facilitate the Reemployment of Claimant.
o Target: 64.9% of UI claimants will be reemployed by the end of the first
quarter after the quarter in which they received their first payment.
• Detect Benefit Overpayments
o Target: Overpayments established will be at least 55.4% of the estimated
detectable, recoverable overpayments.
• Establish Tax Accounts Promptly
o Target: 86.3% of status determinations for new employers will be made
within 90 days of the end of the first quarter in which liability occurred.
5. SQSP Performance Criteria. The Department’s strategic approach to UI Performs is to
focus efforts on raising the performance of states where performance is below minimum
criteria, while promoting overall excellence. Corrective action plans (CAPs) are expected
whenever a state’s performance does not meet established criteria for the SQSP measurement
period. The measurement period for the FY 2010 SQSP is April 1, 2008 – March 31, 2009,
unless otherwise indicated. CAPs are expected for:
• performance below the acceptable levels of performance (ALPs) for Core
Measures;
• performance below the criteria for Secretary’s Standards established in regulation
(20 CFR Parts 640 and 650);
• improper administration of Benefit Accuracy Measurement (BAM) and/or Benefit
Payment Control (BPC) activities or misreporting of data on the ETA 227
(Overpayment Detection and Recovery Activities) report resulting in an
overpayment detection rate above 95%. The CAP should be designed to produce
valid data for the Overpayment Detection Measure; and
• state BAM operations that, based on the BAM Administrative Determination, are
not compliant with the National Directory of New Hires (NDNH) matching
requirements in UIPL 3-07 and UIPL 3-07, Change 1, effective for BAM paid
claims sample cases beginning with batch 200801.
States are expected to address all other performance deficiencies in the SQSP Narrative
which includes:
• Actions planned to correct deficiencies identified during program reviews;
• Failure to meet reporting requirements. Reporting deficiencies are defined as
missing reports; monthly and quarterly reports submitted late more than 50
percent of the time (7 of 12 months for monthly reports; 3 of 4 quarters for
quarterly reports); and annual reports late 3 consecutive years; and
• Invalid recording of the Issue Detection Date (IDD) and Determination Date
(DD). The validity of the UI Performs nonmonetary determination timeliness
measure depends on the accuracy of the state’s IDD and DD data. IDD and DD
data are considered accurate if dates were correct in at least 95 percent of the
nonmonetary determinations evaluated in the quarterly quality samples (obtained
from the ETA 9056 report). Because the accuracy of IDD and DD data is based
on sample results, sampling variation will be taken into account in setting the
percentage below which a state’s data will be considered inaccurate. States with
invalid IDD or DD data are expected to address the steps they will take to record
the IDD and DD correctly.
Attachment A lists the performance criteria for the Core Measures, Secretary’s Standards and
other program requirements where CAPs or Narratives may be required if annual performance
is not acceptable. Attachment B lists the preliminary state-specific ALPs for the UI
Reemployment measure. Per UIPL No. 17-08, final ALPs will be transmitted to the states
after the ET 9047 reports for July to September 2008, due May 31, 2009, have been received.
6. Additional SQSP Performance Criteria.
Data Validation (DV)
• Any DV items due for validation year (VY) 2009 but not submitted must be
addressed in a CAP.
• A DV CAP must also be done if a state has a combination of non-submitted and
submitted-but-failing items. In this case, the submitted-but-failing items may not
be addressed in the narrative.
• The deadline for submitting DV results has been changed permanently from
May 10 to June 10. This change is being made to enable states to validate tax
results for the first calendar quarter for inclusion in the SQSP performance
period by allowing three weeks from the May 20 submission date for the 1st
quarter ETA 581 report.
• Failing/Incomplete DV Submissions. If a state had DV items due for VY 2009
and submitted them all, it may address those that did not pass in the narrative,
explaining the cause of the failure and the actions the state will take to correct
the failure during VY 2010.
Detection of Overpayments
The detection of overpayments measure is the percent of detectable/recoverable overpayments
established for recovery. While states are expected to submit a CAP for reporting an
overpayment detection rate below 50%, an upper limit of 95% has been established for
monitoring purposes. States reporting ratios over 95% are expected to explain in the
Narrative section the reasons for the higher than expected ratios for the performance period,
unless, as discussed in section 5 above, the overpayment detection ratio of over 95% is due to
the improper administration of the BAM and/or BPC program. The performance period for
the BPC component is the three-year period ending March 31, 2009; the performance period
for the BAM component is the three-year period ending September 30, 2008.
Tax Performance System
For program year 2008, states will continue to address deficiencies in conducting Tax
Performance System (TPS) sampling in the SQSP as a Narrative, not a CAP. Additionally,
non-sampled tax functions will not be included in the number of total failing functions of Tax
Quality Part A and Part B for program year 2008.
Upcoming SQSP Performance Criteria for UI Tax: Added to the 2011 SQSP will be a
failure to conduct one or more TPS sample reviews during the 2009 performance period.
This is to ensure that UI tax operations are also in compliance with Federal reporting and
oversight requirements. Exceptions include universes that are too small to support a sample
(“S”) or an Experience Rate sample that was not scheduled for review during the
performance year (“E”). Program Review Findings Charts should be noted accordingly.
Additionally, a tax function that is not sampled will be included in the number of total failing
functions as measured by Tax Quality Part A (no more than 3 tax functions may fail TPS
review), and Part B (a tax function cannot fail for three consecutive years).
7. Program Performance and Planning Requirements for FY 2010. ET Handbook 336, 18th
Edition provides guidelines for the completion and submittal of the SQSP and should be used
when preparing the FY 2010 state plans.
CAPs and Narratives addressing performance deficiencies are the components of the state’s
formal plan and schedule for improving performance. To that end, a thorough analysis to
identify the cause of performance shortfalls should be performed prior to the development of
the state’s plan. The SQSP Handbook provides formats for CAPs and Narratives.
Multi-year CAPs continue to be an option for states so that efforts which must extend beyond
a fiscal year due to their size, scope, or complexity can be realistically portrayed. Out-year
portions of such multi-year plans need not provide quarterly targets or milestones (as required
for the SQSP year) but should provide sufficient information to explain anticipated progress
and results.
8. CAPs In Action (CIA) Project. As part of the SQSP review process, States were selected
based on performance significantly below the ALPs established for Core Measures and/or
the performance level established in the Secretary’s Standards. States were informed of
their participation in the CIA project by their regional office during the past year and will
continue to be monitored in FY 2010. Follow-up on States' plans and progress towards
achieving an acceptable level of performance may be conducted in conjunction with
program reviews.
9. Funding Period. The proposed appropriation language provides for obligation of FY 2010
UI allocations by states through December 31, 2010, with 90 additional days to liquidate the
obligations and complete the expenditure of funds. However, states may obligate FY 2010
UI funds through September 30, 2012, if such obligations are for automation acquisitions.
Therefore, the end of the FY 2010 obligation period is December 31, 2010, for all funds
except automation acquisitions, which have an obligation deadline of September 30, 2012.
10. Data Availability. Regional Offices (ROs) will provide states with reports showing their
performance against the Core Measures, Secretary’s Standards, and other information relevant
to the SQSP (e.g. reporting deficiencies).
11. Deadline for State SQSP Submittal. Each RO will set a deadline for states to submit their
SQSPs for FY 2010.
12. Electronic Submission of the SQSP. States are required to submit the SQSP electronically
and should contact their RO SQSP Coordinator prior to submittal to coordinate specific
details. Standard forms required as part of the budget reporting process (Chapter II of ET
Handbook No. 336, 18th Edition) are available in PDF format and may be downloaded from
the Office of Management and Budget Web site at:
http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/grants/grants_forms.html. States may submit the SQSP
signature page electronically if the state law permits. States that do not submit an electronic
signature page must submit the signature page via fax, scan or mail by the deadline set by the
RO.
13. Action. State Administrators are requested to:
a. make this information available to appropriate staff;
b. prepare their SQSPs in accordance with instructions in this UIPL and the planning
and reporting instructions contained in ET Handbook No. 336, 18th Edition;
c. coordinate specifics, as appropriate, with the RO for electronic submission of the
plan; and
d. submit the FY 2010 SQSP to the appropriate RO by the date specified by the
Regional Administrator.
14. Inquiries. Questions should be directed to the appropriate RO.
15. Attachments.
A. Measures/Programs to be addressed in the FY 2010 SQSP.
B. State-specific ALPs for UI Reemployment.
UIPL25-09aA.pdf (https://www.dol.gov/sites/dolgov/files/ETA/advisories/UIPL/2009/UIPL25-09aA.pdf)
Attachment A
Measures/Programs to be Addressed in the FY 2010 SQSP
Core Measures Measurement Period Criteria CAP Narrative
First Payment Promptness Apr 1, 2008 – Mar 31, 2009 87% √
Nonmonetary Determination Time Apr 1, 2008 – Mar 31, 2009 80% √
Lapse (combined
score)
Nonmonetary Determination Quality Apr 1, 2008 – Mar 31, 2009 75% √
- Nonseparations
Nonmonetary Determination Quality Apr 1, 2008 – Mar 31, 2009 75% √
- Separations
Detection of Overpayments BPC: Apr 1, 06 – Mar 31, <50% √
09;
BAM: Oct. 1, 05 – Sept. 30,
>95% √
08
If the rate is a result of >95% √
improper administration of
BAM and/or BPC
Average Age of Pending Lower Apr 1, 2008 – Mar 31, 2009 30 days √
Authority Appeals
Average Age of Pending Higher Apr 1, 2008 – Mar 31, 2009 40 days √
Authority Appeals
Lower Authority Appeals Quality Apr 1, 2008 – Mar 31, 2009 80% √
New Employer Status Apr 1, 2008 – Mar 31, 2009 70% √
Determinations Time Lapse
Tax Quality (Part A: No more than Jan 1, 2008 – Dec 31, 2008 ← √
3 tax functions failing TPS in a year)
Tax Quality (Part B: The same tax Jan 1, 2008 – Dec 31, 2008 ← √
function cannot fail for 3 consecutive
years)
Facilitate Reemployment 1st Payments: October 1, Varies by √
2007 to September 30, 2008 State
Reemployment: January 1, See
2008 to December 31, 2008 Attached
Table
Measurement Period Criteria CAP Narrative
Secretary’s Standards in
Regulation
First Payment Promptness Apr 1, 2008 – Mar 31, 2009 87% √
(IntraState 14/21 Days)
First Payment Promptness Apr 1, 2008 – Mar 31, 2009 93% √
(IntraState 35 Days)
First Payment Promptness Apr 1, 2008 – Mar 31, 2009 70% √
(InterState 14/21 Days)
First Payment Promptness Apr 1, 2008 – Mar 31, 2009 78% √
(InterState 35 Days)
Lower Authority Appeals (30 Days) Apr 1, 2008 – Mar 31, 2009 60% √
Lower Authority Appeals (45 Days) Apr 1, 2008 – Mar 31, 2009 80% √
Programs Measurement Period CAP Narrative
Data Validation Apr 1, 2008 – Mar 31, 2009
No results submitted √
Failing/incomplete √
submission
Compliance with National Status as of March 31, 2009 √
Directory of New Hires matching
requirements for BAM
Incorrect recording of the Issue Apr 1, 2008 – Mar 31, 2009 √
Detection Date and/or
Determination Date
UIPL25-09aB.pdf (https://www.dol.gov/sites/dolgov/files/ETA/advisories/UIPL/2009/UIPL25-09aB.pdf)
Attachment B
Preliminary State ALPs and FY 2008 Reemployment Rates
TUR % Nonexempt Preliminary Reemployment Reported
State CY 2008 July 2007- June 2008 ALP+ FY 2008 Less ALP
AK 6.7% 62.8% 62% 63.0% 1.0
AL 5.0% 60.6% 65% 66.0% 1.0
AR 5.1% 87.8% 59% 68.0% 9.0
AZ 5.5% 83.2% 59% 61.0% 2.0
CA 7.2% 81.9% 55% 57.3% 2.3
CO 4.9% 81.0% 59% 59.5% 0.5
CT 5.7% 89.6% 57% 62.9% 5.9
DC 7.0% 93.9% 55% 54.4% -0.6
DE 4.8% 64.5% 65% 69.2% 4.2
FL 6.2% 92.5% 55% 51.3% -3.7
GA 6.2% 67.8% 62% 64.7% 2.7
HI 3.9% 52.4% 70% 66.5% -3.5
IA 4.1% 38.3% 71% 77.0% 6.0
ID 4.9% 49.9% 71% 86.4% 15.4
IL 6.5% 71.6% 59% 55.4% -3.6
IN 5.9% 54.4% 67% 68.0% 1.0
KS 4.4% 68.2% 65% 65.9% 0.9
KY 6.4% 49.7% 69% 78.0% 9.0
LA 4.6% 83.6% 59% 60.4% 1.4
MA 5.3% 90.9% 56% 58.7% 2.7
MD 4.4% 82.1% 59% 65.0% 6.0
ME 5.4% 91.9% 56% 64.5% 8.5
MI 8.4% 51.5% 63% 66.3% 3.3
MN 5.4% 57.0% 67% 63.3% -3.7
MO 6.1% 79.8% 59% 69.2% 10.2
MS 6.9% 92.7% 54% 65.6% 11.6
MT 4.5% 38.8% 71% 76.5% 5.5
NC 6.3% 67.8% 62% 57.6% -4.4
ND 3.2% 27.6% 74% 80.4% 6.4
NE 3.3% 68.5% 66% 61.7% -4.3
NH 3.8% 72.3% 63% 71.8% 8.8
NJ 5.5% 82.7% 57% 58.2% 1.2
NM 4.2% 90.9% 58% 45.1% -12.9
NV 6.7% 70.6% 59% 60.3% 1.3
NY 5.4% 80.0% 61% 59.0% -2.0
OH 6.5% 85.4% 56% 65.3% 9.3
OK 3.8% 87.4% 60% 60.2% 0.2
OR 6.4% 67.4% 62% 68.0% 6.0
PA 5.4% 49.0% 70% 68.3% -1.7
PR 11.5% 82.0% 49% 45.8% -3.2
RI 7.8% 65.9% 61% 57.0% -4.0
SC 6.9% 80.7% 56% 61.6% 5.6
SD 3.0% 52.2% 74% 75.2% 1.2
TN 6.4% 58.5% 65% 63.2% -1.8
TX 4.9% 89.6% 59% 55.6% -3.4
UT 3.4% 75.9% 63% 67.0% 4.0
VA 4.0% 85.2% 60% 66.1% 6.1
Preliminary State ALPs and FY 2008 Reemployment Rates
TUR % Nonexempt Preliminary Reemployment Reported
State CY 2008 July 2007- June 2008 ALP+ FY 2008 Less ALP
VI 5.8% 99.4% 56% 36.3% -19.7
VT 4.8% 43.5% 71% 72.0% 1.0
WA 5.3% 75.5% 61% 71.0% 10.0
WI 4.7% 29.6% 71% 79.2% 8.2
WV 4.3% 55.4% 68% 71.6% 3.6
WY 3.1% 62.9% 66% 78.9% 12.9
+ Preliminary based on ETA 9047 data for UI 1st payment recipients July 2007- June 2008.
Per UIPL No. 17-08, final ALPs will be transmitted to the states after the 9047reports for July - September 2008, due May 31,
2009, have been received.
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