[Federal Register Volume 63, Number 83 (Thursday, April 30, 1998)]
[Notices]
[Pages 23803-23808]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 98-11490]



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DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

Employment and Training Administration


Job Training Partnership Act; Project Title: Systematic Approach-
Profile/Referral Welfare Participants

AGENCY: Employment and Training Administration, Labor.

ACTION: Notice of availability of funds and solicitation for grant 
applications (SGA).

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SUMMARY: All information required to submit a grant application by 
eligible applicants is contained in this announcement. The U.S. 
Department of Labor (DOL), Employment and Training Administration 
(ETA), announces the availability of funds for demonstration projects 
to provide additional testing of a profiling process whereby State and 
local officials can allocate reemployment and training services under 
the major requirements of the new legislation, the Personal 
Responsibility and Work Opportunity Act of 1996. The program will be 
funded by the Job Training Partnership Act, (JTPA), Titles III and IV.
    This notice provides information on the process that eligible 
entities must use to apply for demonstration funds, how grantees are to 
be selected, and the responsibilities of grantees.

DATES: The closing date for receipt of proposals is May 29, 1998, at 
2:00 p.m. (Eastern Time).

ADDRESSES: Applications shall be mailed to: U.S. Department of Labor, 
Employment and Training Administration, Division of Acquisition and 
Assistance, Attention: Marian G. Floyd, 200 Constitution Avenue, NW, 
Room S-4203, Washington, DC 20210, Reference: SGA/DAA 98-010.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Marian G. Floyd, Division of 
Acquisition and Assistance. Telephone 202-219-7300, ext. 142 (this is 
not a toll-free number).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and 
Training Administration, is soliciting proposals on a competitive basis 
to provide additional testing of a profiling process whereby State and 
local officials can allocate reemployment and training services. The 
announcement consists of four parts. Part I describes the application 
process for eligible applicants who wish to apply for grant funds. Part 
II provides the Government's Required Statement of Work. Part III 
provides the deliverables and timetables. Part IV describes the 
selection criteria for award.

Part I. Application Process

A. Eligibility

    Eligible applicants are State Security Agencies (SESAs) and Service 
Delivery Areas (SDAs) as designated by the State under JTPA, within 
States containing a minimum of 0.50% of welfare recipients as a 
percentage of the national welfare recipient population as of June 30, 
1997.

B. Period of Performance

    The Period of Performance will be twenty-one (21) months from date 
of grant execution.

C. Funding

    The Department anticipates awarding three (3) to five (5) grants 
between $75,000 and $100,000 per grant, for a total of $400,000. 
Applications that exceed $100,000 will not be considered. Awards will 
be made on a competitive basis.

D. Matching Funds

    Applicants will be expected to provide at least a 60 percent match 
of the Federal funding with an in-kind or cash contribution to assure a 
jointly administered pilot program. Also, applicants may use the 
expertise, experience, and data and computer facilities of universities 
or other interested research centers. Applicants are further encouraged 
to coordinate with the Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) 
grantee agency in their areas.

E. Page Limitation

    Applicant's technical proposal shall be limited to 20 double-
spaced, single-sided pages with 1-inch margins. Text type shall be at 
least 10 pitch or larger. Applications that do not meet these 
requirements will not be considered.

F. Submission of Proposal

    Four (4) copies of the proposal (an original and three copies) must 
be received. Your proposal must be organized in the following manner:
    Section I--Financial and Summary Information (this section does not 
count against your page limitation.)
    (1) Standard Form (SF)-424; ``Application for Federal Assistance'' 
(Appendix A). The Federal Domestic Assistance Catalog number 17.246.
    (2) A one or two page summary of your proposed project which shall 
include information on the number of welfare recipients in the State 
and proposed target area.
    (3) ``Budget Information'', (Appendix B). Also include, on separate 
pages, a detailed breakout of each proposed budget line item.
    Section II--Technical Proposal (limited to 20 pages).
    Your technical proposal must demonstrate the grant applicant's 
capabilities in accordance with the Statement of Work in Part II of 
this solicitation. No cost data or reference to costs shall be included 
in the Technical Proposal. Applicants must also include resumes of 
proposed staff and an organizational chart.

G. Hand Delivered Proposals

    Proposals may be mailed or delivered by hand. A mailed proposal 
should be mailed no later than five (5) calendar days prior to the 
closing date for the receipt of applications. Hand-delivered grant 
applications must be received at the designated place by 2:00 p.m. 
(Eastern Time), on the closing date for receipt of applications. All 
overnight mail shall be considered to be hand-delivered and must be 
received at the designated place by the specified time on the closing 
date. Telegraphed, electronic mail, or faxed proposals will not be 
honored. Applications that fail to adhere to the above instructions 
will not be honored.

H. Late Proposals

    A proposal received at the office designated in the solicitation 
after the exact time specified for receipt will not be considered 
unless it is received before award is made and it--
    (1) Was sent by U.S. Postal Service Express Mail Next Day service, 
Post Office to Addressee not later than 5:00 p.m. at the place of 
mailing two working days prior to the date specified for receipt of the 
proposals. The term ``working days'' excludes weekends and U.S. Federal 
holidays.
    (2) Was sent by registered or certified mail not later than the 
fifth calendar day before the date specified for receipt of 
applications (e.g., an offer submitted in response to a solicitation 
requiring receipt of applications by the 20th of the month must be 
mailed by the 15th);
    The term ``post-mark'' means a printed, stamped, or otherwise 
placed impression (exclusive of a postage meter machine impression) 
that is readily identifiable without further action as having been 
supplied in the original receipt from the U.S. Postal Service. Both 
postmarks must show a legible date, or the application shall be 
processed as though it had been mailed late. ``Post-mark'' means a 
printed, stamped, or otherwise placed impression (exclusive of a 
postage meter machine impression) that is readily identifiable without 
further action as

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having been supplied and affixed by an employee of the U.S. Postal 
Service on the date of mailing. Therefore, applicants should request 
the postal clerk to place a legible hand cancellation ``bull's eye'' 
postmark on both the receipt and the envelope or wrapper.

I. Withdrawal of Proposals

    A grant applications may be withdrawn by written notice or telegram 
(including mailgram) received at any time before the awarding of a 
grant. An application may be withdrawn in person by the grant 
applicant, or by an authorized representative of the grant applicant if 
the representative's identity is made known and the representative 
signs a receipt for the proposal.

Part II. Statement of Work

A. Purpose

    The purpose of this solicitation is to fund pilot projects to 
adapt, test and implement a profiling and referral model for welfare 
recipients. The Department wants to expand the pilot sites to include a 
variety of State Agencies or SDAs with emphasis placed on the 
metropolitan areas with high welfare caseloads. The projects will be 
developing models which:
    1. Identify welfare recipients by using welfare administrative data 
taken from applications/initial interviews for use in determining the 
participants probability of finding (or not finding) employment within 
a defined time period.
    2. Provide a systematic approach for determining, referring, and 
following up participants within the agencies to determine the efficacy 
of the model, with computer communications available and used by major 
parties, including TANF grantees, JTPA entities, and SESAs.

B. Background

    States and localities are facing significant challenges resulting 
from the recent passage of federal welfare reform legislation. They are 
confronted with the dilemma of moving large numbers of welfare 
recipients into jobs to provide reemployment assistance to participants 
in Welfare-to-Work (WTW) programs. Currently, a demonstration in 
Kalamazoo, Michigan is testing a profiling model that will assist 
States dealing with this problem. This solicitation will provide for 
additional testing of a profiling process, which, if successful, will 
enable State and local officials to allocate reemployment and training 
services in a cost effective manner and fulfill the requirements of the 
new legislation, the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Act 
of 1996 (PWRO).
    Profiling is an early intervention approach for providing welfare 
recipients with reemployment services to help speed their entry/reentry 
into productive employment. It consists of two components: a profiling 
mechanism and a set of reemployment services. It is the goal of welfare 
profiling to predict the probability that individual welfare recipients 
will find employment, based on administrative data that is collected at 
the time individuals apply for welfare.
    The model developed for a locality is based on historical data for 
a recent past period of one to two years duration. It can then be 
applied to current welfare recipients to determine the level and kinds 
of employment services that should be provided to particular 
individuals. Welfare profiling is a targeting tool that can be used by 
program managers to guide them in their assignment of welfare 
recipients to available employment services. It can also be used as an 
allocation tool to assist in determining which welfare recipients 
should be assigned to limited employment services.
    The concept of profiling is not new. The Unemployment Insurance 
(UI) program has been profiling since 1994 to assist dislocated workers 
in their transition to new employment. The creation of the Worker 
Profiling and Reemployment Services (WPRS) system represents a major 
development for the employment and training system.
    Throughout its history, UI had been concerned solely with providing 
temporary compensation to eligible unemployed people while they look 
for a new job. However, as economic conditions have changed and 
permanent dislocation of workers has become a more common phenomenon, 
UI has expanded the scope of its mission to attend more adequately to 
the needs of dislocated workers who are likely to exhaust their UI 
benefits before finding a new job.
    UI now profiles claimants to determine their likelihood to exhaust 
their benefits. Claimants who have the highest probabilities of 
exhaustion are referred to reemployment services --provided by the 
Employment Service (ES) and JTPA--as a condition of continued 
eligibility for benefits. The success employment and training programs 
have had in the early years of implementation of WPRS strongly suggests 
that this model can be applied in other areas (like welfare-to-work) to 
target services more effectively.
    The Kalamazoo Welfare-to-Work Profiling pilot has developed a PC-
based software program that incorporates into the client intake system 
the process of assigning probabilities of employment and referring 
participants to services. It is designed to be used at the intake site 
during the initial orientation as individuals are enrolled in the 
welfare-to-work program. This software package can be adapted to 
welfare-to-work programs at other sites and is available at no cost to 
agencies involved in this initiative. The program, constructed using 
standard database software, integrates and automates the various steps 
in the intake process.
    The intake administrator can use this program in the following way. 
First, client information that has been previously collected is entered 
into the database. Second, the administrator is notified of missing 
information, which can be updated by asking the client to furnish that 
information during intake. Third, based on the client information and 
the predetermined weights generated from the statistical model, 
probabilities of employment are assigned to each individual. Fourth, 
the administrator enters the number of slots available in the various 
services, and the program refers clients to these services based upon 
their probabilities and a pre-assessment of the efficacy of these 
services for clients with various needs. Fifth, referral slips are 
printed for each client as a reminder of their assignment to services. 
Sixth, all relevant information is stored in the database.

C. Project Design

    Starting with the experience derived from developing and 
implementing the Kalamazoo model, the purpose of the project is to 
adapt or modify, test, and implement a profiling system geared to 
assisting welfare recipients in acquiring the services needed to obtain 
gainful employment.
    The pilot will be based on the Kalamazoo WTW profiling model which, 
in turn, takes as its starting point the approach used by the Worker 
Profiling and Reemployment Services, which was mandated by Congress 
(Pub. L.103-152). (The WTW profiling paper for the Kalamazoo, Saint 
Joseph County SDA is available from the W.E. Upjohn Institute for 
Employment Research, as a working paper on their website at: http://
www.upjohninst.org/publication/wp). This model should have value for 
welfare recipients because it uses a targeting approach to allow custom 
targeting of scarce resources for welfare recipients.
    The major tasks are as follows:
     The State Agency/SDA will adapt or modify and test a 
profiling model for the selected area that requires a two step

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process. First, appropriate data for estimating the statistical 
profiling model will be developed using recent welfare and work history 
of recipients eligible for welfare. Second, a statistical model will be 
adapted that uses the data to estimate the probability that an 
individual participant will find employment. This involves benchmarking 
results from a sample and applying results to characteristics for 
predicted levels for individuals.
     The State Agency/SDA will implement the profile and 
referral system within the area using the characteristics of each 
welfare recipient to generate probabilities of long term welfare 
recipiency for individuals entering the welfare program. Based upon the 
probabilities, welfare participants will be referred to services that 
best meet their needs. This will require participant data collection 
and processing. Successful implementation and outcomes of the profiling 
and referral system will require the ability of states and SDAs to vary 
their mix and intensity of services to participants according to their 
estimated probabilities of employment.
     The State Agency/SDA will assess effectiveness of the 
project within the area and based upon its experience, provide a 
general evaluation strategy for other SDA's/other states. They further 
agree to provide the model and documentation for further testing and 
evaluation to a sample of SDA's within ETA's pilot program and work 
with and provide data to related research contractors funded by ETA as 
part of this project.

Part III. Deliverables and Timetables

    The Period of performance is 21 months from the date of execution 
of the grant. The deliverables and due dates are as follows: (The due 
dates are subject to negotiations between the grantee and the Grant 
Officer's Technical Representative (GOTR).)
     Paper illustrating the adaptation and testing of the 
profiling model. This includes the appropriate data, recent welfare and 
work history of welfare eligibles for estimating the model. This 
includes a benchmark for assessing the accuracy of the model. This will 
be due approximately 150 days after award.
     Paper describing implementation of the profiling and 
referral system focusing on the results from the area. This will 
involve tracking and processing information on a sample of 
participants. (A process and impact analysis) This would be due 180 
days after award.
     Grantees will prepare periodic and final program and 
financial reports as stipulated in the grant agreement.

Part IV. Selection/Evaluation Criteria

    Selection of grantees for awards will be made after careful 
evaluation of grant applications by a panel selected for that purpose 
by DOL. Panel results shall be advisory in nature and not binding on 
the Grant Officer. Panelists shall evaluate applications for 
acceptability based upon overall responsiveness to the Statement of 
Work, with emphasis on the factors enumerated below. Applicants are 
advised that awards may be made without further discussions.
    a. Design and implementation plan for a profiling model for the 
area served. (40 points)
    b. Plan for participating in the assessment of the effectiveness of 
the project (it will include a process and impact analysis). (25 
points)
    c. Relationship and linkages with other organizations and agencies 
within the service area. (20 points) This should include agencies which 
traditionally serve the target population (welfare recipients).
    d. Experience and qualifications of key staff. (15 points)
    Applicants are advised that letters of support are not necessary.

    Signed at Washington, DC, this 27th day of April 1998.
Janice E. Perry,
Grant Officer.

Appendices

Appendix A--Application for Federal Assistance (Standard Form (SF)-424)
Appendix B--Budget Information

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FR Doc. 98-11490 Filed 4-29-98; 8:45 am]
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