[Federal Register Volume 65, Number 188 (Wednesday, September 27, 2000)]
[Notices]
[Pages 58212-58213]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 00-24837]



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Part VI





Department of Labor





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Employment and Training Administration



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Directives System; Request for Information; Notice

  Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 188 / Wednesday, September 27, 2000 / 
Notices  

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DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

Employment and Training Administration


Directives System; Request for Information

    This Notice is a request for information regarding possible 
revisions to the directives system used by the Employment and Training 
Administration (ETA) to communicate guidance and information to the 
States and other grant recipients. We are now accepting suggestions 
from all interested parties who wish to contribute to the streamlining 
of the directives system to accommodate the One-Stop environment. We 
intend ultimately to provide directives electronically, and, thus, more 
expeditiously, to States and other grant recipients.

Background

    The ETA directives system has been in place for many years. It is 
used to disseminate the Department's interpretations of Federal law 
requirements; procedural, administrative, management, and program 
direction; and other information to the States and other direct grant 
recipients. The directives system also is used for communications 
between the ETA national office and its regional offices. They are 
distributed to standardized lists of recipients who need the 
instructions or information they contain.
    All directives originating within the National Office of ETA must 
be issued through the official ETA directives system. Directives are 
used to provide both interpretations and operational guidance.
    Interpretative guidance directives may provide major clarifications 
and interpretations of program initiatives, broad operating policies, 
and program standards to all States and other direct grant recipients. 
This guidance, in conjunction with applicable legislation and 
regulations, comprises the standards governing ETA-funded programs in 
the States.
    Operational guidance directives provide detailed information which 
supplements the interpretative guidance. This includes requests for 
reports and other materials, definition or interpretation of specific 
operating requirements, and dissemination of other information relating 
to program or administrative management. Operational guidance assists 
States in complying with Federal law.
    ETA sends nine (9) different categories of directives to States 
(although the last three are rarely used):
    1. The Training and Employment Guidance Letter (TEGL) is used to 
transmit funding allotments, program development and interpretative 
guidance statements to State Workforce Liaisons, State Employment 
Security Agencies, State Worker Adjustment Liaisons, and One-Stop 
Career Center System Leads.
    2. The Training and Employment Information Notice (TEIN) is used to 
clarify existing interpretations or program information, transmit 
planning schedules, and reiterate previously issued interpretations. 
The TEIN is sent to State Workforce Liaisons, State Employment Security 
Agencies, State Worker Adjustment Liaisons, and One-Stop Career Center 
System Leads.
    3. The Employment Service Program Letter (ESPL) is used to transmit 
instructions; information concerning objectives; standards; rules; 
regulations; procedures; and related information for developing and 
implementing employment service programs. It is sent to State 
Employment Security Agencies.
    4. The Unemployment Insurance Program Letter (UIPL) is used to 
transmit material about objectives, rules, regulations, standards, 
procedures and related information for administering the unemployment 
insurance programs. It is sent to State Employment Security Agencies.
    5. The General Administration Letter (GAL) is used to transmit 
material concerning the overall organization and general administration 
of the employment service, unemployment insurance, and related 
programs. It is sent to State Employment Security Agencies.
    6. Handbooks include technical instructions, information, or 
guidance about either a specific program or administrative area or a 
group of related activities or functions pertaining to a single program 
or administrative area. Technical assistance guides are included in 
this category. Handbooks are sent to State Employment Security 
Agencies, and Regional Offices.
    7. The Reports and Analysis Letter (RAL) is used to transmit 
instructions and samples of forms for statistical reports (except 
budget and fiscal reports) which State agencies submit to ETA National 
and Regional Offices. It may also be used to supplement statistical 
reporting requirements. It is sent to State Employment Security 
Agencies.
    8. The Fiscal Letter (FL) is used to transmit material concerning 
fiscal standards, fiscal reports and procedures, the budgetary process, 
and expenditure of funds (except the unemployment compensation trust 
fund). It is sent to State Employment Security Agencies.
    9. The Employment Security Manual (ESM) addresses State and local 
program operating interpretations; standards; and procedural and 
reporting instructions for the operation of the State employment 
security system. It is sent to State Employment Security Agencies.
    In recent years electronic communication has supplemented the 
transmittal of hard copies of these directives.
    In addition, ETA's special targeted programs, such as the Migrant 
and Seasonal Farmworker Program; Indian and Native American Program; 
Senior Community Service Employment Program; Job Corps; and the Office 
of Apprenticeship Training, Employer and Labor Services (ATELS) have 
separate means of communicating to their field structure, as follows:
    Apprenticeship Training, Employer and Labor Services: Circulars 
provide interpretations, guidelines, instructions, and procedures 
governing ATELS operations to regional, State, and local staff. Field 
instructions provide administrative instructions to the same audience. 
Bulletins are used to provide information.
    Job Corps: Each of the following are addressed to Job Corps Centers 
and Regional Directors: orders are used to delegate authority; 
bulletins provide policy, standards, procedures and guidance; notices 
provide information or request one-time information; and handbooks 
contain interpretative standards and procedural instructions for 
centers.
    Office of National Programs: Bulletins are used to provide 
interpretations, standards, procedures, and guidance to grantees and 
contractors for Indian and Native American Programs; Migrant and 
Seasonal Farmworker Programs; the Senior Community Service Employment 
Program; and the Disability Employment and Initiatives Program.
    The National School-to-Work Office uses bulletins to provide 
interpretations, standards, procedures, and guidance to grantees and 
contractors.
    Several developments have prompted ETA to seek review of the 
current directives system. First, the Workforce Investment Act (WIA) 
was enacted in August 1998 and replaced the Job Training Partnership 
Act on July 1, 2000. This legislation reforms many ETA programs and 
links most of them more closely together through a One-Stop service 
delivery system. Second, WIA requires ETA to reorganize to align 
functions to carry out the new legislation. Third, advances in

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technology for providing Internet access to directives and reporting 
requirements, as well as on-line reporting, have enabled more efficient 
means of communication between ETA and its partners. In light of the 
above, and because the current directives system predates these 
developments, ETA decided that the directives system needs to be 
reconsidered.

Principles Governing the Redesign of the Directives System

    An internal ETA task group was convened to consider how the ETA 
directives system might be improved. The task group determined that the 
following principles or objectives should guide the redesign of the 
directives system.
    Customer Focus: The directives system should provide timely, quick, 
and accurate information to the people who need to use it.
    One Cohesive System: All ETA programs should be recognized as part 
of a single workforce development system--America's Workforce Network--
and the directives system should be organized in a way that reinforces 
this.
    Sharing of Information: ETA should encourage free and open 
communication with its customers. Full awareness of policies and 
sharing of information will contribute to greater efficiency and 
effectiveness in achieving the objectives of ETA's programs.
    Logic and Clarity: The directives system should have logic and 
clarity. It should be simplified because there are currently so many 
types of directives/issuances, they may cause confusion among customers 
and stakeholders about where to look for information and guidance. 
Also, limiting different types of communications to different audiences 
does not facilitate the sharing of information.
    Comprehensiveness: All directives used by ETA should be under the 
umbrella of a single system.
    Use of Electronic Communication: Achieving the objectives of speedy 
and open communications, as well as easy access to information, argues 
for utilizing electronic means of communication. Policy and information 
should be made available quickly on an appropriate ETA website that 
includes a comprehensive electronic directory of directives, searchable 
by program and topic. Customers (e.g., grantees) should be able to 
subscribe to a list serve which will notify them when a new directive 
is issued, and have the option of receiving notification of only 
certain categories of directives.

Request for Public Comment

    The objective of this review of the ETA directives system is to 
determine how to improve the effectiveness of the system in 
communicating guidance and information. To assist us, we seek public 
comment from users of ETA directives and other interested parties. 
Public comment is particularly invited in response to the following 
questions. However, other comments, which may not be specifically 
embraced by these questions, may also be submitted.
    1. Does the current ETA directives system meet your needs? If not, 
describe any problems you have identified.
    2. Can you easily access guidance and information relevant to your 
needs through the current directives system?
    3. What different features would you like to see in a revised 
directives system?
    4. Should the directives system be limited to communicating policy 
and guidance (i.e., information and notices of meetings would be 
communicated outside the directives system)?
    5. Is there good justification to maintain a specific program's 
directive series like Job Corps Bulletins, ATELS Circulars, 
Unemployment Insurance Program Letters, or others?
    6. Would it be acceptable if directives were available only 
electronically (i.e., a Web-based system), provided there was a 
suitable transition period?
    7. If the response to question 6 is affirmative, how long a 
transition period would you suggest is needed to go to an all-
electronic system?
    This notice is a general solicitation of comments from the public.

DATES: Commenters are requested to provide two (2) copies of their 
written submission to the Office of Policy and Research by 5:00 p.m. on 
November 13, 2000.

ADDRESSES: Written responses should be addressed to Terry Finegan at 
the Office of Policy and Research, Employment and Training 
Administration, U.S. Department of Labor, 200 Constitution Avenue, NW., 
Room N-5637, Washington, DC 20210. Responses also may be E-Mailed to 
[email protected].

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For further information, contact Terry 
Finegan, Office of Policy and Research, Employment and Training 
Administration at (202) 693-3656; fax (202) 693-2766. (These are not 
toll-free numbers.)

    Signed at Washington, D.C. this 21st day of September 2000.
Raymond L. Bramucci,
Assistant Secretary.
[FR Doc. 00-24837 Filed 9-26-00; 8:45 am]
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