[Federal Register Volume 67, Number 40 (Thursday, February 28, 2002)]
[Notices]
[Pages 9362-9363]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 02-4724]



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Part II





Department of Labor





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Employment and Training Administration



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Solicitation of Comments on Reauthorization of the Workforce Investment 
Act (WIA) and Linkages With the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families 
(TANF) Program; Notice

  Federal Register / Vol. 67, No. 40 / Thursday, February 28, 2002 / 
Notices  

[[Page 9362]]


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DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

Employment and Training Administration


Solicitation of Comments on Reauthorization of the Workforce 
Investment Act (WIA) and Linkages With the Temporary Assistance for 
Needy Families (TANF) Program

AGENCY: Employment and Training Administration (ETA), Labor.

ACTION: Solicitation of comments.

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SUMMARY: Title I of the Workforce Investment Act of 1998 (WIA) 
established a new delivery mechanism for training and employment 
services, known as the One-Stop service delivery system. The Personal 
Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 (PRWORA) 
reformed the welfare system by replacing the Aid to Families with 
Dependent Children Program with a new welfare block grant program, 
known as the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program, or TANF. 
TANF provides states with funding for the provision of welfare 
services. The Congress is scheduled to take up the reauthorization of 
TANF in 2002 and WIA in 2003. The purpose of this notice is to invite 
public comment on two major issues: (1) What changes the Administration 
should propose to Titles I, III and V of WIA; and (2) how linkages 
between Title I of WIA and TANF can be improved.

DATES: Submit comments on or before June 30, 2002. We encourage 
comments related to linkages between Title I of WIA and TANF to be 
submitted as soon as possible.

ADDRESSES: Submit comments through the mail to: WIA/TANF 
Reauthorization, Attention: Maria Kniesler Flynn, Employment and 
Training Administration, Room S-4231, 200 Constitution Avenue, NW., 
Washington, DC 20210. Fax copies may be sent to: 202-693-3015. If you 
wish to comment electronically, go to the Employment and Training 
Administration's reauthorization website at http://usworkforce.org/reauthorization and follow the instructions or you may e-mail comments 
to [email protected]. Please be advised that U.S. mail 
delivery in the Washington, DC area has been erratic due to concerns 
involving anthrax contamination. Commenters should take this into 
consideration when submitting comments near the deadline.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Maria Kniesler Flynn, Division Chief, 
Division of One-Stop Operations, Employment and Training 
Administration, 200 Constitution Avenue, Room S-4231, Washington, DC, 
20210. Ms. Flynn's telephone number is (202) 693-3045.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Legislative Summary

    The Workforce Investment Act [Pub. L. 105-220] was signed into law 
on August 7, 1998. It marked the first major job training reform in 
over 15 years and replaced the Job Training Partnership Act. Title I of 
the Act is designed to provide workforce investment activities through 
statewide and local One-Stop systems that increase the employment, 
retention and earnings of participants, and increase occupational skill 
attainment by participants. These One-Stop systems provide the 
information, advice, job search assistance and training that are 
necessary to get and keep good jobs to unemployed or underemployed 
individuals, thereby providing employers with skilled workers.
    Title I of the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity 
Reconciliation Act of 1996, [Pub.L. 104-193], was signed into law on 
August 22, 1996, and established the Temporary Assistance for Needy 
Family (TANF) program. TANF is a block grant that has facilitated 
reforms in the nation's welfare system. Its focus is moving recipients 
into work and turning welfare into a program of temporary assistance, 
preventing and reducing the incidence of out-of-wedlock births, and 
promoting stable two-parent families.
    The Balanced Budget Act of 1997 amended TANF by adding $3 billion 
for a temporary Welfare-to-Work (WtW) program administered by the 
Department of Labor, which was targeted to help welfare recipients and 
noncustodial parents with the greatest number of barriers to 
employment. WtW formula grants were awarded to states which were 
required to pass 85% of their funds down to local Private Industry 
Councils, most of which became Workforce Investment Boards with the 
implementation of the WIA. WtW funding authority ended in FY 1998, 
although most grants continue into 2004.

Public Input

    The Department of Labor's Employment and Training Administration 
(ETA) is seeking public input in anticipation of the reauthorization of 
WIA and TANF. Relevant issue areas include:
     How to enhance use of the One-Stop system under WIA to 
deliver services for the purpose of improving employment and earning 
outcomes for TANF recipients;
     How better to meet the needs of business in the workforce 
investment system and improve business participation in the system;
     How to balance state and local needs in the governance of 
the workforce investment system;
     How to increase state flexibility in meeting local labor 
market needs while keeping the focus on connecting people with 
productive employment;
     How the Administration's Unemployment Insurance/Employment 
Service reform proposal will assist States to improve and expand their 
One-Stop systems;
     How the operation of the One-Stop Career Centers can be 
improved; and
     How individuals can receive improved opportunities for 
training.
    Input may be provided: (1) By submitting comments in response to 
this notice by mail or fax, (2) via e-mail by posting them on the 
reauthorization website at http://usworkforce.org/reauthorization, or 
(3) by making comments verbally at one of several public forums. Such 
forums include those to be held in Washington, D.C. in connection with 
the National Association of State Workforce Agencies (NASWA), the 
National Association of Counties (NACo), and the National Association 
of Workforce Boards (NAWB). Each ETA regional office will also be asked 
to host a forum. We encourage the active participation of One-Stop 
partner programs, such as vocational rehabilitation, adult education, 
TANF, and others, in these outreach efforts.
    The website will provide up-to-date information to the public and 
inform the workforce system of the latest developments in the 
reauthorization efforts. The site will be linked to http://www.doleta.gov and http://www.usworkforce.org and will include a 
mechanism for submitting comments, a calendar of events, relevant 
documents and linkages to other federal partner agencies including the 
Department of Health and Human Services' (HHS) site established to 
receive comments on the TANF reauthorization process.
    The forums with national organizations will include presentations 
by designated ETA officials and will be followed by an interactive 
session to collect feedback from attendees. The regional forums will 
also include an interactive session to collect information and may also 
include a focus on specific aspects of the WIA and/or TANF system. 
Information on dates and locations will be posted on the website. The 
Department of Labor

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anticipates giving feedback to stakeholders in a white paper to be 
published in the Federal Register. An additional opportunity for public 
comment will be provided after the white paper is published.

    Signed at Washington, DC, this 22 day of February, 2002.
Emily Stover DeRocco,
Assistant Secretary for Employment and Training.
[FR Doc. 02-4724 Filed 2-27-02; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4510-30-P