National Emergency Grants: Services to Dislocated Workers
Hampered by Delays in Grant Awards, but Labor Is Initiating
Actions to Improve Grant Award Process (14-NOV-03, GAO-04-222).
Between 2000 and 2002, almost 60,000 mass layoffs of 50 or more
workers occurred resulting in nearly 7 million workers losing
their jobs. The Workforce Investment Act (WIA) of 1998 authorizes
the Department of Labor to award national emergency grants to
affected states and local areas to provide employment and
training assistance to workers affected by major economic
dislocations, such as plant closures, and major disasters, such
as floods and hurricanes. Although national emergency grants are
intended to be a timely response to unexpected events, questions
arose during congressional hearings in April 2003 about whether
national emergency grant funds were getting to state and local
areas quickly enough to help workers when they needed it the
most. WIA specifies separate funding streams for each of the
act's main client groups--adults, youths, and dislocated
workers--and requires the Secretary of Labor to reserve 20
percent of dislocated worker funds for national emergency grants,
demonstrations, and technical assistance. States and local areas
apply to the Secretary for national emergency grants when they
need additional funds to assist dislocated workers. These include
regular grants, which provide employment and training assistance
to workers who lost their jobs due to layoffs and plant closings;
disaster grants, which provide temporary employment to workers
affected by natural disasters and other catastrophic events; and
dual enrollment grants to provide supplemental assistance to
workers who have been certified by Labor to receive services
under the Trade Adjustment Assistance Reform Act of 2002. Workers
eligible under dual enrollment grants are typically workers who
have lost their jobs because of increased imports from, or shifts
in production to, foreign countries. At least 85 percent of the
Secretary's 20 percent funds must be used for national emergency
grants, and these funds can only be awarded during the year the
funds are allotted. From July 1, 2000 to June 30, 2003, Labor
used these funds to award over $614 million in national emergency
grants to 46 states and the District of Columbia, Guam, and the
Federated States of Micronesia. Because of the concern about
whether national emergency grants were awarded to states and
local areas quickly enough to provide services to workers when
they are most needed, we were asked to (1) determine the length
of time Labor takes to award national emergency grants, (2)
determine the effect delays in grant awards have on the ability
of states and local areas to provide workers with employment and
training services, and (3) identify actions Labor is taking to
improve the timeliness of grant awards.
-------------------------Indexing Terms-------------------------
REPORTNUM: GAO-04-222
ACCNO: A08850
TITLE: National Emergency Grants: Services to Dislocated Workers
Hampered by Delays in Grant Awards, but Labor Is Initiating
Actions to Improve Grant Award Process
DATE: 11/14/2003
SUBJECT: Disaster relief aid
Federal grants
Income maintenance programs
Timeliness
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GAO-04-222
United States General Accounting Office
GAO
Report to Congressional Requesters
November 2003
NATIONAL EMERGENCY GRANTS
Services to Dislocated Workers Hampered by Delays in Grant Awards, but Labor Is
Initiating Actions to Improve Grant Award Process
GAO-04-222
Contents
Letter 1
Appendix I Briefing Slides
Appendix II Listing of Surveyed States Awarded a Regular Grant 23
Appendix III Summary of Funds Awarded for Regular, Disaster, and Dual
Enrollment National Emergency Grant
Appendix IV Number of Days to Award Regular Grants by State
Related GAO Products
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United States General Accounting Office Washington, DC 20548
November 14, 2003
The Honorable Edward M. Kennedy
Ranking Minority Member
Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions United States Senate
The Honorable Patty Murray
Ranking Minority Member
Subcommittee on Employment, Safety and Training Committee on Health,
Education, Labor, and Pensions United States Senate
Between 2000 and 2002, almost 60,000 mass layoffs of 50 or more workers
occurred resulting in nearly 7 million workers losing their jobs. The
Workforce Investment Act (WIA) of 1998 authorizes the Department of Labor
to award national emergency grants to affected states and local areas to
provide employment and training assistance to workers affected by major
economic dislocations, such as plant closures, and major disasters, such
as floods and hurricanes. Although national emergency grants are intended
to be a timely response to unexpected events, questions arose during
congressional hearings in April 2003 about whether national emergency
grant funds were getting to state and local areas quickly enough to help
workers when they needed it the most.
WIA specifies separate funding streams for each of the act's main client
groups-adults, youths, and dislocated workers-and requires the Secretary
of Labor to reserve 20 percent of dislocated worker funds for national
emergency grants, demonstrations, and technical assistance. States and
local areas apply to the Secretary for national emergency grants when they
need additional funds to assist dislocated workers. These include regular
grants, which provide employment and training assistance to workers who
lost their jobs due to layoffs and plant closings; disaster grants, which
provide temporary employment to workers affected by natural disasters and
other catastrophic events; and dual enrollment grants to provide
supplemental assistance to workers who have been certified by Labor to
receive services under the Trade Adjustment Assistance Reform Act of 2002.
Workers eligible under dual enrollment grants are typically workers who
have lost their jobs because of increased imports from, or
shifts in production to, foreign countries. At least 85 percent of the
Secretary's 20 percent funds must be used for national emergency grants,
and these funds can only be awarded during the year the funds are
allotted. From July 1, 2000 to June 30, 2003, Labor used these funds to
award over $614 million in national emergency grants to 46 states and the
District of Columbia, Guam, and the Federated States of Micronesia.
Because of your concern about whether national emergency grants were
awarded to states and local areas quickly enough to provide services to
workers when they are most needed, you asked us to (1) determine the
length of time Labor takes to award national emergency grants, (2)
determine the effect delays in grant awards have on the ability of states
and local areas to provide workers with employment and training services,
and (3) identify actions Labor is taking to improve the timeliness of
grant awards. To respond to these issues, we interviewed Labor officials
at both headquarters and regional offices, reviewed Labor files for all
grants awarded between July 1, 2000 and June 30, 2003, and surveyed
officials in the 39 states that had received at least one regular national
emergency grant during that period. We received responses from 38 states.
We conducted our work from March to October 2003 in accordance with
generally accepted government auditing standards.
On November 5, 2003, we briefed your staffs on the interim results of our
ongoing work. This report formally conveys the information provided during
that briefing. Appendix I contains the briefing slides.
In summary, we found that Labor awards virtually all of the funds
available each year for national emergency grants, but that it rarely
awards regular national emergency grants within its goal of 30 days.1
Nearly 90 percent of regular grant awards took longer than 30 days, and
about 46 percent took 90 days or more. For regular grants, which represent
about 64 percent of the grants and 58 percent of the funds awarded between
July 1, 2000 and June 30, 2003, it took Labor an average of 92 days to
send the notification of an award after receiving an application. The
amount of time Labor took to award regular grants appeared to be related
to the quarter in which the application was received. For example, regular
1Labor's goal measures the number of calendar days between the date a
complete application is received and the date the grant award is approved
by the Secretary. After approval, Labor notifies the appropriate
congressional office and issues the award letter. We tracked the number of
calendar days between the date the original application was received and
the date of the award letter.
grant applications received in the first-quarter of a program year 2
averaged 111 days from the time the application was received to the time
the grant was awarded, whereas applications received in the fourth-quarter
averaged 58 days. Furthermore, nearly 60 percent of all regular grants
were awarded in the fourth-quarter of the program year, representing
nearly two-thirds of the regular grants funds awarded, and 40 percent
during the final month, representing about one-half of the regular grant
funds awarded. Labor took less time to award dual enrollment and disaster
grants. Dual enrollment grants, which represent about one-third of the
funds awarded, took an average of 20 days to award after the applications
were received, and disaster grants, which represent less than 10 percent
of the funds awarded, took an average of 48 days.
Thirty-three of the 39 states that received at least one regular grant
between July 1, 2000, and June 30, 2003, said that the amount of time it
takes to receive regular grant funds was a major problem. In fact, 25 of
the states reported that because of the delays in receiving grant funds,
they had to delay or deny services to dislocated workers. Twenty of these
states reported that local areas had to delay training for dislocated
workers because, while waiting for national emergency grant funds, they
did not have funds available to enroll them in training. For example, in 1
state, workers were on waiting lists for 3 to 4 months before they
received training. Officials in another state reported that a local area
cancelled training for over 300 workers because of a delay in receiving
grant funds.
Labor has said it is taking steps to address the length of time it takes
to approve and award national emergency grants. In particular, under
proposed guidelines, Labor would commit to approving a grant application
within 15 business days of receiving a complete application. Labor is also
developing a Web-based, electronic system that would allow states to apply
for grants on-line. The system is also intended to help Labor better
manage the review process by automatically assigning applications to
specific staff members, specifying the number of days that they have to
complete their responsibilities, and tracking their completion dates.
Labor expects that the new guidelines and electronic system will be
finalized in December 2003. In addition, according to Labor officials,
they are
2A program year begins on July 1 of a year and ends on June 30 of the
following year. A program year is designated by the year in which it
begins. Thus, program year 2000 began on July 1, 2000, and ended on June
30, 2001.
considering additional steps to enhance the award process, such as
reviewing the entire grant award process and developing training for
states and local areas on applying for national emergency grants. As part
of our ongoing work, we will assess in more detail whether Labor's
proposed actions are likely to improve the process for awarding national
emergency grants.
We provided a draft of this report to officials at Labor for their
technical review and incorporated their comments where appropriate.
We are sending copies of this report to relevant congressional committees
and other interested parties and will make copies available to others upon
request. In addition, the report will be available at no charge on GAO's
Web site at http://www.gao.gov. If you or your staffs have any questions
about this report, please contact me at (202) 512-7215 or Joan Mahagan at
(617) 788-0521. Wayne Sylvia and Yunsian Tai also made key contributions
to this report.
Sigurd R. Nilsen Director, Education, Workforce, and Income Security
Issues
Appendix I: Briefing Slides
National Emergency Grants
Briefing for Staff of
Senator Edward M. Kennedy, Ranking Minority Member
Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions
and
Senator Patty Murray, Ranking Minority Member
Subcommittee on Employment, Safety, and Training
Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions
November 5, 2003
Appendix II: Listing of Surveyed States Awarded a Regular Grant
Listing of 39 States Surveyed That Were Awarded a Regular National
Emergency Grant during Program Years 2000 through 2002
Alabama Kentucky Ohio
Arkansas Maine Oklahoma
California Maryland Oregon
Colorado Massachusetts Pennsylvania
Connecticut Michigan Rhode Island
District of Columbia Minnesota South Carolina
Florida Mississippi South Dakota
Georgia Missouri Tennessee
Idaho Montana Texas
Illinois Nebraska Vermont
Indiana Nevada Virginia
Iowa New Hampshire Washington
Kansas New Jersey Wisconsin
Source: GAO analysis of national emergency grants awarded between July 1,
2000 and June 30, 2003.
Appendix III: Summary of Funds Awarded for Regular, Disaster, and Dual
Enrollment National Emergency Grant
Program Years 2000
through 2002
Program year Program year Program year
Statea 2000 2001 2002 Total
Alabama $6,100,000 $3,461,359 $765,689 $10,327,048
Arizona 1,271,931 0 2,747,960 4,019,891
Arkansas 9,745,980 0 1,433,566 11,179,546
California 42,631,721 2,679,762 1,896,786 47,208,269
Colorado 0 3,700,000 3,509,933 7,209,933
Connecticut 1,202,002 1,534,400 3,203,075 5,939,477
District of Columbia 876,573 0 0 876,573
Federated States of 0 0 1,150,000 1,150,000
Micronesia
Florida 212,346 8,602,272 8,603,858 17,418,476
Georgia 0 3,026,880 420,000 3,446,880
Guam 0 0 13,300,000 13,300,000
Idaho 1,072,489 1,800,000 3,373,185 6,245,674
Illinois 5,250,562 7,000,000 4,000,889 16,251,451
Indiana 0 3,505,274 3,769,867 7,275,141
Iowa 4,498,909 4,728,639 6,748,852 15,976,400
Kansas 620,226 0 5,792,029 6,412,255
Kentucky 0 0 10,935,804 10,935,804
Louisiana 3,280,000 0 1,500,000 4,780,000
Maine 1,200,000 6,425,441 10,488,317 18,113,758
Maryland 0 5,970,294 3,181,022 9,151,316
Massachusetts 0 15,697,403 15,938,190 31,635,593
Michigan 0 4,153,666 5,709,991 9,863,657
Minnesota 0 8,000,000 11,990,890 19,990,890
Mississippi 0 0 1,644,366 1,644,366
Missouri 2,070,883 1,913,322 11,449,938 15,434,143
Montana 9,576,978 2,876,534 2,114,478 14,567,990
Nebraska 1,121,474 2,168,931 236,054 3,526,459
Nevada 0 1,900,000 3,900,000 5,800,000
New Hampshire 0 5,004,456 470,403 5,474,859
New Jersey 6,245,346 270,000 3,442,318 9,957,664
New Mexico 0 0 560,842 560,842
New York 0 0 1,561,851 1,561,851
North Carolina 6,300,000 5,989,718 7,084,245 19,373,963
Appendix III: Summary of Funds Awarded for Regular, Disaster, and Dual
Enrollment National Emergency Grant
Program year Program year Program year
Statea 2000 2001 2002 Total
North Dakota 378,793 0 99,000 477,793
Ohio 15,200,826 0 11,838,929 27,039,755
Oklahoma 0 1,175,155 5,609,778 6,784,933
Oregon 10,905,717 11,397,917 4,513,004 26,816,638
Pennsylvania 16,139,341 19,579,042 33,672,196 69,390,579
Rhode Island 2,827,470 0 268,236 3,095,706
South Carolina 0 0 3,414,658 3,414,658
South Dakota 1,088,725 250,000 1,093,540 2,432,265
Tennessee 375,000 1,352,774 3,988,873 5,716,647
Texas 7,732,972 16,943,771 2,111,738 26,788,481
Utah 0 0 740,230 740,230
Vermont 0 400,000 985,877 1,385,877
Virginia 15,000,000 4,715,000 5,938,031 25,653,031
Washington 6,068,668 5,000,000 14,361,486 25,430,154
West Virginia 0 9,499,990 3,000,000 12,499,990
Wisconsin 5,554,054 10,152,032 4,457,451 20,163,537
Total $184,548,986 $180,874,032 $249,017,425 $614,440,443
Source: GAO analysis of regular, disaster, and dual enrollment grant funds
awarded between July 1, 2000 and June 30, 2003
aAlaska, Delaware, Hawaii, and Wyoming did not receive any regular,
disaster, or dual enrollment national emergency grants.
Appendix IV: Number of Days to Award Regular Grants by State
Average number of
days from receipt of
State Number of regular grantsa application to award
Alabama 2
Arkansas 1
California 1
Colorado 1
Connecticut 6
District of Columbia 1
Florida 1
Georgia 4
Idaho 4
Illinois 3
Indiana 2
Iowa 16
Kansas 3
Kentucky 3
Maine 13
Maryland 2
Massachusetts 9
Michigan 3 85
Minnesota 3 103
Missouri 12 99
Montana 5 51
Nebraska 2 40
Nevada 1 79
New Hampshire 3 78
New Jersey 3 174
Ohio 4 40
Oklahoma 3 123
Oregon 6 96
Pennsylvania 4 109
Rhode Island 3 32
South Carolina 1 122
South Dakota 3 82
Tennessee 2 116
Texas 3 122
Average number of
days from receipt of
State Number of regular grantsa application to award
Virginia 2 106
Vermont 1
Wisconsin 5
aRepresents the number of regular grants for which complete information
was available. There were a total of 14 regular grants for which we did
not have complete information.
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