Emergency Justification

Justification for Emergency ICR Approval: Reporting Package for the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) High Growth and Emerging Industries (HGEI) Grants

Background: The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (The Recovery Act, P.L. 111-5) was signed into law by President Obama on February 17, 2009. The Recovery Act is intended to preserve and create jobs, promote the nation’s economic recovery, and assist those most impacted by the recession. The Recovery Act provides the U.S. Department of Labor and the public workforce investment system with funding for a number of employment and training programs to help American workers acquire new skills and get back to work. ETA’s Recovery Act funded grant programs include the Wagner-Peyser Act’s Reemployment Services Grants; the National Emergency Grants; and ARRA HGEI Grants.

Need for Emergency Approval: ETA is requesting emergency approval to collect information consisting of reporting and recordkeeping requirements for the ARRA HGEI grants awarded under six Solicitations for Grant Applications (SGAs): State Labor Market Information Improvement Grants (SGA/DFA PY-08-17); (b) Energy Training Partnership Grants (SGA/DFA PY-08-18); (c) Pathways Out of Poverty Grants (SGA/DFA PY-08-19); (d) State Energy Sector Partnership and Training Grants (SGA/DFA PY-08-20); (e) Green Capacity Building Grants (SGA/DFA PY-08-21); and (f) Health Care Sector and Other High Growth and Emerging Industries Grants (SGA/DFA PY-09-01). These reporting requirements include 1) standardized data collection on program participants and 2) quarterly performance and narrative progress report submissions. All data collection and reporting will be submitted by the grantees.

To support the Recovery Act’s goals in awarding funds expeditiously to employment and training programs that help American workers acquire new skills and get back to work, ETA has already started awarding ARRA HGEI grants, and plans to award nearly all ARRA HGEI grants by February 2010. ETA has published six ARRA HGEI SGAs, and has awarded grants to applicants for two of those SGAs.  These grantees started grant activities on December 1, 2009, and must submit their first quarterly report by February 12, 2010 (reporting on all grant activities taking place through December 31, 2009).  Grantees for the other four SGAs, who will begin grant activities during the January – March, 2010 quarter, must submit their first quarterly reports for the quarter ending March 31, 2010.  These initial reports will be due by May 15, 2010. 

Therefore ETA requests emergency approval for its information collection to provide those awarded grants from the first two SGAs with sufficient time to review the reporting requirements and submit reports on their use of Recovery Act funds for the entire period of performance of their grants. The accuracy, reliability, and comparability of program reports submitted by grantees using federal funds are fundamental elements of good public administration and are necessary tools for maintaining and demonstrating system integrity. The use of a standard set of data elements, definitions, and specifications at all levels of the workforce system, including the ARRA HGEI grants, helps improve ETA’s quality of performance information.

The quarterly narrative reports are intended to provide a detailed account of program activities, accomplishments, and progress toward performance outcomes during the quarter. All six ARRA HGEI grantees will complete quarterly narrative reports. ARRA HGEI grantees will consist of those awarded grants under the following SGAs: (a) State Labor Market Information Improvement Grants (SGA/DFA PY-08-17); (b) Energy Training Partnership Grants (SGA/DFA PY-08-18); (c) Pathways Out of Poverty Grants (SGA/DFA PY-08-19); (d) State Energy Sector Partnership and Training Grants (SGA/DFA PY-08-20); (e) Green Capacity Building Grants (SGA/DFA PY-08-21); and (f) Health Care Sector and Other High Growth and Emerging Industries Grants (SGA/DFA PY-09-01).

The quarterly performance reports (Form ETA-9153) include aggregate data on demographic characteristics, types of services received, outcomes, and retention and follow-up status. Only four of the six ARRA HGEI grantees, funded under training SGAs, will complete quarterly performance reports: (a) Energy Training Partnership Grants (SGA/DFA PY-08-18); (b) Pathways Out of Poverty Grants (SGA/DFA PY-08-19); (c) State Energy Sector Partnership and Training Grants (SGA/DFA PY-08-20); and (d) Health Care Sector and Other High Growth and Emerging Industries Grants (SGA/DFA PY-09-01).

The performance reporting requirements in this submission align with outcome categories identified in the SGAs used to award the ARRA HGEI grants, as noted above. The collection of this data will help ETA report the impact of these Recovery Act funds and will provide ETA with more comprehensive information on the status of individual grants and individuals that receive services and find employment through these grants. The data will also help ETA provide more targeted technical assistance to support improvement of grantee outcomes. ETA will provide ARRA HGEI grantees with a data collection system, the Recovery Act Data (RAD) system, which will support (a) the collection of participant data for required reporting elements and (b) the submission of quarterly performance (ETA-9153 Form) and narrative reports to ETA.