Justification for Non-Substantive Change, 1205-0439

Justification for Non-Substantive Change, 1205-0439

The Department of Labor announced the one-time availability of On-the-Job Training (OJT) National Emergency Grants (NEGs), funded with American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) resources, on April 12, 2010, through the issuance of Training and Employment Notice (TEN) 38-09 (http://wdr.doleta.gov/directives/attach/TEN/ten2009/ten38-09.pdf), uploaded here as a supplementary document.

This opportunity provided $75 million in NEG funds to 45 grantees to create OJT opportunities for dislocated workers in those areas most severely impacted by the recession. While OJT is an allowable activity under any NEG, these NEGs were offered specifically to provide OJT to dislocated workers who are experiencing prolonged unemployment. OJT opportunities offered through these NEGs will enable employers to create training and job opportunities for these individuals that will help them become proficient in needed skills more quickly, and will hopefully result in a permanent position after the OJT is completed. Unlike other NEGs, these OJT NEGs focus on a specific subset of dislocated workers: those experiencing prolonged unemployment who also have the greatest barriers to reemployment.

For this initiative, grantees must develop OJT NEG project designs that incorporate strategies to identify workers from those industry sectors that experienced high rates of job loss during the recession, as well as a number of other elements discussed in the implementation plan criteria provided as part of the terms and conditions of the OJT NEG awards and in Training and Employment Guidance Letter (TEGL) 4-10 (http://wdr.doleta.gov/directives/attach/TEGL/TEGL04-10.pdf), uploaded here as a supplementary document. The implementation plans are to be submitted to the Department via an official NEG modification request. Although the burden hours for modifications are also covered under 1205-0439; the burden hours for the implementation plans specific to these 45 OJT NEG projects and are not covered, as they are not required for other types of NEGs. The additional burden hour estimate for completing the implementation plan narrative is twelve (12) hours per grantee, or 540 burden hours (45 x 12 = 540 hours).