VETS Competative Grants Quarterly Reporting Guidance

U.S. Department of Labor

Assistant Secretary for
Veterans' Employment and Training
Washington, D.C. 20210

SEPZ62014

VETERANS' PROGRAM LETTER NO. 09-14

MEMORANDUM FOR:

ALL VETERANS' EMPLOYMENT AND TRAINING
SERVICE COMPETITIVE GRANT RECIPIENTS

FROM:

SUBJECT:

Competitive Grants Quarterly Reporting Guidance

I.

To provide guidance on submission of quarterly fiscal and performance
reports for all Veterans' Employment and Training Service (VETS) competitive
grantees.

II.

Workforce Investment Act Section 168; Title 38 U. S. Code Sections 2021
and 2023; 29 CFR, Part 95, Grants and Agreements with Institutions of Higher
Education, Hospitals and Non-profit Organizations; 29 CFR, Part 97 (A-l02), Uniform
Administrative Requirements for Grants and Cooperative Agreements to State and Local
Governments; A-2 l , Cost Principles for Educational Institutions,
http://whitehouse.gov/omb/circulars default; A-87, Cost Principles for State, Local, and
Indian Tribal Governments; A-122, Cost Principles for Non-Profit Organizations; and
the Special Grant Provisions issued with the Notice of Obligation and Notice of Award.

III.

This VPL supersedes and rescinds VPL 02-12, dated November 30, 2011.

IV.

VETS competitive grantees are required to submit quarterly fiscal and
perfonnance reports to comply with the reporting requirements of the grant to facilitate
grant oversight responsibilities of VETS , Grant Officer Technical Representatives
(GOTR). VETS monitors reports submitted by the grantee to ensure funds are expended
in accordance with cost principles established for Federal awards and determines if
performance is within the planned goals. In order to meet the reporting requirements
grantees are required to have access to the Department of Labor's Grantee Reporting
System (GRS), for submission of the Standard Fonn (SF) 425, Federal Financial Report
(referred to as the FFR throughout this VPL), and access to the VETS Operations and
Programs Activity Report (VOPAR) for submission of performance reports. Any

Purpose:

References:

Background:

grantee that does not have access to either of these two reporting portals should
contact the appropriate Grant Officer's Technical Representative (GOTR) as soon
as possible.
V.

Grant Administration: The State Oirector for Veterans' Employment and Training

(OVET) serves as the GOTR. While the OVET may designate some duties to other

VETS staff in the performance of grant monitoring and oversight, the OVET, as the
GOTR, has ultimate responsibility for the management of competitive grants.

The GOTR will recommend approval or disapproval to the Regional

Administrator for Veterans' Employment and Training
following:

A.

(RAVET) for the

Technical changes not involving a change in the scope, cost, or conditions of the

grant award agreement;

B.

Quarterly Technical Performance and Financial Status Reports;

C.

Corrective Action Plans; and

O.

Certain budget line item deviations requested by the grantee up to the limit
specified in the Special Grant Provisions.

NOTE: The RAVET is responsible for the fmal approval once the GOTR has
provided his/her recommendation.
VI.

Reporting Requirements:

A.

The grantee must submit certified electronic quarterly fiscal and perfonnance

reports via GRS http://www.etareports.doleta.gov/cfdocs/grantee prod/reporting
and VOPAR https://vopar.doleta.gov/.

Fiscal reports are due no later than 30

calendar days after the end of each quarter. Complete and accurate performance

reports are due the last day of the month, following the ending date of each

quarter during the active performance period:
•

1" Quarter by October 31";

•

2nd Quarter by January 31 ";

•

3'd Quarter by April 301\

•

41h

Quarter by July 31";

As well as for the follow-up performance period:
•

•

1
5 h Quarter by October 31 ";
1
6 h Quarter by January 31 ";

•

71h Quarter (Final) by April 30th;

•

FFR Closeout within 90 days of certifying a final FFR.

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NOTE: Early quarterly report submissions are strongly encouraged so that needed
corrections can be identified and made in time for the reports to be certified by the
required due date.

B.

All pages of the reporting documents submitted by grantees must include the

C.

Between scheduled reporting dates, grantees will immediately inform the GOTR

appropriate grant number.

of any significant developments affecting their ability to submit timely quarterly
reports. GOTRs will provide grantees with the necessary technical assistance to

address issues.

Grantees must submit a justification to the GOTR regarding any proposed changes to

previously reported perfonnance data in VOPAR. If approved, the applicable quarters of
the grant period will be reopened for correction. Once the grantee finalizes the data,

VETS will review the revised perfonnance data, resolve any discrepancies and approve
the data in VOPAR within one week.

VII.

Report Content and Submission: All components of the competitive grant quarterly

reports are submitted electronically into either the Department of Labor's GRS reporting
system or the VOPAR reporting system. Submissions to the VOPAR system require

data entry or attachment of documents as described below. All documents submitted to

VOPAR will be saved following a standard naming convention illustrated in the table
below using a fictitious PY 20 I J grant awarded as grant number HV- J 2345-11-60-5- J 2.
Only one document per program year and quarter will be accepted for the documents

listed below. Any corrected document uploaded will replace the previously uploaded
document of the same type.
File Type

File Name

Teclmical Perfonnance RepOli

HV-12345 PYl l
HV-12345 PYl l
HV-12345 PYl l
HV-12345 PYl l

Technical Performance Narrative
Corrective Action Plan
Success Stories

Ql TPR.xls

Q l TPN.doc

Ql CAP.doc
Ql SS.doc

Program Year
PY Quarter
I

Report Abbreviation

Pdfs are acceptable.

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Format

MS-Excel

'
MS-Word
'
MS-Word
MS-Word

A.

Financial Reports: The FFR can be saved in the GRS but will not be submitted

for acceptance by the GOTR until it is certified in the system by the grantee. All

financial information must be submitted utilizing the electronic FFR via the GRS
no later than 30 days after the end of each program year quarter at:

http://www.etareports.doleta.gov/cfdocs/grantee prod/reporting. Separate FFRs
must be submitted for each grant year and identify appropriate financial
information for the grant year reported.

B.

Closeout FFR: A closeout FFR must be submitted by the grantee no later than 90

days after the period of performance.
C.

Quarterly Perfonnance and Expenditure Data: Grantees must enter quarterly data

for each grant year utilizing the YOPAR system web site at

https:llvopar.doleta.gov, using the "Enter/Edit Actuals" link. The data to be
entered comes directly from the "YOPAR Reporting" and "YOPAR

Demographics Summary" worksheets of the Technical Performance Report

(TPR) described below.
D.

Technical Performance Report (TPR): The template for the TPR is available on

the YETS website at: http://www.dol.gov/vets/programs/commonlmain.htm

under YOPAR Forms. The TPR must be uploaded in the YOPAR system as a
Microsoft Excel workbook. Use the applicable "Attach Narratives" link in

YOPAR to select the grant, program year and quarter under which the TPR

document should be uploaded. The name of the grantee, grant number, and total

grant award amount must be included on the worksheet labeled "YOPAR

Reporting." The period of performance dates must reflect the program year dates

covered plus the three quarters of follow-up.
E.

Technical Performance Narrative (TPN): The TPN must be uploaded into the

YOPAR system. The first page of the narrative must include the grantee name,

grant number, and the period covered by the report. The TPN must contain:
I.

A comparison of actual quarterly and cumulative perfonnance to

established goals for the reporting period, and response to any findings
related to monitoring efforts. This comparison will detail any

discrepancies between planned goals and actual perfonnance outcomes.

2.

A Corrective Action Plan (CAP) may be required if established goals

have not been met. See Section YIII below for guidance related to a
CAP.

3.

Other pertinent infonnation, including a description of grant-related
activities occurring during the reporting period. This may include

personnel activity (hiring-training), conununity orientationlawareness

activity, and progranunatic activity (such as job development and job­
driven training). The TPN should also identify administrative and

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programmatic problems that may affect perfonnance and proposed

solutions.
4.

The grantee must include a statement attesting to the completeness and
accuracy of the quarterly reports submitted to the GOTR.

The 7th quarter (final) report must include an explanation of status of participants who
were placed into employment during the grant period and were no longer employed at
the end of the follow-up period.

F.

Success Stories: Success stories must be uploaded into the VOPAR system as an
attachment. The first page of the document must include the grantee name, grant

number, and the period covered by the report.
G.

Evidence of Compliance with the Quarterly Reporting Requirement: In order to

be considered in compliance with the quarterly reporting requirement identified

in Section VI.A, each grantee must complete the following steps by the date
specified in that Section:
I.

Upload the Technical Perfonnance Report (TPR) in accordance with

Section VII.D.;

2.

3.

Upload the Technical Performance Report Narrative (TPN) in accordance

with Section VILE.;

Submit complete and accurate Quarterly Perfonnance and Expenditure

Data, in accordance with Section VIl.C.;

4.

Submit and certify the FFR in GRS in accordance with Section VIl.A.

Any grantee that has not completed all four of the above steps by the date specified in

Section VI will be considered out of compliance with the quarterly reporting requirement
and is subject to corrective action.

VIII.

Corrective Action Plan (CAP):

Grantees are accountable for meeting the fiscal and

perfonnance goals approved by the Grant Officer as well as all reporting requirements.
A.

GOTRs may require a CAP for the following reasons:
I.

Inaccurate or late reporting - Failure to submit accurate and complete

fiscal and/or performance reports on or before the last day of the month
after the end of the repoliing qualier;

2.

Non-Compliance Issues - Non-compliance with tenns and conditions of

the grant award to include failure to comply with fiscal goals peliinent to
Uniform Administrative Requirements, Cost Principles, and Audit

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Requirements

(2 CFR Part 200) 29 CFR Part 95 and applicable Special

Grant Provisions;
3.

Poor Perfonnance - Failure to meet one or more of the following critical

perfonnance outcomes in any quarter of the grant period:
a)

Enrollments

-

the cumulative enrollments through the end of the

reporting quarter divided by the cumulative enrollment goal

through that quarter; (If the percentage

of actual enrollments is
less than 85%, or greater than 115% of the planned enrollments, a
CAP is required.)

b)

Placements

-

the cumulative placements through the end of the

reporting quarter divided by the cumulative placement goal

through that quarter; (Ifthe percentage

of actual placements is
less than 85%, or greater than 115% ofthe planned placements, a
CAP is required.)

c)

Placement Rate

-

the cumulative placement rate through the

reporting quarter divided by the cumulative placement rate goal
through that quarter;

d)

Cost Per Placement (CPP)

-

the cumulative cost per placement

through the end of the repoliing quarter divided by the cumulative

cost per placement goal through that quarter. (Ifthe actual cost
per placement is less than 85%, or greater than 115% ofthe
planned cost per placement, a CAP is required.)

The critical perfonnance outcomes listed above will be evaluated for the purposes of a
CAP. Grantees that are not achieving planned quarterly perfonnance goals or plmmed

cumulative goals per the above criteria should submit a CAP with the quarterly report.
B.

For grantees that do not submit the required CAP identifying actions to improve
perfonnance with the quarterly repoli, the following process will occur:
I.

Notification: If a CAP is required but has not been submitted with the

quarterly report, the GOTR will notify the grantee, identifying the issue(s)
and the need for the grantee to immediately submit a CAP. E-mail

notification is acceptable.
2.

Submission: The grantee must upload the CAP in VOPAR with the

quat1eriy repol1. The first page must include the grantee name, the grant

number, and the grant year. An acceptable CAP must include:
a.)

The critical goals that have not been met, or other issues (such as

late or inaccurate reporting, and other non-compliance issues) that
made the CAP necessary;

b.)

An explanation of identified deviations in performance or other

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issue(s);

3.

c.)

Actions that will be taken to correct the issue(s), and/or

d.)

A timeline for implementation of the corrective actions; and

e.)

A timeline for anticipated improved performance in the critical

performance;

areas or resolution of other issue(s).

Acceptance: Once the CAP is drafted, the grantee will upload it into

VOPAR. If the GOTR does not find the CAP to be acceptable, he/she

will provide additional technical assistance and work with the grantee to
develop an acceptable CAP. VETS will approve acceptable CAPs in

VOPAR within
quarter.

4.

45 days after the end of the applicable federal reporting

Follow-up: The grantee must maintain frequent (at least monthly) contact

with the GOTR, either in-person, by telephone, or by email, for assistance
to review up-to-date financial and programmatic performance and grantee

progress in resolving the issues identified in the CAP. If the issues

necessitating the CAP are resolved, the GOTR will access VOPAR and

annotate that the CAP has been successfully completed. The GOTR will
also send a letter to the grantee infonning them that the CAP has been
successfully implemented.

5.

Quarterly Review: Each quarter, the GOTR will review the grantee's

performance criteria to identify those areas requiring a CAP. In the event

that a grantee is already on a CAP for failing to meet perf01l11anCe criteria
in a previous quarter, the GOTR will work with the grantee to perfonn

one of the following actions:
a.)

If the grantee fails to meet one of the perfonnance critelia that is

not included in the existing CAP, a new CAP will be developed to
address the perfonnance criteria. This new document will be

uploaded as a new CAP for the CUiTent qUaJier.
b.)

If the grantee fails to meet the same perfonnance criteria as the

existing CAP, the existing CAP will be modified to reflect the

second consecutive quarter the same perf01l11anCe measure was

missed and any change in strategies to address perfonnance. This

modified document will be uploaded as a new CAP for the CUiTent

quarter.
c.)

If the grantee has sufficiently improved perf01l11anCe in some but

not all areas included in the existing CAP, the existing CAP will
be modified to remove areas where perfonnance has improved

and, to reflect any change in strategies to address the remaining
deficient areas.

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If grantee performance does not improve to an acceptable level, as defined in Section

VIII, within two reporting quarters, or if the other issue(s) are not resolved, VETS staff

will consult with the Grant Officer to detennine if the grantee is High Risk. Grantees so
designated run the risk of not being recommended for optional year funding or being

unable to receive other Federal funding.
IX.

Option Year Funding: Should Congress appropriate funds for this purpose, VETS may

consider option year funding in accordance with the grant provisions. VETS does not
guarantee option year funding for any grantee.

In deciding whether to exercise any

option year funding, VETS will evaluate grantee perfonnance during the previous period
of operations as follows:

The grantee must meet, at minimum,

85% of planned cumulative quarterly goals by the

end of the second quarter of the current Program Year for:
A.

Enrollments;

B.

Placements;

C.

Placement Rate; and

D.

Cost per Placement

[n addition to the above, VETS will also evaluate the following in detem1ining optional

year funding:
A.

X.

Compliance with all terms identified in the SGA, the grant award document, and

the General and Special Grant Provisions, as verified by the GOTR;

B.

Timely and accurate submission of all program and fiscal reports; and

C.

Perfonnance that resulted in a CAP, at any time during the program year (PY),
has been or is being fully addressed to the satisfaction of the GOTR.

Review Analvsis and Recommendation:

Prior to submitting quarterly repOlis, the

grantee will review and analyze all reports and related documents to ensure that they are
complete and accurate.

It is also highly recommended that grantees provide GOTRs

with the FFR and all reporting documents for review PRIOR to submission to the GRS
and VOPAR.

After the electronic submission of repOlis, the documents will be reviewed and approved
by VETS. Upon notification that a report has been approved, grantees must submit a

signed, hard copy of all documents to the Grant Officer at:

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Department of Labor
Procurement Services Center

200 Constitution Avenue NW, Room # S-2203
Washington, DC 20210
Attn: Cassandra Mitchell
XI.

Actions Required:

A.

Grantees are encouraged to meet with their GOTR to obtain technical assistance

and training on the reporting process.
B.

Grantees will submit all electronic and hard copy reports in accordance with the

due dates, file fonnat, and file naming conventions described above.

XII.

Inquiries: Grantees should refer questions to the appropliate GOTR.

XIII.

Expiration Date: Until superseded or rescinded.

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