Veterans Accelerated Learning for Licensed Occupations Project FOA Supplemental Supporting Statement

Veterans Accelerated Learning for Licensed Occupations Project

Supplemental Justification

Supplemental Supporting Statement A: Justification

This request seeks OMB approval under the Paperwork Reduction Act for the unique information collection requirements in the “Veterans Accelerated Learning for Licensed Occupations Project” solicitation. The Department will announce the availability of up to $4.5 million for Veterans Accelerated Learning for Licensed Occupations Project cooperative agreements. Individual awards will be up to $1.5 million. The purpose of this funding is to fund cooperative agreements to partnerships to help increase and expedite attainment of state occupational licenses by veterans and transitioning servicemembers (TSM).

Veterans Accelerated Learning for Licensed Occupations Project cooperative agreements are discretionary agreements awarded by the Secretary of Labor under the FY 2017 Consolidated Appropriations Act, as clarified by language and instructions set forth in the House Report 112-699 and Senate Report 114-274. This program will build on an earlier demonstration project with participation by six states, focused on veteran’s occupational licensure, and certification. Successful applicants will build on the foundation of the issues, challenges, and strategies identified in the previous demonstration project. Although military servicemembers on active duty are the beneficiaries of extensive training that prepares them to perform in a range of occupations specialties veterans and TSMs often find that they lack the relevant civilian occupational credentials required under federal or state law or by an employer to secure employment.

The project aims to accomplish increasing and expediting attainment of state occupational licenses by veterans and TSMs by identifying gaps between military education and training in specific military occupations as compared to the education required for related licensed civilian occupations. For example, credit recommendations sometimes identify military education as equivalent to 1 or 2 credits of a 3-credit course—leaving gaps that are portions of courses. Where these identified gaps represent portions of multiple required courses the project will develop a bridge curriculum, as open educational resources, to address those gaps such that veterans can enter and complete a program of study required to obtain a state license needed to achieve their career objectives. Furthermore, the project seeks to identify instances in which civilian education programs can waive required courses by awarding credit for military training or giving veterans and TSM advanced standing within an existing training program.

In response to this FOA, the application will

These funds will be awarded to Nonprofit Organizations with IRS 501(c)(3) status, including but not limited to national and regional organizations across multiple states and/or tribal areas. There are two required partners, one representing postsecondary education interests, and one representing occupational licensing interests.

Applications will include the following information collections: 1.) Form SF-424 “Application for Federal Assistance,” separately cleared under OMB control number 4040-0004; 2.) Form SF-424A, separately cleared under OMB control number 4040-0006; 3.) a Budget Narrative; 4.) Project Narrative; and 5.) Attachments to the Project Narrative

Electronic availability:

This grant solicitation will be available on the www.grants.gov Web site. Based on past DOL experience, the Department anticipates 85 percent of responses will be submitted electronically and 15 percent of responses will be submitted through a hardcopy.

Small Entities:

This information collection will not have a significant impact on a substantial number of small entities.

Assurances of confidentiality:

These grant solicitations do not offer applicants assurances of confidentiality.

Special circumstances:

This solicitation implicates no special circumstances.

Burden:

The DOL expects to receive approximately 25 applications from an equal number of respondents.  The public reporting burden for this collection of information is estimated to average 20 hours per response, including time for reviewing instructions, searching existing data sources, gathering and maintaining needed data, and completing and reviewing the collection of information.

25 applications x 20 hours = 500 hours

The DOL has increased the average hourly earnings in the professional and business services industry to $31.96 per hour to monetize this burden.  See The Employment Situation—February 2018, DOL, Bureau of Labor Statistics, https://www.bls.gov/news.release/archives/empsit_03092018.pdf at page 33.

500 hours x $31.96 = $15,980

The DOL associates no other burden costs with this information collection. In addition to the application, each grantee will be required to submit quarterly financial and performance reports to the ETA. Those information collection requirements will be cleared under a separate control number

Total burden: 25 respondents, 25 responses, 500 hours, $0 other cost burden.

Supplemental Supporting Statement B: Statistical Methods

This information collection does not employ statistical methods.

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