1. Workforce Innovation Fund: Examining Administrative Flexibility
January 4, 2012

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7. Deputy Assistant Secretary
Moderator
Gerri Fiala
Deputy Assistant Secretary
Department of Labor Employment and Training Administration

8. Session Overview
The WIF and Administrative Flexibility
Existing Flexibilities In Federal Programs
Examples of Administrative Flexibility In Action
Q & A

9. Featured Speakers Presenters
Gerri Fiala, Deputy Assistant Secretary - Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration
Brenda Dann-Messier, Assistant Secretary - Department of Education, Office of Vocational and Adult Education
Lynnae Ruttledge, Commissioner of Rehabilitation Services - Department of Education
Earl Johnson, Director - Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families, Office of Family Assistance
Victoria Collin, Office of Federal Financial Management, Office of Management and Budget
Judi Fisher, Chief of the Division of Policy, Review, and Resolution – Employment and Training Administration, Department of Labor

10. Deputy Assistant Secretary
Presenter
Gerri Fiala
Deputy Assistant Secretary
Department of Labor Employment and Training Administration

11. The WIF and Administrative Flexibility Overview
The WIF Solicitation
Encourages applicants to explore existing program flexibilities or waivers that may be needed to enhance proposed innovations
Existing statutory waiver authority applies
Where waiver is needed, description of requested flexibility or formal waiver request may be included as an attachment to the technical proposal

12. The WIF and Administrative Flexibility Overview
The WIF Solicitation (Cont.)
Base proposed outcomes and deliverables on what you can accomplish without waivers or special rules; requests for additional flexibilities or waivers will be considered after grant award
Specific program administrative flexibility and waiver authority described in Attachment B of solicitation

13. WIA Title I Waiver Authority
WIA Title I Administrative Flexibility
WIA Title I Waiver Authority
Tool for states to overcome barriers in statutory or regulatory provisions of WIA Title I
Provides flexibility in exchange for improved programmatic outcomes
Waivers granted must be consistent with WIA’s key reform principles
Waiver of WIA Title I may be needed if proposed innovation includes use of WIA formula funds

14. WIA Section 189 Waiver Authority
WIA Title I Administrative Flexibility
WIA Section 189 Waiver Authority
Secretary may waive for a state any of the statutory or regulatory requirements of:
WIA Title I, subtitles B & E
Sections 8 through 10 of the Wagner-Peyser Act
Certain exclusions:
Wage and labor standards
Grievance procedures
Non-discrimination
Allocation of funds to local areas
Eligibility of providers and participants
Local board provisions
Review and approval of plans
Wagner-Peyser merit staffing provisions
Services to Unemployment Insurance claimants and veterans
Universal access to labor exchange programs

15. Waiver Examples WIA Title I Administrative Flexibility
Adult/Dislocated Worker funds transfer
On-the-job training and customized training reimbursement sliding scale
Competitive procurement of Youth program elements
Performance measures for summer youth program co-enrolled in TANF and WIA

16. WIA Title I Administrative Flexibility
For more information on WIA Title I waiver authority and previously approved waivers visit

17. Brenda Dann- Messier Assistant Secretary
Presenter
Brenda Dann- Messier Assistant Secretary
Department of Education
Office of Vocational and Adult Education

18. WIA Title II Administrative Flexibility
Adult Education and Family Literacy Act (AEFLA)
Does not allow authority to grant waivers to states, except in the following instance:
Maintenance of Effort (MOE) requirements

19. WIA Title II Administrative Flexibility
Maintenance of Effort
Secretary of Education may waive requirements of MOE for one fiscal year, if the Secretary determines a waiver would be equitable due to exceptional or uncontrollable circumstances.

20. WIA Title II Administrative Flexibility
Existing Administrative Flexibilities
Eliminate fragmentation and promote program alignment within the public workforce system;
Encourage co-enrollment with WIA partner programs; and
Support integration of education and training (Guidance on Integrated Education and Training (IET) available at:

21. WIA Title II Administrative Flexibility
Permissive State Leadership Funding Activities (Sec. 223):
Activities of statewide significance that promote the purpose of AEFLA
Professional development to improve instructional quality
Monitoring and evaluation of quality and improvement of adult education and literacy services
Incentives for program coordination and integration

22. WIA Title II Administrative Flexibility
Permissive State Leadership Funding Activities (Cont.):
Coordination with existing support services (i.e., transportation, child care, etc.)
Integration of literacy instruction and occupational skill training, and promoting linkage with employers
Linkages with postsecondary education
Collaboration with eligible agencies, where possible, to maximize the impact of activities

23. Lynnae Ruttledge Commissioner of Rehabilitation Services
Presenter
Lynnae Ruttledge Commissioner of Rehabilitation Services
Department of Education

24. WIA Title IV Administrative Flexibility
VR program committed to promoting cross-program collaboration, leveraging resources, and building capacity to achieve better employment outcomes for individuals with significant disabilities. State VR agencies are doing this through: 
Co-enrollment in workforce programs, schools, and veterans programs
Partnership with Education on new approaches like Project SEARCH
Partnerships with disability organizations, community partners, and employers. 

25. WIA Title IV Administrative Flexibility
Individual Choice and State Flexibility
VR services are individualized:
choice of vocational objective
choice of services
choice of service provider
State VR agencies may provide almost any service that is found necessary to reach the employment outcome agreed to in the IPE
Individual services flexibility may take into consideration state policies regarding individual financial participation and the existence of comparable benefits from other programs.

26. WIA Title IV Administrative Flexibility
THE BEST THING Program partnership and individuals services flexibilities built in NO WAIVER REQUIRED

27. WIA Title IV Administrative Flexibility
Additional Flexibility
Waiver of maintenance of effort (MOE) requirements: Allows the State VR agency to waive the requirements of the MOE for one fiscal year under exceptional circumstances
Waiver of ‘Statewideness’: Allows the state VR agency to provide services in one or more political subdivisions of the state that increase or expand the services available statewide under the state plan. The State VR agency cannot cease provision of services required under the state plan and replace them with different services.

28. WIA Title IV Administrative Flexibility
Waiver Request Process
Unified state plan submission
VR program state plan submission
A modification to either the unified state plan or the VR state plan

29. Presenter Earl Johnson Director
Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families, Office of Family Assistance

30. Temporary Assistance for Needy Families
TANF Purposes
The TANF program provides extraordinary flexibility for funding a wide variety of employment and related activities.
All usage of funds must meet one of the four purposes of the TANF program:
To provide assistance to needy families;
To end dependence of needy parents by promoting job preparation, work and marriage;
To prevent and reduce out-of-wedlock pregnancies; or
To encourage the formation and maintenance of two-parent families.

31. Temporary Assistance for Needy Families
Broad Flexibility of Activities
Funds can be used to provide benefits and services for families that are not receiving cash assistance, as long as they are needy.
States may decide the income and resource standards that they will use to determine eligibility, and they may set different financial eligibility criteria for different benefits or services.
States may contract for expansions of services in other federally funded programs.

32. Temporary Assistance for Needy Families
Work Participation Rate
For families receiving cash assistance, work participation rules apply, and states must demonstrate that a certain portion of their caseload is engaged in countable work activities.
Thus, while States are free to use the funds to provide activities that do not count toward the rates, States will often want to prioritize or limit funding for assistance recipients to activities that count toward the rates. 

33. Temporary Assistance for Needy Families
Work Support Examples
Provide job search, job placement, transportation, and child care services
Provide work experience and case management to individuals with employment barriers
Subsidize wages directly or through an employer
Provide job retention services or post-employment follow-up services, such as counseling

34. Temporary Assistance for Needy Families
Education and Training Examples
Share with employers the costs of on-site education, such as ESL or literacy classes
Provide classes for new, unskilled, and semi-skilled workers to teach new skills or enhance existing skills
Train employed current and former recipients in job- related vocational and literacy skills
Fund education or job training activities at colleges and secondary and technical schools

35. Temporary Assistance for Needy Families
Additional Resources
TANF Funding Guide: esources/funding_guide.htm
TANF Policy Questions and Answers: olquest/index.htm

36. Office of Federal Financial Management Office of Management and Budget
Presenter
Victoria Collin
Office of Federal Financial Management
Office of Management and Budget

37. Presenter Judi Fisher Chief of the Division
Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration, Office of Policy, Review, and Resolution

38. OMB Circular Flexibility
For the WIF solicitation:
OMB has offered potential flexibility to ETA for WIA Title I formula programs on time and effort reporting
For WIF grant awardees, will consider a waiver of the cost principles requirements at 2 CFR Part 225 and 2 CFR Part 230, Appendix B.8
May include flexibility for Personnel Activity Reports
Will be offered to grantees that come forward with alternative proposals that ensure the appropriate use of Federal funds

39. OMB Circular Flexibility
Awardees seeking this flexibility may:
Provide certifications of time distribution that are reasonably supported by data
Propose other methods of ensuring that Federal dollars are appropriately used to meet overarching program goals

40. OMB Circular Flexibility
To apply for a waiver of these OMB cost principles requirements:
indicate interest in application addendum
provide information on the specific provisions to be waived
describe what benefit will confer to the grant
provide information on the proposed alternative methods to ensure the appropriate use of Federal funds

41. OMB Circular Flexibility
ETA will work with successful applicants to obtain the formal specific Cost Circular waiver after grant award.

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