State Grants Training - Phase 1
On-Line, interactive course available at: http://nvti.ucdenver.edu/SGT_Phase1/1.htm
State Grants Training - Phase 1
This is the first phase of State Grants Training and consists of the following training modules:
● Fundamentals of the JVSG (Module 1)
● The Role of VETS in JVSG Oversight (Module 2)
● JVSG Formula Grant Funding (Module 3)
This phase is intended to explain the processes and activities involved with administering the Jobs for Veterans State Grant. It covers grant application, award, reporting, modification, monitoring, and closeout. It also discusses reallocation of funds, technical assistance, and corrective actions.
Grants Assistance Timeline
1787
U.S. Constitution Provisions
Federal government made compacts with each state entering the union. Compacts were passed by Congress and accepted by individual territorial legislatures.
Under these compacts, the federal government would grant land to the states if the states agreed to establish public schools on the property.
Congress made grants to states for universities and schools, to construct public buildings, and aid improvements, such as railroads.
Congress imposed no restrictions on the money or property granted to states nor the states’ use of money raised from the sale of public land.
1862
Morrill Act
States agreed to use public land sale proceeds to support schools that provided instruction to military, agricultural and mechanical arts. States were required to submit annual reports to Congress accounting for formula related grant expenditures.
This established reporting requirements and a new direction in the development of grants.
1879
First Monetary Grant
In 1879 the First Monetary Grant was awarded for a program for special aid to the blind. This was the first documented move from land grants to monetary grants.
1887
The Hatch Act
The Hatch Act established the first annual cash grants to states. Each state received a small cash award for agricultural research. Agricultural research grants for states and land-grant universities are common today.
1913
Federal income Tax Established
Grants as we know them today only became possible after the federal income tax was established through constitutional amendment. This increased the economic power of the federal government in relation to states.
1914
Smith-Lever Act
This is the legislation that incorporated many of today’s modern grant concepts. It required states to match federal funds in order to be eligible for cash grants. States had to submit funding expenditure plans for federal approval (grant application).
Plans had to be approved by the federal government (Grant Award). Execution of plans were subject to federal supervision (Grant Officer Technical Representative (GOTR) Review).
1933
U.S. Employment Service and the Veterans' Employment Service
Senator Robert F. Wagner, Sr. introduced a bill enacted on June 6, 1933 to create in law a national employment system.
Section IV created the U.S. Employment Service and the Veterans' Employment Service under Chapter IV, Part B. This became the Wagner-Peyser Act of 1933, the founding legislation of what became the Veterans' Employment and Training Service (VETS).
1940
Hatch Political Activity Act
This is the first law to place universal restriction on all grant programs. The Act limited the political activities of state and local government employees whose salaries were paid with federal assistance funds. Failure to comply with the Act resulted in potential loss of grant funds.
1944
Local Veterans' Employment Representative
The Local Veterans' Employment Representative (LVER) was created in law under the United States Employment Service, under Title IV of the Servicemen's Readjustment Act of 1944.
LVERs were to be located at employment offices throughout the States to assist the readjustment of wartime veterans to jobs in the civilian sector of the economy.
1972
Vietnam Veterans' Readjustment Assistance Act
The 92nd Congress passed the Vietnam Veterans' Readjustment Assistance Act of 1972 (P.L. 92-540) which extended priority service for employment counseling, job training and placement services to Vietnam era veterans.
This landmark legislation also extended veterans' priority to widows and spouses of totally disabled veterans, prisoners of war, and servicemen missing in action and required the Secretary of Labor to implement stringent administrative controls to ensure the delivery of preferential services to veterans.
1978
Federal Grant and Cooperative Agreement Act
Unless prohibited by statute, every federal agency possesses the inherent authority to contract for the goods and services it needs, assuming the procurement is in keeping with the agency’s mission. However, agencies have no inherent authority to give away government money or property in order to benefit a party other than the government. Such actions must be specifically authorized by Congress.
The Federal Grant and Cooperative Agreement Act did not change the authority of agencies to make grants. The Act clarifies the three award instruments: GRANTS, COOPERATIVE AGREEMENTS, AND CONTRACTS. It provides agencies with the authority to select the appropriate assistance or award instrument defined in the act and within the limits of their program legislation.
Before an agency can provide financial assistance, its legislation must be analyzed to determine whether it is authorized to provide assistance and, if so under what circumstances. Prior to passage of the Federal Grant and Cooperative Agreement Act, it was generally understood that the authorizing legislation had to mention “grants” specifically to allow financial assistance awards.
Since the passage, it is no longer necessary for Congress to include the word “grants” in the legislation, although it is still true that agencies cannot make grants unless authorized by statute to award financial assistance. If an agency is authorized to enter into either procurement or an assistance relationship to accomplish the objectives of a particular program, the Act gives the agency the authority to select the appropriate assistance or award instrument as defined by the Act.
The Act specifies that a grant should be used when the principal purpose of the award is to support or stimulate recipient activity, but no substantive involvement by the government is anticipated. In situations where the principal purpose of the award is to support or stimulate recipient activity, but the parties anticipate substantive agency involvement in the project, a cooperative agreement is the appropriate award instrument. Contracts should be used whenever the principal purpose of the award is to acquire goods or services for the government’s own use.
The Act allows using contracts where grants and cooperative agreements might also serve, but grants and cooperative agreements cannot be used to procure goods and services for the government. Although grants and cooperative agreements are not contracts in the procurement sense, the assistance award is a legally binding agreement characterized by certain contractual aspects. The offer of assistance by the federal government, and the acceptance by the recipient, constitutes a mutual exchange of promise.
1980
Disabled Veterans' Outreach Program (DVOP)
The Disabled Veterans' Outreach Program, originally created as a temporary program by President Jimmy Carter in February of 1977, was made permanent by the enactment of P.L. 96-466, the Veterans' Rehabilitation and Education Amendments of 1980 on October 17, 1980.
P.L. 96-466 also elevated the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Veterans' Employment position under the Employment and Training Administration (ETA) and created a new Office of the Assistant Secretary of Labor for Veterans' Employment. With the signing of an Agreement, between VETS and ETA, on October 20-25, 1982 with the ETA the authority for the DVOP/LVER and veterans employment program under JTPA, Title IV, Part C was transferred to the Assistant Secretary for Veterans' Employment (ASVE).
With the passage of the Job Training Partnership Act (P.L. 97-300) the ASVE position would become the Assistant Secretary for Veterans' Employment and Training (ASVET) and would administer the newly renamed Veterans' Employment and Training Service (VETS).
1988
The Veterans' Employment, Training and Counseling Amendments
The Veterans' Employment, Training and Counseling Amendments, (P.L. 101-323), were passed in 1988. This legislation completely replaced all previous sections of Chapter 20 and 21 of Title 38, which were subsequently moved to their present location at 38 U.S.C. 41 and 42.
This law created formula calculations for the:
•request of funds from Congress for all states
•allocation of DVOP and LVER resources within the states
It provided appointment criteria, the stationing and out-stationing, and the duties of the DVOP and LVER at the local levels.
This law also set forth the criteria for the appointments of and roles of the Assistant and Deputy Assistant Secretaries, for the Regional Administrators. It also sets forth the criteria for the appointments for the Directors and Assistant Directors for Veterans' Employment and Training, which includes their administrative and grants' monitoring roles.
1998
Workforce Investment Act
In 1998, President Clinton enacted the Workforce Investment Act (P.L. 105-220) to replace the Job Training Partnership Act (JTPA) and required labor exchange services be provided through a One-Stop Career Center concept. This legislation defined intensive services to include case management.
2002
Jobs for Veterans Act
President Bush enacted the Jobs’ for Veterans Act (P.L. 107-288) on November 7, 2002. This legislation revised Chapters 41-43 of Title 38 to give states more latitude in the conduct of their DVOP and LVER staff and placed more emphasis on accountability. It requires states to submit a detailed plan of services to veterans, requires the ASVET to monitor the distribution and use of the funds by the states, and mandates priority of service to veterans for all employment and training programs funded in whole or in part by the Department of Labor.
Public Law 107-288 made numerous changes to Title 38 United States Code, Chapters 41 and 42.
Major provisions of this legislation:
Provides priority of service to veterans and spouses of certain veterans for the receipt of employment, training and placement services in any job-training program directly funded, in whole or in part, by the Department of Labor (DOL).
Note: Since this provision will impact on other agencies within the DOL, the Deputy Secretary of Labor, the Assistant Secretary for Policy and the DOL Solicitor are directly overseeing the interpretation and implementation.
Requires the Secretary to carry out a program of performance incentive awards to states to encourage the improvement and modernization of employment, training and placement services to veterans.
Changes the threshold for reporting under the Federal Contractor Program. Employers receiving Federal contracts in the amount of $100,000 or more (was $25,000 or more) must file the VETS-100 form annually and take affirmative action to employ and advance in employment-qualified veterans, including immediately listing employment openings through the employment delivery system.
Changes the conditions for receipt of funding by states to include a requirement that each State submit a State plan describing the manner in which the State is to furnish employment, training, and placement services.
Requires the Secretary to make funds available for the Disabled Veterans Outreach Program staff (DVOP)/Local Veterans Employment Representatives (LVER) program to each state in proportion of the ratio of the total number of veterans seeking employment within the State to the total number of veterans seeking employment in all States.
Requires the Secretary to establish minimum funding levels and "hold-harmless criteria" in administering funding to the States.
Requires the establishment of a national threshold entered employment rate for veterans. (This provision will be implemented in regulations due to be issued in FY 2011.)
Requires the Assistant Secretary for Veterans' Employment and Training to establish and implement a comprehensive accountability system to measure the performance of delivery systems in a State.
Requires that States employ a sufficient number of full and part-time DVOPs to carry out intensive services to meet the employment needs of special disabled veterans, other disabled veterans and other eligible veterans.
Requires that the States employ a sufficient number of full or part-time LVERs as the State determines appropriate to carry out employment, training and placement services.
Requires the Secretary to enhance the delivery of employment services to veterans world-wide by providing "one-stop" services and assistance electronically via the Internet.
Requires the establishment of a President's National Hire Veterans Committee to furnish information to employers with respect to the training and skills of veterans and disabled veterans and with respect to the advantages afforded employers by hiring veterans.
2006
In December of 2006 Congress enacted the Veterans Benefits, Health Care and Information Technology Act of 2006, commonly referred to as Public Law 109-461. This law required the Secretary of the Department of Labor to prescribe regulations for priority of service, implementing section 4215 of Title 38, United States Code, no later than two years after the date of enactment of this Act.
The following are the key points of The Veterans Benefits and Healthcare and Information Technology Act of 2006 that impacted the JVSG.
•Made specialized training for newly appointed DVOP specialists and LVER staff by the National Veterans’ Training Institute (NVTI) mandatory within three years of appointment;
•Clarified that part-time employment as a DVOP specialist or LVER staff is equivalent only to half-time employment;
•Expanded eligible recipients of Jobs for Veterans State Grant Incentive Awards to include employment service offices; and
•Required the Secretary of Labor to issue regulations on priority of service to veterans.
2008
As required by the Veterans Benefits, Health Care and Information Technology Act of 2006, the Secretary of Labor prescribed regulations on priority of service that were published in December 19, 2008 and became effective January 19, 2009.
2010
Veterans Benefits Improvement Act of 2010
Public Law 111-275, the Veterans Benefits Improvement Act of 2010 was signed on October 13, 2010.
This legislation reduced the amount of time allowed for DVOP specialists and LVER staff to be trained at NVTI to within 18 months of being hired, instead of the prior standard of 36 months.
2011 – Veterans Opportunity to Work Act (VOW)
The VOW Act has several key provisions. It provides several different tax credits for hiring veterans and veterans who have service-connected disabilities. VOW makes the Transition Assistance Program (TAP) an interagency workshop coordinated by Departments of Defense, Labor and Veterans Affairs, mandatory for servicemembers. It also expands education and training opportunities for certain veterans. For more information, visit www.dol.gov/vets.
2014 – The Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA)
WIOA will help job seekers and workers access employment, education, training, and support
services to succeed in the labor market and match employers with skilled workers they need to compete in the global economy. Congress passed WIOA, the first legislative reform of the public workforce system in more than 15 years, by a wide bipartisan majority. In doing so, Congress