Eligibility Training Providercriteria Related to Target Occupations for Hurricane Harvey

ELIGIBILITY TRAINING PROVIDERCRITERIA RELATED TO TARGET OCCUPATIONS FOR HURRICANE HARVEY RECOVERY EFFORTS

DISCUSSION PAPER

Background

Hurricane Harvey made landfall along the Texas Gulf Coast between Port Aransas and Port O’Connor on August 25, 2017. Storm surge, catastrophic and widespread flooding, and damaging winds devastated coastal communities, which included Greater Houston and surrounding areas in Southeastern Texas.

Thirty-nine Texas counties have been declared federal disaster areas. In total, seven local workforce development areas (workforce areas) have been approved for federal public and individual assistance. In addition, four counties in four workforce areas that sustained little or no storm damage have been approved for federal public assistance to help manage the influx of evacuees. Many other communities and counties outside the declared disaster areas have also been affected. Hurricane Harvey is the most expensive disaster in Texas history.

Issue

The Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) sets forth the criteria for approving eligible providers of WIOA training services. One criterion, pursuant to WIOA §122(b)(4)(D)(iv), is described as “a factor concerning alignment of the training services with in-demand industry sectors and occupations, to the extent practicable.”

On May 9, 2017, the Texas Workforce Commission’s three-member Commission approved the criteria for initial and continued eligibility that determines a training provider’s eligibility to receive WIOA funds. This eligibility criteria includes the requirement that ETPs provide training programs or services that are directly related to occupations on the Board’s list of target occupations.

Boards are required to develop and maintain a list of target occupations that are in high demand within their local workforce areas. Each Board must approve the target occupations in an open meeting before they can be added to the Board’s list of target occupations.In the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey, disaster-impacted areas have experienced a surge in the demand for many occupations that are notcurrently on the Board’s list of target occupations, but that are now needed to help with hurricane clean-up and recovery efforts.

Occupations in high demand for hurricane clean-up and recovery efforts in disaster-impacted areas include:

17-2000 Engineers, such as environmental engineers, health and safety engineers, civil engineers, and industrial engineers;
17-3000 Drafter, Engineering, and other Technicians, such as environmental engineering technicians, and civil engineering technicians;
47-0000 Construction and Extraction Occupations, such as brickmasons, carpenters, concrete finishers, drywall installers, electricians, pipelayers, and roofers;

49-0000 Installation, Maintenance, and Repair Occupations, such as riggers, telecommunications installers, control and valve installers, and HVAC repair;
51-0000 Production Occupations, such as assemblers, fabricators, metal workers, and plant and system operators; and
53-0000 Transportation and Material Moving Occupations, such as heavy equipment operators, dredge operators, crane operators, hoist and winch operators, and pump operators.

Decision Point

Staff seeks approval of this list of occupations that are related to clean-up and recovery efforts in hurricane-impacted areas as in-demand occupations. This state level list will be used in conjunction with Board’s local lists, allowing Boards to forego the approval of individual targeted occupations in their local areas in order to streamline the ETP eligibility determination process, ultimately allowing ETPs to provide timely training to hurricane-impacted individuals and increase the number of skilled workers that can be placed in disaster-recovery employment.

DP- ETP Criteria Related to Targeted Occupations (Notebook 10.17.17)