[Federal Register Volume 59, Number 148 (Wednesday, August 3, 1994)]
[Unknown Section]
[Page 0]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 94-18852]
[[Page Unknown]]
[Federal Register: August 3, 1994]
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DEPARTMENT OF LABOR
Office of the Secretary
Women's Bureau; Announcement of Competition for Grant
Applications for the Nontraditional Employment for Women (NEW) Act
Demonstration Programs for Fiscal Year 1994
AGENCY: Office of the Secretary, Women's Bureau, Labor.
ACTION: Notice.
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SUMMARY: The National Office (Washington, D.C.) of the Women's Bureau,
U.S. Department of Labor, announces the second year (Fiscal Year 1994)
of competition to award up to six (6) grants to States for conducting
demonstration projects which provides women with a wider range of
training opportunities in nontraditional fields.
The Act established a four-year, $6 million demonstration program
to assist States in the development of exemplary programs that train
and place women in nontraditional occupations, with special emphasis on
growth occupations with increased wage potential.
The Department of Labor is to award, from funds available under
Title IV of JTPA, $1.5 million per year for Fiscal Years 1992, 1993,
1994 and 1995; as stated, up to six grants per year may be awarded to
States. Six grants were awarded in Fiscal 1992; five grants were
awarded in 1993.
DATES: Grant applications which request funding in FY 1994 must be
received by close of business (4:45 p.m., Eastern Daylight Savings
Time) October 14, 1994, or be postmarked by the U.S. Postal Service on
or before that date. Applications received after the deadline will be
considered to be nonresponsive and will not be reviewed.
ADDRESSES: A State's operating entity (as described in II. Eligibility
Applicants, below), for JTPA interested in submitting a grant
application for review under this competition must request in writing a
copy of Solicitation for Grant Applications (SGA) #94-02 from the
Office of Procurement Services, U.S. Department of Labor, 200
Constitution Avenue N.W., Room S-5220, Washington, D.C. 20210,
Attention: Ms. Lisa Harvey. Please Note: No telephone calls, please.
Only written requests which are delivered via the U.S. Postal Service
or overnight courier service will be accepted.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ms. Lisa Harvey, at the above address.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Background
Improving women's employment opportunities and other employment
related equity and social issues that promote women in the work force
has been the driving force of the Women's Bureau since its inception in
1920. Within the Department of Labor, the Director serves as the policy
advisor on women's issues to the Secretary and DOL agencies charged
with improving the economic and workplace life of American workers. In
fulfilling this responsibility, the Employment and Training
Administration and the Bureau co-administer the Nontraditional
Employment for Women Act (NEW), with the Bureau having responsibility
for the demonstration program grants to States to promote higher wages
for women through NTO job training and placement.
Grant Authority
The demonstration program grants are authorized under the NEW Act,
Public Law 102-235, signed December 1991, effective July 1992. NEW
amends the JTPA and, by reference, as subsequently amended by the Job
Training Reform Amendments of 1992.
The NEW demonstration program grant awards are funded from Title IV
of JTPA. (JTPA discretionary money is transferred to the Women's
Bureau.) The funding is set at $1.5 million, annually, to make no more
than six (6) awards for fiscal years 1992, 1993, 1994, and 1995.
First (1992) and Second (1993) Year NEW Awards
The first year of competition (Fiscal Year 1992) began September
1992 with the publication of the Solicitation for Grant Applications
(SGA) #92-01 in the Federal Register. Thirty-eight proposals were
received in response to the SGA. Both a WB/ETA technical review panel
and an OASAM Office of Procurement Services cost review panel evaluated
all proposals and was the basis for funding recommendations to the
Secretary. On January 19, 1993, grants were awarded to the District of
Columbia, Louisiana, Maryland, Texas, Washington, and Wyoming.
The second year of competition (Fiscal Year 1993) began in May 1993
with the publication of the Solicitation for Grant Applications (SGA)
#93-03 in the Federal Register. Thirty-two proposals were received in
response to the SGA. Both a WB/ETA technical review panel and an OASAM
Office of Procurement Services cost review panel evaluated all
proposals and was the basis for funding recommendations to the
Secretary. On December 6, 1993, grants were awarded to California,
Georgia, Illinois, Missouri and New Jersey.
II. Eligible Applicants
The State is the eligible applicant for a NEW demonstration grant
award. The Governor of each State, as is the case with JTPA Titles II
and III, is the recipient of awards under the NEW Act. Governors in
turn designate an agency at the State level to administer JTPA for the
State; that agency can apply for the NEW grants on behalf of the
Governor and the State.
III. Funding Levels
The Department expects to make six awards to States, the maximum
allowed under the NEW Act. Proposal (i.e., grant application) funding
requests should average $225,000. The total funding level is $1.5
million.
In addition to costs, the Department will consider geographic
diversity (distribution) in making grant awards.
IV. Demonstration Program Overview
This Solicitation for Grant Applications (SGA) is extended to
States who are committed to the goals and objectives of NEW. It asks
them to develop, enhance and implement demonstration and exemplary
programs to train and place women in nontraditional occupations (NTOs).
For women, NTOs are occupations where less than 25 percent of the
persons employed in an occupation or field of work are women. NTOs are
generally characterized by employment growth and the potential for
above average earnings individualized for each local labor market.
The ultimate goal of the NEW Act is to increase the earnings of
women and, thereby, the self-sufficiency of women and their families.
To examine ways of accomplishing that goal, the New Act provides
funding incentives in its demonstration and exemplary program grants.
States shall develop and implement projects/programs that illustrate,
by their example, effective ways to incorporate and sustain systemic
change in the Job Training Partnership Act (JTPA) service delivery
system--the Private Industry Councils' (PICs) procedures and
programming--to promote the training and placement of women in NTOs to
increase their employment and earnings.
States applying for funds may develop new initiatives or
enhancements to existing job training programs and services. Grant
funds are to develop and/or supplement, not supplant current funding to
train and place women in NTOs.
Grant funds must not be used as ``replacement'' funds for
activities that are currently funded through other Federal programs;
i.e., JTPA or Carl Perkins Vocational * * * NEW grant funds can be used
in addition to, but not instead of, other Federal funds to expand or
enhance programs. Grantee projects serve as models and should be
disseminated for replication throughout the JTPA systems and within
other education, training and employment programs in the State.
States have completed the development of their second two-year
Governor's Coordination and Special Services Plans (GCSSP). The GCSSP
must include measurable goals for women in nontraditional training and
placement, with particular attention to implementation through the JTPA
system as required by NEW.
All States that apply for NEW grant funds must have and describe
the measurable State goals for the implementation of training and
placing women in NTOs to be responsive to this SGA.
In addition, a high priority will be given to State proposals that
provide evidence (in measurable outcomes for women) of the State's
prior and ongoing commitment to the goals and objectives of NEW to
train and place women in local area-specific nontraditional employment
with above average earnings. Such commitment can be measured, in part,
from State proposals with (1) greater than average (15 percent of more)
proportion of women's JTPA training for NTOs; (2) substantial
employment placement rate (85 percent or greater); and (3) wage rates
above the local average.
As required by the NEW Act's demonstration and exemplary programs
legislation, the Women's Bureau will also consider the following:
(1) the level of coordination between the JTPA and other resources
available for training women in nontraditional employment, i.e., Carl
D. Perkins Vocational and Applied Technology Education Act, Intermodal
Surface Transportation Efficiency Act (ISTEA), Department of Housing
and Urban, etc., and other Federal, State and local job training
resources;
(2) the extent of private sector involvement in the development and
implementation of training programs under the JTPA;
(3) the extent to which the initiatives proposed by a State
supplement or build upon existing efforts in a State to train and place
women in nontraditional employment;
(4) the extent to which a State is prepared to disseminate
information on its demonstration training programs, and
(5) the extent to which a State is prepared to produce materials
that allow for replication of such State's demonstration training
program.
A State's operating entity for JTPA (as described above in II.
Eligible Applicants) interested in submitting a grant application for
review under the FY 1994 competition should request a copy of SGA #94-
02 from the Office of Procurement Services, U.S. Department of Labor,
200 Constitution Avenue N.W., Room S-5220, Washington, D.C. 20210,
Attention: Ms. Lisa Harvey.
Signed at Washington, DC, this 28th day of July 1994.
Karen Nussbaum,
Director, Women's Bureau.
[FR Doc. 94-18852 Filed 8-2-94; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4510-23-M
