N.Y. Labor Law § 846: Substate level activities

§ 846. Substate level activities. 1. (a) Grantees shall use funds

allotted to them pursuant to section eight hundred forty-eight of this

article to provide to eligible dislocated workers the core functions of

the worker adjustment program, which include intake, assessment and

counseling, as well as basic readjustment and retraining services as

defined in section eight hundred thirty-five of this article, directly

or by contract. Provided, however, that such grantees shall not be

required by the department to contract with any specific provider for

the provision of such services.

(b) Each substate grantee shall provide intake, counseling and

assessment directly or by contract on an ongoing basis at a site or

sites designated by the substate grantee to which all dislocated workers

in the area have access. In addition, the substate grantee may make such

services available at the location of a plant closing or substantial

layoff.

(c) Substate grantees shall require that all service providers

selected by the substate grantee to receive funds allocated pursuant to

section eight hundred forty-eight of this article, other than vouchers

for training services given to program participants pursuant to

subdivision four of this section, shall provide a written plan which

includes: (i) the amount and purposes for which funding is requested;

(ii) a description of the services to be provided, including the

duration of service and the estimated service cost per recipient; (iii)

procedures for identifying and selecting participants and for

eligibility determination and verification; (iv) evidence that the

proposed service program will provide appropriate assistance to

recipients seeking available private sector employment; (v) a

description of other funding sources which may be used for such

programs; (vi) a description of steps the provider will take to avoid

duplication of services available through existing resources; (vii) a

description of the provider's coordination with programs and activities

funded through the job training partnership act or other state

resources; (viii) procedures for advising the local private industry

council of the provider's proposal, including ways in which the provider

intends to cooperate with the local private industry council; and (ix)

such other information as may be required by the grantee.

(d) The grantee shall select training providers and determine the

amount of monies available for each program. Selection considerations

shall include: the provider's past effectiveness in delivering

employment or vocational training programs or other readjustment

services based on demonstrated performance; for training providers,

ability to provide participants with the skills necessary to fill

available jobs in the private sector; cost of the proposed program; the

administrative capability to operate such a program; fiscal

responsibility; for training providers, a record of job placement for

completers which meets standards of acceptability established by the

commissioner for this purpose; the degree to which the provider has made

provisions for coordination with other services available under the job

training partnership act and other state and federal programs; and such

other factors as the grantee may determine. Funds provided pursuant to

this article shall not be used to duplicate facilities or services

available to the substate area from other federal, state or local

sources.

(e) Appropriate vocational and educational institutions in the

substate area shall be accorded the initial opportunity to provide

educational services unless the grantee determines that alternative

entities would be more effective or would have greater potential to

enhance participants' continued occupational and career growth.

(f) Funds shall be made available to service providers through direct

contract between each such service provider and the grantee. The

grantee shall notify the department of the award of each contract and

shall certify that the requirements of this article have been met.

(g) After March first of each year, the department shall reapportion

an amount of unexpended funds from each substate area's allocation that

the department has determined cannot be expended as planned. The

substate area shall be provided with no less than thirty days advance

notice and an opportunity to appeal the reallocation. The department

shall reallocate those funds to the substate areas in a manner

consistent with the purposes of this section and with applicable federal

law and regulations. Funds shall be reallocated to substate areas that

have demonstrated an ability to expend funds at a rate in keeping with

or exceeding planned levels and where existing resources are

insufficient to provide needed services, to be determined in

consultation with interested parties. At any time after December

thirty-first, a substate area may volunteer to deobligate funds. Such

funds may be reallocated immediately by the department to the substate

grantees consistent with the purposes of this article.

2. Opportunities may be offered for on-the-job training with the

following conditions:

(a) preference will be given for jobs which exceed the minimum wage

and which have the capacity for growth and advancement;

(b) the employer will be responsible for at least fifty percent of the

wages and fringe benefits paid to a worker in training.

3. Needs-related payments may be provided under this section pursuant

to subparagraph (e) of section three hundred fourteen of the act for

eligible participants upon demonstration of need after considering all

of the sources of income available to the participant or the

participant's family. However, such payment shall not be made unless

the participant's unemployment compensation, including any extended

benefits, will expire prior to their completion of the program.

4. Alternative methods of providing retraining services may be

approved such as:

(a) A substate grantee may defer the delivery of retraining services

by providing the program participant with a certificate of continuing

eligibility:

(i) such certificates may be effective for periods not to exceed one

hundred four weeks;

(ii) certificates will not include references to any specific amounts

of funds;

(iii) certificates shall state that they are subject to availability

of funds at the time that the services are to be provided; and

(iv) acceptance of a certificate shall not be deemed as enrollment in

training.

(b) A substate grantee may provide the program participants with

vouchers for training services whereby the participants may seek out and

arrange their own retraining with the following limitations:

(i) service providers must be approved by the grantee pursuant to the

provisions of subparagraph (ii) of this paragraph;

(ii) the commissioner of education shall prepare a list of programs

approved for funding and shall submit such list to the commissioner by

July first, nineteen hundred eighty-nine, and shall thereafter from time

to time as he or she determines necessary update such list. The

commissioner shall include on such list only non-degree programs which

are at least three hundred twenty clock hours in length, and which

provide skills for employment based on current requirements of business

and industry in an occupational field for which favorable employment

opportunities are anticipated in the state and which meet standards of

instructional quality established in regulations by the commissioner of

education. These standards shall include, but are not limited to,

qualifications of administrative and instructional personnel, quality of

the curricula, quality of facilities and equipment, record keeping,

admission, grading, attendance and record of placement of completers

which meets standards of acceptability as established by the

commissioner of education in conjunction with the commissioner;

(iii) such services shall be conducted under a grant, contract or

other arrangement between the grantee and the service provider; and

(iv) substate grantees shall provide vouchers to program participants

only upon demonstration that such program participant has been accepted

for and is proposing to undertake an occupational retraining program

which has been approved by the commissioner of education pursuant to

this section.

5. Substate grantees shall establish linkages with all involved state

agencies, including local and regional offices of the department of

labor, the department of education and the department of economic

development.