Recovery.gov - Track the Money

The Recovery Act extends the youth eligibility age from 21 to 24 and provides $1,200,000,000 in additional funding to States for youth activities, with a specific emphasis on summer employment opportunities for youth.

In accordance with Sec. 801 of the Recovery Act, up to one percent of the program funds provided ($12 million) may be used for management and oversight of the program. These funds will be expended in accordance with the operating plan submitted to the Office of Management and Budget and Congress.

Services available to youth include tutoring, alternative secondary school services, summer employment opportunities, occupational training, work experience, leadership development opportunities, mentoring, counseling, supportive services such as assistance with child care and housing, and follow-up services such as on-going career counseling after a youth exits the program. Of these ten program elements, there will be a specific focus on summer employment, with the expectation that the majority of funds will be spent providing subsidized work experiences, between May 1 through September 30, to youth in the public, private for profit, and private non-profit sectors.

The Department has established reporting systems and Office of Management and Budget-approved forms that grantees use to track, document and report expenditures and performance on a regularly scheduled basis that provides updated information to ETA at a minimum of once a quarter. Grantees are required to certify the accuracy of these reports prior to submitting them to ETA through the established electronic reporting systems.

ETA uses its Grants Electronic Management System (GEMS) and other related electronic data collection systems to conduct and document quarterly desk reviews of financial obligations, expenditures and program performance. Grantees identified as “high risk grantees” through these reviews are given priority attention for on-site monitoring. ETA’s quarterly desk reviews along with on-site reviews are used to identify potential risks and encourage program improvements through technical assistance and training. Additionally, federal regulations require that WIA fund recipients and sub-recipients continuously monitor grant-supported activities. ETA Federal Project Officers review the States’ monitoring efforts during on-site visits.

ETA Regional Offices will be conducting “Regional Readiness Consultations” with state and local areas during April and May 2009. The results of the consultations will be analyzed and will inform ETA of specific technical assistance needs required for states and local areas to successfully implement Recovery Act-funded programs.

To further ensure that funds are spent on the intended purpose and accurately reported, the Department requires all grantees to submit single audits annually. ETA works with grantees to resolve any audit findings through additional reviews and the development and implementation of corrective action plans.

ETA conducts a final review of each grantee’s expenditures and performance during the grant close-out process.

As for program evaluations, the Department is in the process of developing a plan for evaluating several components of the Recovery Act-funded programs. These evaluations will likely be implementation studies.

Top Management Challenges identified by the Office of Inspector General for the Department include:

Improving Performance Accountability of Grants
All state and local government and nonprofit recipients that expend $500,000 or more in Federal assistance in one year are required by the Single Audit Act to obtain an annual audit by an independent public accountant. A challenge for the Department is that grantees’ audits conducted under the Single Audit Act are not always completed in a timely manner. Therefore, ETA has implemented a procedure for annually reviewing ETA grantees’ Single Audit Act report status and sending written notifications to grantees whose single audit reports are delinquent.

Single Audits
Issues: Send follow up letters to grantees who continue to be delinquent
Actions Remaining: No action to report.
To be completed: November 2009

Issues: Codify standard operating procedures into Procedures Manuals.
Actions Remaining: To date, procedures have been updated to include steps for sending delinquent notices to grantees once the list has been received from the accounting office.
To be completed: FY 2009

Consistent with the transparency and accountability objectives of the Recovery Act, states will submit a new monthly report reflecting the aggregate counts of youth whose participation in employment and training services is Recovery Act-funded. The report will record the number of participants (new and total), their characteristics, the number engaged in summer youth employment, services received, and attainment of work readiness. Participation in summer employment is a new data element whose collection is required because the Recovery Act authorizes summer youth employment. Additionally, data pertaining to the attainment of a work readiness skill by summer employment participants will be collected, and the number of youth who start and complete their summer employment placements.

Youth served with Recovery Act funds who participate in WIA services beyond summer employment will be included in the new Recovery Act monthly report and in current WIA reports which will continue to be submitted. Youth who participate in the Recovery Act-funded summer employment only will not be included in the current WIA reporting requirements or the WIA Standardized Record Data (WIASRD).

ETA will post the summary of program data on the ETA website, the DOL Recovery webpage, and Recovery.gov.

The Department of Labor cost accounting model used for regular appropriations will be applied to the WIA Youth program.

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