Cayuga-Cortland Workforce Investment Board
Thursday, January 14, 2010
8:00 a.m.
Cortland Works Career Center
Members
Present:
Everett Boise, Chris Calabro, Judy Davison, Dan Dineen, Dennis Donahue, Charles Feiszli,
Barbara French, Edward Herrling, Steve Lynch, William McVea, Shawn Riley, Robin
Sandwick, and Nancy Wise
Members
Excused:
Tom Brown, Mark Carr, Diane Eldred, Lindy Glennon, Max Haines, Carl Haynes,
Michael Mancini, Laurie Sperger, Theresa Walsh and Duane Watson
Members
Absent:
Ron Hill, Greg Hinman and Daniel Larson
Also
Present:
Tammy Reed and Joe Sorbello
________________________________________________________________________
A regular meeting of the Cayuga-Cortland Workforce Investment Board was convened at 8:10 a.m. at the
Cortland Works Career Center, 99 Main Street, Cortland NY. Chairperson, Nancy Wise called the meeting to
order.
I.
Introduction of Members and Guests –
II.
Approval of Minutes –
Due to the lack of a quorum we were unable to make a motion on the August 31, 2009 Youth Council
Review, August 31, 2009 Youth Council meeting or the September 3, 2009 Full WIB meeting minutes;
we will do so at the next Full WIB meeting in April.
Discuss/Review Addendum to the Plan Modification –
III.
Judy explained the plan modification was being considered an Addendum to the plan by the State so
that the plan would not have to go back through the whole execution process again with new signatures
and county legislative approval. Judy also noted the findings were relatively minor requiring some
additional language to clarify the issue(s).
Judy then reviewed the findings with members as the following:
FINDINGS
Public Assistance and Low-Income Populations: Priority of Service:
1.
Low income priority of service must be based on the WIA definition of low income as described in
Section 101(25) of the WIA statute. Individuals must fall at the poverty line (or within the other criteria
outlined in the definition); use of 200 percent of the poverty line to determine local eligibility for
priority of service to low income individuals must be discontinued.
Answer: Page 4, #1b.
It is the intention of the Cayuga-Cortland Workforce Investment Board (WIB) to ensure priority
of service for adults who receive intensive and training services under Recovery Act WIA Adult
Funding to recipients of public assistance and low income individuals. For the purpose of this
policy:
1
-
-
2.
Recipients of public assistance are defined as: an individual or member of a family who
receives, cash payments under a Federal State of local income based public assistance
program.
In accordance with the Federal Workforce Investment Act of 1998, Section 101 (25), the term
“low-income individual” means an individual who –
(A) receives, or is a member of a family that receives, cash payments under a Federal,
State, or local income based public assistance program;
(B) received an income, or is a member of a family that received a total family income,
for the 6-month period prior to application for the program involved (exclusive of
unemployment compensation, child support payments, payments described in
subparagraph (A), and old-age and survivors insurance benefits received under
section 202 of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 402) that, in relation to family size,
does not exceed the higher of
(i)
the poverty line, for an equivalent period; or
(ii)
70 percent of the lower living standard income level, for an equivalent
period;
(C) is a member of a household that receives (or has been determined within the 6month period prior to application for the program involved to be eligible to receive)
food stamps pursuant to the Food Stamp Act of 1977 (7 U.S.C. 2011 et seq.);
(D) qualifies as a homeless individual, as defined in subsections (a) and (c) of section 103
of the Stewart B. McKinney Homeless Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 11302);
(E) is a foster child on behalf of whom State or local government payments are made;
or
(F) in cases permitted by regulations promulgated by the Secretary of Labor, is an
individual with a disability whose own income meets the requirements of a program
described in subparagraph (A) or of subparagraph (B), but who is a member of a
family whose income does not meet such requirements.
It is noted that veterans receive the highest number of points in the “Other” category of the local Most
in Need criteria that is applied to individuals served with non-Recovery Act adult funds. This Most in
Need policy needs to also indicate, however, that veterans and eligible spouses of veterans will receive
priority within each Most in Need indicator.
Answer Page 7, Level of Indicator Table: (indicated in bold and italicized)
Cayuga-Cortland Workforce Area
LEVEL OF NEED INDICATOR (LNI) TABLE
Please note: In order to be eligible to receive training funds, individuals must achieve at least 20 points on the
Level of Need Indicator rating scale to be eligible for training funds. Also, if two (2) individuals are applying at
the same time and only one can be funded the higher score will be awarded the funds.
Individual
Total Possible
Actual Point
Category
Point
Points
Scored
Income
Veterans and eligible spouses of veterans
who are PA Recipients or below poverty
level.
PA Recipients
Below Poverty Level
2. Family Size
6 or more
4-5
3
(Families with a veteran or eligible
spouses of a veteran will receive 1
additional point)
10
1.
4
3
3
10
9
7
4
2
3.
4.
Length of Unemployment Unemployed
longer than 15 weeks
Unemployed less than 15 weeks
Employed
Not in the labor force
(Unemployed veterans and eligible
spouses of veterans will receive 1
additional point)
Other
High School Dropout
Handicapped
Minority
Youth
Veteran and eligible spouses of veterans
Single Parent
Female
Basic Skills Deficient
Limited English
Displaced Homemaker
Older Worker
Offender
Unemployment Insurance Claimant
Food Stamp Recipient
10
9
4
2
1
70
10
4
4
4
12
4
4
4
4
4
4
4
4
4
5.
____________
TOTAL ACTUAL SCORE
Comments Regarding Additional Customer Factors:
(Caseworker's Signature)
(Date)
Veterans & Eligible Spouses of Veterans: Priority of Service
1.
Although reference to signage is made, more clarity is needed regarding how covered persons are
actually identified at the point of entry when accessing physical or virtual service delivery points.
Answer: Page 10, #1.
NYSDOL is in the process of designing, publishing and distributing high quality signage
regarding providing priority of service to veterans and eligible spouses for use at all local One
Stop Centers and affiliate sites in the State. As soon as this signage is received it will be placed
prominently at or near the entrances to our Centers to encourage customers to register first so
that veteran status is determined and documented as soon as possible. Signage will also be placed
in other high traffic areas throughout the Center such as the resource rooms and waiting areas.
The signage has now been received in the LWIA and it has been placed in high traffic areas
including: Right next to the front door at the Cayuga Works Career Center and directly over the
Reception desk at the Cortland Center. As new customers enter the Centers they are asked by
the Receptionist whether or not they are veteran or an eligible spouse of a veteran and if they
have been registered as a customer of the Center. New customers complete a registration
form/application which specifically asks if the customer is a veteran or an eligible spouse of a
veteran. The reception staff reviews the registration form/application to determine if the
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individual is eligible for priority of service. If it is determined the individual is eligible he/she will
be immediately referred to the center Veterans Representative is not available the customer is
referred to the next available staff. The staff person meeting with the customer reviews the
registration form for accuracy, reviews the necessary verification documentation, conducts the
Initial Assessment, brainstorms a service strategy with the customer and data enters the
information into the New York State One-Stop Operating System (OSOS).
Individuals who virtually access service delivery will see a banner on our home page that states
we offer priority of service to veterans and eligible spouses of veterans and they will be directed as
to how to contact our veterans Representative via e-mail or phone to arrange for immediate
services.
2.
The plan would be enhanced by a more complete description of outreach strategies to publicize
veterans’ priority of service, including those targeted to employers to promote the hiring of veterans.
Answer: Page 12, #6.
The LWIA will revise our website and promotional materials to include information targeted to
veterans or veterans groups that will spotlight their priority of service to One Stop Career Center
customers. In addition, Business Services promotional materials and contacts will be adjusted to
make employers aware of the federal tax incentives available for hiring an unemployed veteran.
Other outreach strategies to help spread the word about veterans priority of service include:
Verbal presentations at events such as career fairs, business service events, meetings with veteran
organizations and other advocacy groups; incorporating the policy in center brochures and group
presentations.
Partnering with area colleges to help facilitate enrollment of eligible veterans in post secondary
education and to help let them know what services and programs are available to them.
Supportive Services
1.
Given that the local board does not have a housing supportive service category, the policy should
indicate what arrangements are made to refer individuals to other agencies for housing assistance in
cases where it is needed.
Answer: Page 14, Section A #1.
Housing
While the LWIA does not have a specific “Housing Supportive Service” Category, Career Center
staff have identified which partner agencies assist with meeting an individuals housing needs such
as area:
- Departments of Social Services;
- Community Action Programs;
- Salvation Army’s;
- Housing Assistance Councils;
- Church Groups;
- Veteran Service Agencies;
- Section 8 Housing Agencies; and
- Chapel House which is a Homeless Shelter in Auburn (one of our LWIA counties).
If referrals are made for Housing Services Career Center Staff follow-up with the customer
and/or agency to which they were referred to assure adequate housing arrangements have been
secured. Career Center staff also note the service in comments on OSOS.
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2.
While the administration of supportive services is well-detailed, priority of funding for supportive
services should also be described, as requested.
Answer: Page 20, #3c
WIA Legislation dictates WIA funds are the last funds to be used to support a program or
service. It is the policy of our Local Board that WIA customers will not qualify for Supportive
Services paid out of WIA funds if the customer qualifies for the Supportive Service payment from
another Department or Partner Agency (i.e. the Department of Social Services) unless it can be
determined that the other agency has a waiting list which if adhered to will interfere with the
WIA participants’ program or service schedule. Priority of funding for those eligible to receive
Supportive Services will be consistent with Section I. Strategies and Policy Updates, #1. Priority
of Service.
Needs-Related Payments
1.
The description of the administration of these payments (question #3) would benefit from additional
detail, including the titles of the specific staff who are authorized to approve them. In addition,
question 3-e (How will the requirements for and payments of NRPs be documented?) is not answered,
although this is listed as the question in the plan response labeled 3-d. The responses for “d and “e”
under item #3 need to be revised and appropriately answered.
Answer: Page 25, #3, d&e
d. NRP form distribution will be handled by the staff person working with the customer. All
forms will be approved and signed by the customer and center program staff assigned the case
and submitted to the fiscal unit where a paper file will be established and maintained
containing a draw down of payments. Payment accounting and processing will be handled by
the fiscal unit in accordance with established procedures. Program staff will document
payments as a service on OSOS.
e. Requirements for and payments of NRP are documented in participant case records on OSOS
and in accounting ledgers in the Municipal Accounting System. In order to process such
payments each customer receiving payments has a folder in the fiscal office that documents
their eligibility to receive NRPs. These files are also used by fiscal staff to process payments
and to track and report these payments to NYSDOL Albany, One Stop Managers and WIB
Staff on a monthly basis.
Training
1. The plan acknowledges the substantial increase in funding for PY 2009 received through the Recovery Act.
The PY 2009 Planned Participants in Training Services chart does not, however, show commensurate
increases in the numbers trained and total training expenditures. This should be explained or revisions to the
chart may need to be considered.
Answer: Page 42, #6 (paragraph after the table)
Please Note: When we knew we were receiving ARRA funds the WIB restored our ITA training cap to the
former level in order to give our customers more, and better, choices for training. Therefore our per
person average cost would be higher so there would not be any dramatic changes in the numbers of
individuals we would be serving from PY 08 to PY 09. Further, the changes in total training expenditures
between the two program years for Adult and Dislocated Worker is only about 20% so the projected
number of planned individuals to be enrolled in training services for PY 09 would not be dramatically
different from the data provided by Research and Statistics in attachment J for PY 2008.
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OBSERVATIONS
Public Assistance and Low-Income Populations Priority of Service:
1. It would be informative to have a description of the methods used to communicate priority of service
requirements to local staff.
Answer: Page 9, #5
The LWIA will communicate the policies and procedures for utilizing priority of service to all
Functionally Aligned Staff via agenda items at staff meetings, email and other means as
deemed appropriate. Staff will monitor/follow up to ensure the questions are being asked
and staff have verified Public Assistance or Low Income Status by using one of the acceptable
verification documents and the proper data fields in OSOS have been properly completed.
Veterans & Eligible Spouses of Veterans Priority of Service:
1.
Please assure that contract templates, RFPs and sub-contract agreements are modified to include
veterans/ priority before any of these documents are issued (it is noted that the stated timeframe for
this is early December, 2009).
Answer: Page11, #3
The LWIA is in the process of revising our contract template RFP and sub-agreement
language to include the veteran’s priority of service provision. The LWIA will not put
anything new out to bid after December of 2009 without the contract language revision to
include the new priority of service language.
Youth
1.
Activities should be broken out by the age groupings required in the plan guidance.
Answer: Page 26, #1a
i. 14 – 15 – work experience; enrichment activities; career exploration activities;
and GED preparation.
ii. 17 – 18 – work experience; enrichment activities; career development activities;
access to information about year round programs; and GED preparation.
iii. 18 - 21 – work experience; enrichment activities; employment planning
activities; access to information about year round youth program; access to
career planning and development; and GED preparation.
iv. 22 – 24 – work experience; placements at area agencies like CAP for work on
weatherization project; career planning and development activities; GED
preparation and access to information on training available through WIA Adult,
Dislocated Worker and other federal and state funding i.e. PELL/TAP.
v. 18 – 24 - for work experience only 10/1/09 through 3/31/10.
2.
The procedure for ensuring that the youth work experience does not unfavorable impact current
employees and/or impair existing contracts for services or collective bargaining agreements, or
replace laid off workers, should be made more clear regarding assurances at non-union worksites.
Answer: Page 30, #4d
All Worksite Agreements contain a “Union Endorsement” page that requires completion
whether or not the worksite has a union. This page assures union endorsement of the
program, that the participant(s) will not interfere with or disrupt the work schedules of
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union members and the participants will not be used to replace or displace any worker
currently employed in the industry. It also makes it understood the participants are not
to be considered as union members of the organizations to which they are assigned.
Finally there is a place to sign indicating there is no union involved if that is the case.
IV.
Resolution –
a. Resolution 1-10 “Individual Training Accounts Cap for the Cayuga-Cortland LWIA”In accordance with the Cayuga-Cortland Workforce Investment Area By-laws (Article V, Section #4)
business conducted when a quorum is not present shall be conducted as a “Committee of the Whole”.
At the next Cayuga-Cortland WIB meeting, with a quorum present, the Chairperson will ask for a
motion and vote approving or disapproving the actions taken by the Committee of the whole. When a
quorum is once present to organize a meeting, it is not broken by the subsequent withdrawal of any
members.
A motion was then made to reduce our ITA Cap from $10,000 to the $3,000 level (due to the lack of
funding), including books and fees, unless prior review and approval by the County E&T Director of
a different amount based on individual customer need. It is further recommended the remaining
clauses of the policy remain in tact as approved in July of 2008 and restated in our LWIA Plan
Modification for July 2, 2009- June 30, 2010 by Ted Herrling, seconded by Chris Calabro and
unanimously adopted.
V.
WIB Director’s Report –
September –
 The focus was on meeting the Plan Modification submission deadline of September 18, 2009.
 Preparing the Year Round Youth Contracts for County Attorney.
 Met with the “Wheels to Work” staff from Broome County at the Cortland Works Career Center
regarding the possibility of renting space at the Cortland Center (later found out they ended up
renting space in another location).
 Prepared and submitted the County Budget.
October –
 Took two well needed weeks of vacation.
 Continued weekly conference calls on WIA topics, Systems Indicator (SI)/Common Measures
(CM) reports and Training.
 Received notice we were eligible to receive Incentive funds for meeting/exceeding State WIA
priorities and goals for PY 2008. We earned $16,555.80 and were required to submit a plan of
how we wanted to spend these funds. This year we planned for the bulk of the funds to go to
training costs for program participants ($15,555.80) and $1,000 went for replacing several desk
chairs and a worn out chair mat.
 Followed with submitting a Performance Improvement Plan for not passing two measures: Initial
Assessment Measure and Reducing the Number of Participants who Exit while still certifying for
UI benefits.
For Initial Assessment, eight of the ten regions in the State did not pass, including ours (Central
NY). We have discussed this measure at length and feel it is multiple enrollments during the year
that is causing the problem. We have made programmatic adjustments to bring this under control.
We have provided in service training to all partner agency staff to get quicker and more accurate
data entry. We look forward to a change in the definition of this measure to rate only those
enrolled in training for PY’09 and we feel this change will have a positive impact on our
performance.
Reducing the number of participants who exit while still certified for UI benefits. Our percentage
for PY’08 was 16.1 there were four areas of the 33 who achieved under the 20% (Onondaga,
Ontario/Seneca/Wayne and Yates). The Statewide goal was 5% and no one even came close,
while it is always good to strive to do better it doesn’t seem reasonable to penalize those areas by
telling them they must cut ½ again from their PY’08 rate. It is the individual not in UI downloads
7
that are falling through the cracks. Temporary and seasonals with call back dates who are going
back to work and we take them off our list and don’t recall them for services. Also, we do not get
lists of the individuals with extended benefits so we have no way of contacting them.
Our Management staff says we are watching everything we can to stay on top of it. One
improvement is to continue to provide them services but that may be self serving because we have
already asked them if they want additional services and they don’t. Also, we don’t have the staff
to increase services to this population especially given the number of TA customers we are
serving which in nearing 400.
We have been open to any suggestions from the State as to what else we can do and we will try to
be more diligent with the 90 day follow-up on individuals indicating they are going back to work
and those we are aware of who are no longer certifying.
To date we have not had any feedback on planned use of Incentive funds.
November –
 We received the results of the Comprehensive Review of our Plan Modification. As discussed
under New Business, we had one month to provide the addendum information and because the
State considered the changes to be an “addendum to the Plan,” no additional signatures were
required.
 Continued to work to identify businesses and job seekers to participate in the Elevate America
Statewide Project with Microsoft to provide on line training in Windows Vista, Microsoft Office,
Word 2007, Excel 2007, PowerPoint 2007, also the 2003 Microsoft office products and business
certification exams.
 Submitted a request to NYSDOL to participate in the Statewide Reemployment, Eligibility and
Assessment (REA) Program, which is designed to help people receiving unemployment insurance
get back to work faster by providing them with individualized job search and training services.
Under this initiative, these additional staff will help workers determine what job hunting and
training services they need, and develop a job search plan customized to each person’s needs.
Additionally, information on the local labor market will be used to help focus the individual job
search. Staff will continue to follow-up with each worker throughout the job search process, until
the worker gets a job or exhausts his or her unemployment benefits. Cortland received two
additional staff and Cayuga received three.
December Prepared the Plan Modification Addendum for official submission.
 Participated in many Webinars and Conference Calls on a variety of topics.
 The Cortland and Cayuga Centers were visited by State Commissioner of Labor, Patricia Smith;
she came to tour the centers and was introduced to staff. The purpose of the visit was to see what
strategies are working and what things could be changed for people looking for job related
resources. She praised both Centers saying we have a lot of services to offer.
 Skills Matching and Referral Technology (SMART 2010) - This is a software program and it is
one of the most dynamic tools out there in a long time. This program sorts job seekers by their
skills, taking into consideration their work history, longevity at their job and much more. When
participants go to any of the One-Stop Centers they will sit down with an advisor who will help
them get their resume in this system and it will then immediately be emailed to employers for any
positions that come up as a possible match. Once jobs are posted and a match is made the
participant would be sent an email from that employer. Judy explained that Cortland did this with
a 25 mile radius and there were no matches so they expanded the radius to 50 miles and that
seems to be helping.
Because of the lack of a quorum we will make a motion to accept the WIB Director’s Report at
our next Full WIB meeting in April.
8
VI.
Old Business
Status of the Sub-lease Agreement Judy was able to tell members we received three checks from NYSDOL for the rent from December 1,
2007-November 30, 2008. We also received money for the December 1, 2008- November 30, 2009
however, it was $4,000.00 short. We have since received the $4,000.00 and they are now paying us
monthly. We have not received anything for utilities yet, but are very happy to have received the rent
monies and we will actively pursue the remaining funds owed now that the rent issue has been resolved.
We can now pull together a Partner’s meeting to get back on track with cost sharing to help with the
finances of the Centers.
VI.
New Business a. Program Year 2009, Quarter 1 Performance Report- Judy highlighted the measures that make up the
Report to include:
Training, Youth ITA’s, Initial Assessment, Entered Employment Rate (Adult and Dislocated Worker),
Employment Retention Rate (Adult and Dislocated Worker), Average Earnings for Adult, Placement in
Employment or Education for youth and Literacy and Numeracy Gains look good at this time so we
should be fine for these measures.
Attainment of a Degree or Certificate for youth shows that we are at risk for sanction however, this
quarter is a bad time of the year for measuring this standard. Performance against this measure will
pick up in May and June with High School graduation, GED testing, etc. This measure should be back
on target by the end of the Program Year. We will keep you posted.
However, there are two measures where we are at the risk of sanction and they include: Reduce the # of
Exiters still Certifying for UI Benefits and Average Earnings for Dislocated Worker. Judy has a
conference call meeting with DOL on January 21st to re-negotiate these measures to something a bit
more reasonable for our two-county area. She is working with Roger Evans from the NYSDOL
Division of Research and Statistics to prepare a counter-offer and rationale for the requested changes.
b. Notification and Rapid Response for Penn Traffic (P&C Grocery Stores and Warehouses closings)Our office received notice in November of 2009 regarding the closing of Penn Traffic Company
(P&C/Quality Stores/Warehouses). The number of employees –affected by this closing is 4,142 this
would affect 96 union and 4 non-union employees in the Cortland area.
Judy and a team of many of our agencies held a Rapid Response session for the Cortland P&C
employees on January 13, 2010 from 10-Noon at the Community Building behind the Homer Fire
Department in Homer, NY. Though we didn’t have a great turnout, the employees who did attend were
grateful to us for providing them with resources and information they felt would be valuable if the
closing happened as planned. The other reason it was a smaller group was because this was held while
the stores are still open and many of the potential attendees were working. Judy continued that we are
used to providing these workshops when the people are already laid-off and have the time to come. She
indicated we may need to hold another Rapid Response if the buyouts don’t come to pass.
Nancy Wise stated that McQuay had laid-off 75, hopefully temporary and Ted indicated Owens Illinois
Glass, Inc. has laid-off 87 all due to the economy.
c. Size of Cayuga-Cortland WIB Board- Judy has been doing some comparing of our board with other
LWIAs in the State and is finding they are on a smaller scale than ours. We will be pulling the Board
Maintenance Committee together to discuss the size and composition of the board as well as meeting
time and dates.
9
Judy also noted that in some counties their Economic Developers are considered a Private Sector
Member. Judy has met with the new Chamber of Commerce Director in Cortland County and he
maybe interested in becoming a member.
Steve Lynch reported there is a new Economic Developer for Cayuga County, Andrew Fish, and the
Cayuga Economic Development Agency is comprised of 15 members with nine of them being private
sector members. He is not sure this would help us in anyway, but it can’t hurt to contact Mr. Fish and
discuss this with him. Ted Herrling agreed to talk with Mr. Fish.
VIII.
Announcements
None at this time.
IX.
Next Meeting
The next meeting is scheduled for Thursday, April 15, 2010 at the Cayuga Works Career Center, 199
Franklin Street, Suite 204, Auburn NY at 8:00 a.m.
With no further business to discuss the meeting was adjourned at 9:35 a.m.
A motion to adjourn the meeting as made by Ted Herrling, seconded by Dennis Donahue, and
unanimously adopted.
Respectfully submitted,
Tammy Reed
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