[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 25 (Wednesday, February 6, 2013)]
[Notices]
[Pages 8585-8586]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-02531]
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DEPARTMENT OF LABOR
Employment and Training Administration
Comment Request for Information Collection for Veterans
Retraining Assistance Program Participant (VRAP) Outreach Reporting,
New Collection
AGENCY: Employment and Training Administration (ETA), Labor.
ACTION: Notice.
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SUMMARY: The Department of Labor (Department), as part of its
continuing effort to reduce paperwork and respondent burden, conducts a
preclearance consultation program to provide the public and Federal
agencies with an opportunity to comment on proposed and/or continuing
collections of information in accordance with the Paperwork Reduction
Act of 1995 [44 U.S.C. 3506(c)(2)(A)]. This program helps ensure that
requested data can be provided in the desired format, reporting burden
(time and financial resources) is minimized, collection instruments are
clearly understood, and the impact of collection requirements on
respondents can be properly assessed.
Currently, ETA is soliciting comments concerning the collection of
data about ``Veterans Retraining Assistance Program Participant
Outreach Reporting'' which is a request for a new data collection from
State Workforce Agencies, collected on a quarterly basis. This
information collection will be used to ensure that VRAP participants
are offered employment services after they complete the program as
required in the VOW to Hire Heroes Act of 2011.
DATES: Written comments must be submitted to the office listed in the
ADDRESSES section below on or before April 8, 2013.
ADDRESSES: Submit written comments to Andrew Ridgeway, Office of
Workforce Investment, Room S-4203, Employment and Training
Administration, U.S. Department of Labor, 200 Constitution Avenue NW.,
Washington, DC 20210. Telephone number: 202-693-3536 (this is not a
toll-free number). Individuals with hearing or speech impairments may
access the telephone number above via TTY by calling the toll-free
Federal Information Relay Service at 1-877-889-5627 (TTY/TDD). Fax:
202-693-3817. Email: [email protected]. A copy of the proposed
information collection request (ICR) can be obtained by contacting the
office listed above.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Background
The ETA seeks approval for the collection of quarterly outreach
reports from the State Workforce Agencies (SWA) on the Veterans
Retraining Assistance Program (VRAP), which is part of the VOW to Hire
Heroes Act of 2011 (Pub. L. 112-56). VRAP is a new training program for
eligible veterans, funded by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA).
The program requires the Department of Labor (DOL) to offer employment
placement services to each veteran who participated in the VRAP within
30 days of their completion or termination. The Department of Veterans
Affairs, in collaboration with the DOL, is required to submit a report
to Congress by July 1, 2014, on the outcomes of the program. The
statutorily required report must include the total number of eligible
veterans who participated, the associates degrees or certificates
awarded (or other similar evidence of the completion of the program of
education or training earned), and data related to the employment
status of eligible veterans who participated in the program. The
program was authorized to enroll up to 45,000 veterans in Fiscal Year
(FY) 2012, from July 1, 2012 through September 30, 2012, and up to
54,000 additional veterans from October 1, 2012, through October 1,
2013, with all training to conclude no later than March 31, 2014.
The VRAP provides up to 12 months of full-time retraining
assistance (currently $1,564 per month) in a ``high demand'' occupation
to eligible veterans at a VA approved community college or technical
school. The VRAP provides the benefit to veterans who fulfill the
following eligibility criteria: As of date of application, is at least
35 years old and less than 60; discharged from active duty under
conditions other than dishonorable; is unemployed as of date of
application; is not eligible to receive other educational assistance
from the VA; is not in receipt of compensation for a service-connected
disability rated totally disabling by reason of unemployability; was
not and is not enrolled in any Federal or state job training program
within the previous 180 days; and, the application must be submitted
not later than October 1, 2013.
Once the veteran has terminated or completed the VRAP, the VA is
transmitting a secure participant report to DOL so that employment
services can be offered to the participant and program outcomes can be
reported. DOL will transmit a report to each state on VRAP participants
within that state who
[[Page 8586]]
terminated or completed VRAP. DOL will transmit each state's file on a
weekly basis using a secure File Transfer Protocol (sFTP) site. Each
state will be able to access only its file so that it can disseminate
the participant information securely to the appropriate American Job
Center staff in the participant's local area enabling the American Job
Center to offer employment services to the veteran.
In order for DOL to ensure employment services are being offered
and outcomes are being tracked for all participants, ETA is proposing
to collect quarterly reports from the states, with a 45-day reporting
period following each quarter, on the outreach offered to VRAP
participants. In order to reduce the amount of participant information
being transferred, ETA is proposing to add two data fields to the
participant report it sends to the states. The report will be in
Microsoft Excel format and will include a ``unique identifier'' field
(not personally identifiable information), assigned by ETA and an
``Employment Assistance'' field which will be blank. The collection
instrument is included as an attachment in the Information Collection
Request package. The ``Employment Assistance'' field will be completed
by the state workforce agencies tracking the outreach offered to each
VRAP participant. ETA is seeking approval from OMB to collect from each
state the ``unique identifier'' field and the ``Employment Assistance''
field on a quarterly basis.
This information collection is subject to the Paperwork Reduction
Act (PRA). A Federal agency generally cannot conduct or sponsor a
collection of information, and the public is generally not required to
respond to an information collection, unless it is approved by the OMB
under the PRA and displays a currently valid OMB Control Number. In
addition, notwithstanding any other provisions of law, no person shall
generally be subject to penalty for failing to comply with a collection
of information if the collection of information does not display a
valid OMB Control Number. See 5 CFR 1320.5(a) and 1320.6.
II. Review Focus
The Department is particularly interested in comments which:
Evaluate whether the proposed collection of information is
necessary for the proper performance of the functions of the agency,
including whether the information will have practical utility;
Evaluate the accuracy of the agency's estimate of the
burden of the proposed collection of information, including the
validity of the methodology and assumptions used;
Enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the
information to be collected; and
Minimize the burden of the collection of information on
those who are to respond, including through the use of appropriate
automated, electronic, mechanical, or other technological collection
techniques or other forms of information technology, e.g., permitting
electronic submissions of responses.
III. Current Actions
Type of Review: New Collection.
Title: Veterans Retraining Assistance Program Participant Outreach
Reporting.
OMB Number: 1205--NEW.
Affected Public: State Workforce Agency staff and American Job
Center staff.
Form(s): Participant Dissemination Form and Quarterly Report Form.
Total Annual Burden Cost for Respondents: $440,948 (See Supporting
Statement for Calculation).
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Average time
Data collection activity Number of Frequency Total per response Burden hours
respondents responses (minutes
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Participant Contact List 54 52 2,808 60 2,808
Dissemination..................
Contacting VRAP Participant..... 44,500 1 44,500 10 7,417
Quarterly Report Preparation.... 54 4 216 90 324
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Total....................... .............. .............. .............. .............. 10,549
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Comments submitted in response to this comment request will be
summarized and/or included in the request for OMB approval of the ICR;
they will also become a matter of public record.
Dated: Signed in Washington, DC, on this 29th day of January
2013.
Jane Oates,
Assistant Secretary for Employment and Training, Labor.
[FR Doc. 2013-02531 Filed 2-5-13; 8:45 am]
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