This subpart describes the employment and case management services that the State must make available to trade-affected workers, either directly through the TAA Program or through arrangements with partner programs. This subpart requires States, under the Governor-Secretary Agreement at § 618.804, to integrate the provision of benefits and services available to trade-affected workers under the TAA Program with the delivery of employment services and other assistance provided through the one-stop delivery system (established under title I of WIOA), as required by sections 235 and 239(a), (e), and (g) of the Act. It also implements the requirements of section 221(a)(2)(A) of the Act for the provision of rapid response assistance and appropriate career services described in §§ 682.300 through 682.370, and 680.150 of this chapter, respectively, for workers upon receipt of a petition filed covering a group of workers.

(a) As provided by WIOA section 121(b)(1)(B)(vii), the TAA Program is a required one-stop partner under WIOA.

(b) The State must ensure that the TAA Program complies with WIOA's one-stop partnership requirements at WIOA section 121(b)(1)(A)(i) through (v). This includes, among the other requirements, paying infrastructure costs where the TAA Program is being carried out.

(c) The TAA Program must also comply with, and be a party to, the memorandum of understanding required under the regulations implementing WIOA at § 678.500 of this chapter, where the TAA Program is being carried out.

(a) The State is responsible for providing information to workers about the TAA Program, as required in § 618.816;

(b) As part of the delivery of services, the State must:

(1) Conduct intake, which includes interviewing each trade-affected worker and reviewing suitable training opportunities reasonably available to each worker under subpart F of this part;

(2) Inform trade-affected workers of the employment services and allowances available under the Act and this part, including the application procedures, the filing requirements for such services, and enrollment deadlines for receiving TRA, as described in subpart G of this part;

(3) Determine whether suitable employment, as defined in § 618.110, is available, and assist in job search activities related to securing suitable employment;

(4) Accept applications for training;

(5) Provide information on which training providers offer training programs at a reasonable cost and with a reasonable expectation of employment following the completion of such training, and assist in acquiring such training;

(6) Monitor the progress and attendance of trade-affected workers in approved training programs;

(7) Develop and implement a procedure for determining whether to issue a training waiver and to review waivers to determine whether the conditions under which they were issued have changed, in compliance with subpart G of this part;

(8) Provide access to workshops and other resources related to job search strategies, resume building, interviewing, and other topics available through the TAA Program or through the one-stop delivery system; and

(9) Coordinate the administration and delivery of additional appropriate employment services, benefits, training, supportive services, and supplemental assistance for workers with partner programs for which the trade-affected worker may be eligible.

(c) The State must make available the employment and case management services in paragraphs (c)(1) through (7) of this section to trade-affected workers who apply for or are seeking receipt of TAA Program benefits and services, and ensure that those workers are informed of the availability of:

(1) Comprehensive and specialized assessment of skill levels and service needs, including through:

(i) Diagnostic testing and use of other assessment tools; and

(ii) In-depth interviewing and evaluation to identify employment barriers and appropriate employment goals.

(2) Development of an individual employment plan (IEP) to identify employment goals and objectives, and appropriate training to achieve those goals and objectives.

(3) Information on how to apply for financial aid, including referring workers to educational opportunity centers described in section 402F of the Higher Education Act of 1965, as amended (HEA) (20 U.S.C. 1070a-16), where applicable, and notifying workers that they may request that financial aid administrators at institutions of higher education (as defined in section 102 of HEA (20 U.S.C. 1002)) use the administrators' discretion under section 479A of HEA (20 U.S.C. 1087tt) to use current-year income data, rather than preceding-year income data, for determining the amount of the workers' need for Federal financial assistance under title IV of HEA (20 U.S.C. 1070 et seq.).

(4) Short-term prevocational services, including development of learning skills, communications skills, interviewing skills, punctuality, personal maintenance skills, and professional conduct to prepare trade-affected workers for employment or training.

(5) Individual and group career counseling, including job search and placement counseling, during the period in which the worker is receiving a trade adjustment allowance or training under this chapter, and after receiving such training for purposes of job placement and employment retention.

(6) Provision of employment statistics information, including the provision of accurate information relating to local, regional, and national labor market areas, including:

(i) Job-vacancy listings in such labor market areas;

(ii) Information on the job skills necessary to obtain the jobs identified in the job-vacancy listings described in paragraph (c)(6)(i) of this section;

(iii) Information relating to local occupations that are in demand and the earning potential of those occupations; and

(iv) Skills requirements for local occupations described in paragraph (c)(6)(iii) of this section.

(7) Information relating to the availability of supportive services, available through partner programs, including services relating to childcare, transportation, dependent care, housing assistance, and needs related payments that are necessary to enable a trade-affected worker to participate in training.

(d) To make available, with respect to the employment and case management services described in paragraph (c) of this section, means:

(1) That the State must inform the trade-affected worker of the full suite of services available; and

(2) That the State must offer and provide appropriate services to the trade-affected worker, as requested by the worker or deemed appropriate for the worker; and

(3) That the State must document each service provided to the trade-affected worker and document the reason any service listed in paragraph (c) of this section was not provided. The documentation must be included in the worker's case file, either through case notes or as a stand-alone document.

(a)(1) A State must co-enroll trade-affected workers who are eligible for WIOA's dislocated worker program. Workers may choose to decline co-enrollment in WIOA. A State cannot deny such a worker benefits or services under the TAA Program solely for declining co-enrollment in WIOA.

(2) A State must also make co-enrollment available to trade-affected workers who are eligible for other one-stop partner programs to ensure that all necessary and appropriate services, including supportive services, are available to the worker.

(b)(1) Trade-affected worker dislocated worker eligibility. Most trade-affected workers meet the eligibility criteria of a dislocated worker defined at WIOA section 3(15).

(2) Partially separated worker and AAIW dislocated worker eligibility. In certain circumstances, such as a general announcement of a closure, partially separated workers and AAIWs may meet the eligibility criteria as a dislocated worker under WIOA and must also be co-enrolled.

(3) Trade-affected worker dislocated worker ineligibility. Some trade-affected workers are ineligible for the WIOA dislocated worker program, including those that do not meet the Selective Service registration requirement, and will be exempt from the co-enrollment requirement in this section.

(a) The assessment process forms the basis for determining which TAA Program benefits and services, including training, are most appropriate to enable trade-affected workers to successfully become reemployed.

(b) The State must schedule an initial assessment that provides sufficient time and information for the trade-affected worker to consider, request, and enroll in training or obtain a waiver of the training requirement in § 618.720(g) to protect the worker's eligibility to receive TRA under subpart G of this part.

(c) Assessments are administered with the cooperation of the trade-affected worker and should include discussion of the worker's interests, skills, aptitudes, and abilities.

(d) The results of assessments must be documented in the case file, either through case notes or as a stand-alone document.

(e) If an assessment has already been administered by a partner program, it must be reviewed once a worker becomes a trade-affected worker to ensure it has the required components as listed in § 618.335 for an initial assessment and, if necessary, § 618.345 for a comprehensive and specialized assessment. If the assessment(s) does not contain the required components, the assessment(s) must be supplemented by the State, in conjunction with the trade-affected worker, to ensure it is fully compliant with TAA Program requirements in this part.

(f) The State must make the trade-affected worker aware of the advantages of receiving an assessment(s). However, a worker may refuse an assessment. Since portions of the assessment(s) are necessary to determine eligibility for certain TAA Program benefits, a worker's refusal to provide necessary information, either as part of the assessment or outside of the assessment process, may result in a denial of a those benefits. This is detailed further in the applicable benefit sections throughout this part.

(a) A State must carry out an initial assessment for each trade-affected worker as part of the intake process described in section 239(g) of the Act. When applicable, a State must use the results of an assessment developed by a partner program, supplemented if necessary, as described in § 618.330(e).

(b) The results of the initial assessment will determine the best service strategy to assist the trade-affected worker in obtaining reemployment and provide insight into which benefits and services under the TAA Program and partner programs would be most beneficial to the worker. The initial assessment of the availability of suitable employment to the worker in the local labor market must take into consideration the following factors:

(1) Prevailing local labor market conditions, including the unemployment rate, local employer skill demands and hiring prerequisites;

(2) The worker's knowledge, skills, and abilities from his or her education and previous employment;

(3) Transferable skills that the worker may possess that would be of interest to other local employers;

(4) Evaluation of a worker's skill levels (including literacy, numeracy, and English language proficiency), aptitudes, abilities (including skills gaps), and supportive service needs; and

(5) Any barriers to the worker's reemployment, such as:

(i) Lack of applicability of skills from the worker's present occupation to other occupations;

(ii) Skills that are in excess supply in the labor market area; or

(iii) Other barriers as outlined in WIOA section 3(24).

(c) Based upon the information gathered in the initial assessment, described in paragraph (a) of this section, the State may:

(1) Determine that suitable employment is available to the trade-affected worker, and if so, the State must make available employment and case management services. If the worker disagrees with the determination, the State must make available to the worker a comprehensive and specialized assessment (under § 618.345) to obtain additional information to determine whether the initial assessment was correct.

(2) Determine that no suitable employment is available to the worker and, if so, the State must make available services as described in § 618.310 (responsibilities for the delivery of employment and case management services) and a comprehensive and specialized assessment (as described in § 618.345) to develop a comprehensive service strategy for the trade-affected worker.

(d) If the State determines under paragraph (c) of this section that suitable employment is not available to a trade-affected worker, even with additional employment and case management services, the State must advise the worker to apply for training under subpart F of this part.

(a) The State must make available a comprehensive and specialized assessment to all trade-affected workers.

(b) The comprehensive and specialized assessment must take into account the trade-affected worker's goals and interests as they relate to employment opportunities either in the worker's commuting area or, where there is no reasonable expectation of securing employment in the worker's commuting area and the worker is interested in relocation, the employment opportunities and demand in the area to which the worker proposes to relocate.

(c) The comprehensive and specialized assessment must expand upon the initial assessment regarding the trade-affected worker's interests, skills, aptitudes, and abilities. This may include use of diagnostic testing tools and instruments and in-depth interviewing and evaluation to identify barriers to employment and appropriate employment goals. The in-depth interviewing of trade-affected workers must include discussion of training opportunities reasonably available to each trade-affected worker, as described in subpart F of this part; reviewing the opportunities with each trade-affected worker; and informing each trade-affected worker of the requirements for participating in training, including the enrollment deadlines required for TRA eligibility.

(d) The State may use information from the comprehensive and specialized assessment to determine whether the trade-affected worker has met the six criteria for approval of training listed in subpart F of this part.

(a) A State must:

(1) Make available an IEP; and

(2) Document an IEP for any trade-affected worker seeking training under subpart F of this part or a job search allowance under subpart D of this part, before the worker receives those benefits and services.

(b) An IEP must use the results of the initial and, if available, comprehensive and specialized assessments to assist in documenting a strategy to provide the trade-affected worker with the services needed to obtain employment, including the items listed in paragraph (c) of this section.

(c) An IEP must document:

(1) The trade-affected worker's employment goal, including the targeted occupation and industry;

(2) The training program proposed, if any;

(3) Any services that will be needed by the worker to obtain suitable employment, including career services, supportive services provided through partner programs, and post-training case management services;

(4) If applicable, any supplemental assistance (subsistence or transportation payments) required for participation in training and the basis for their calculation; and

(5) The worker's responsibilities under the plan.

(d) If an IEP has been previously developed with a trade-affected worker by a partner program, it must be reviewed once the worker becomes TAA Program-eligible to ensure it has the components required by paragraph (c) of this section. If the IEP does not contain the components, the IEP must be supplemented by the State in conjunction with the worker to ensure it is fully compliant with the TAA Program requirements in this part.

(e) The State must monitor the progress of the trade-affected worker in meeting the worker's responsibilities as listed in the IEP, including attendance and achievement in approved training programs.

(f)(1) The State must modify the IEP as necessary to facilitate a successful performance outcome for the trade-affected worker.

(2) The modification must be done with the worker's input.

(3) At a minimum, the IEP must be modified when there is a change in the training program, receipt of supplemental assistance, or both.

(g) The State must make the trade-affected worker aware of the advantages of receiving an IEP. However, a worker may refuse to complete an IEP. Since portions of the IEP are necessary to determine eligibility for job search allowances under subpart D of this part and training under subpart F of this part, a worker's refusal to provide necessary information, either as part of the IEP or outside of the IEP process, may result in a denial of a those benefits and services. This is detailed further in subparts D and F of this part.

(a) Staff performing either the initial or comprehensive and specialized assessment must possess the following knowledge and abilities:

(1) Knowledge of the local labor market;

(2) Knowledge of local employer and occupation skill demands and hiring prerequisites, such as educational requirements and professional certifications;

(3) The ability to identify transferable skills that a trade-affected worker may possess that would be of interest to other local employers outside of the worker's present occupational area;

(4) The ability to evaluate quickly a worker's ability to conduct a self-directed job search; and

(5) The ability to identify barriers to a worker's employment that could be overcome with training and case management services.

(b) The staff performing these initial and comprehensive and specialized assessments may be from any partner program.

(c) Funds under section 235A(1) of the Act may be used to improve and maintain the knowledge and abilities of staff conducting assessments for trade-affected workers.

The State must make employment and case management services available, including placement and referrals to supportive services and follow-up services available through partner programs, to trade-affected workers during training, and after completion of training, and for AAWs on a waiver from training.