State Education Department Seal
THE STATE EDUCATION DEPARTMENT/THE UNIVERSITY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK/ALBANY, 12234
_______________________________________________________________________


February 24, 2000

TO:Chairpersons of Private Industry Councils
Chief Elected Officials
SDA Administrative Entities
SDA Grant Recipients
One-Stop Grant Recipients
Perkins Postsecondary Basic Grant Recipients
 
FROM:Jeanine L. Grinage, Assistant Commissioner, Office of Equity, Access and K-16 Collaboration

Jean C. Stevens, Assistant Commissioner, Office of Workforce Preparation and Continuing Education

 
SUBJECT:Carl D. Perkins Vocational and Technical Education Act Support for One-Stop Delivery Systems and Representation on Local Workforce Investment Boards

This memorandum provides information to assist partners in Local Workforce Investment Areas in meeting their mandated roles and responsibilities under the Workforce InvestmentAct (WIA) of 1998.

As required by the WIA, recipients of Carl D. Perkins Vocational and Technical Education Act postsecondary basic grant funds are required partners in One-Stop delivery systems. As such, Perkins recipients must be represented on newly appointed Local Workforce Investment Boards. The specific requirement is that at least one Perkins recipient be appointed to the local Board, although more than one may be selected if there are multiple Perkins recipients in a Local Workforce Investment Area. Selection authority rests with the locality. Enclosed is a list of 1999-2000 Perkins postsecondary basic grant recipients.

The roles and responsibilities of Perkins postsecondary basic grant recipients are described in both the WIA interim final regulations of the U.S. Department of Labor and U. S. Department of Education program memoranda. One of these responsibilities is the negotiation of a memorandum of understanding (MOU) between each Perkins postsecondary basic grant recipient in a Local Workforce Investment Area and the Local Workforce Investment Board regarding the support of a One-Stop delivery system. There are various approaches for developing MOUs where several Perkins postsecondary basic grant recipients are located in a specific Workforce Investment Area. For example, one general MOU with attachments could be developed and signed by each partner, or a separate MOU could be developed and signed by each partner. Enclosed are guidelines for coordinating local workforce development, which the State Education Department distributed in the fall of 1999 to Perkins postsecondary basic grant recipients.

As localities develop their Workforce Investment Area plans, Perkins postsecondary basic grant recipients may find it advantageous to collaborate among themselves, particularly with respect to the requirement that at least one recipient must be selected to serve on the Local Workforce Investment Board. Additionally, Perkins postsecondary basic grant recipients may wish to initiate contact with current local Service Delivery Area Administrative Entities. Contact information can be found on the New York Association of Training and Employment Professionals web site: www.nyatep.org.

Enclosures