§ 846. Substate level activities. 1. (a) Grantees shall use funds
allotted to them pursuant to section eight hundred forty-eight of this
article to provide to eligible dislocated workers the core functions of
the worker adjustment program, which include intake, assessment and
counseling, as well as basic readjustment and retraining services as
defined in section eight hundred thirty-five of this article, directly
or by contract. Provided, however, that such grantees shall not be
required by the department to contract with any specific provider for
the provision of such services.

(b) Each substate grantee shall provide intake, counseling and
assessment directly or by contract on an ongoing basis at a site or
sites designated by the substate grantee to which all dislocated workers
in the area have access. In addition, the substate grantee may make such
services available at the location of a plant closing or substantial
layoff.

(c) Substate grantees shall require that all service providers
selected by the substate grantee to receive funds allocated pursuant to
section eight hundred forty-eight of this article, other than vouchers
for training services given to program participants pursuant to
subdivision four of this section, shall provide a written plan which
includes: (i) the amount and purposes for which funding is requested;
(ii) a description of the services to be provided, including the
duration of service and the estimated service cost per recipient; (iii)
procedures for identifying and selecting participants and for
eligibility determination and verification; (iv) evidence that the
proposed service program will provide appropriate assistance to
recipients seeking available private sector employment; (v) a
description of other funding sources which may be used for such
programs; (vi) a description of steps the provider will take to avoid
duplication of services available through existing resources; (vii) a
description of the provider's coordination with programs and activities
funded through the job training partnership act or other state
resources; (viii) procedures for advising the local private industry
council of the provider's proposal, including ways in which the provider
intends to cooperate with the local private industry council; and (ix)
such other information as may be required by the grantee.

(d) The grantee shall select training providers and determine the
amount of monies available for each program. Selection considerations
shall include: the provider's past effectiveness in delivering
employment or vocational training programs or other readjustment
services based on demonstrated performance; for training providers,
ability to provide participants with the skills necessary to fill
available jobs in the private sector; cost of the proposed program; the
administrative capability to operate such a program; fiscal
responsibility; for training providers, a record of job placement for
completers which meets standards of acceptability established by the
commissioner for this purpose; the degree to which the provider has made
provisions for coordination with other services available under the job
training partnership act and other state and federal programs; and such
other factors as the grantee may determine. Funds provided pursuant to
this article shall not be used to duplicate facilities or services
available to the substate area from other federal, state or local
sources.

(e) Appropriate vocational and educational institutions in the
substate area shall be accorded the initial opportunity to provide
educational services unless the grantee determines that alternative
entities would be more effective or would have greater potential to
enhance participants' continued occupational and career growth.

(f) Funds shall be made available to service providers through direct
contract between each such service provider and the grantee. The
grantee shall notify the department of the award of each contract and
shall certify that the requirements of this article have been met.

(g) After March first of each year, the department shall reapportion
an amount of unexpended funds from each substate area's allocation that
the department has determined cannot be expended as planned. The
substate area shall be provided with no less than thirty days advance
notice and an opportunity to appeal the reallocation. The department
shall reallocate those funds to the substate areas in a manner
consistent with the purposes of this section and with applicable federal
law and regulations. Funds shall be reallocated to substate areas that
have demonstrated an ability to expend funds at a rate in keeping with
or exceeding planned levels and where existing resources are
insufficient to provide needed services, to be determined in
consultation with interested parties. At any time after December
thirty-first, a substate area may volunteer to deobligate funds. Such
funds may be reallocated immediately by the department to the substate
grantees consistent with the purposes of this article.

2. Opportunities may be offered for on-the-job training with the
following conditions:

(a) preference will be given for jobs which exceed the minimum wage
and which have the capacity for growth and advancement;

(b) the employer will be responsible for at least fifty percent of the
wages and fringe benefits paid to a worker in training.

3. Needs-related payments may be provided under this section pursuant
to subparagraph (e) of section three hundred fourteen of the act for
eligible participants upon demonstration of need after considering all
of the sources of income available to the participant or the
participant's family. However, such payment shall not be made unless
the participant's unemployment compensation, including any extended
benefits, will expire prior to their completion of the program.

4. Alternative methods of providing retraining services may be
approved such as:

(a) A substate grantee may defer the delivery of retraining services
by providing the program participant with a certificate of continuing
eligibility:

(i) such certificates may be effective for periods not to exceed one
hundred four weeks;

(ii) certificates will not include references to any specific amounts
of funds;

(iii) certificates shall state that they are subject to availability
of funds at the time that the services are to be provided; and

(iv) acceptance of a certificate shall not be deemed as enrollment in
training.

(b) A substate grantee may provide the program participants with
vouchers for training services whereby the participants may seek out and
arrange their own retraining with the following limitations:

(i) service providers must be approved by the grantee pursuant to the
provisions of subparagraph (ii) of this paragraph;

(ii) the commissioner of education shall prepare a list of programs
approved for funding and shall submit such list to the commissioner by
July first, nineteen hundred eighty-nine, and shall thereafter from time
to time as he or she determines necessary update such list. The
commissioner shall include on such list only non-degree programs which
are at least three hundred twenty clock hours in length, and which
provide skills for employment based on current requirements of business
and industry in an occupational field for which favorable employment
opportunities are anticipated in the state and which meet standards of
instructional quality established in regulations by the commissioner of
education. These standards shall include, but are not limited to,
qualifications of administrative and instructional personnel, quality of
the curricula, quality of facilities and equipment, record keeping,
admission, grading, attendance and record of placement of completers
which meets standards of acceptability as established by the
commissioner of education in conjunction with the commissioner;

(iii) such services shall be conducted under a grant, contract or
other arrangement between the grantee and the service provider; and

(iv) substate grantees shall provide vouchers to program participants
only upon demonstration that such program participant has been accepted
for and is proposing to undertake an occupational retraining program
which has been approved by the commissioner of education pursuant to
this section.

5. Substate grantees shall establish linkages with all involved state
agencies, including local and regional offices of the department of
labor, the department of education and the department of economic
development.