Doing Business with the TRADE PROGRAM in Massachusetts

1. Doing Business with theTRADE PROGRAMin Massachusetts Deval L. Patrick, Governor Rachel Kaprielian, Secretary Alice L. Sweeney, Director Department of Career Services

2. Purpose • The TAA program helps workers who have lost their jobs as a result of foreign trade. The program offers a variety of benefits and services to eligible workers, including: • job training • income support (TRA) • job search and relocation allowances • a wage supplement to certain reemployed trade-affected workers 50 years of age and older (A/RTAA)

3. Working Together One-Stop Career Centers (OSCC) Provide employment and case management services Department of Unemployment Assistance (DUA) Administers TRA benefits Department of Career Services (DCS) Administers TAA benefits Educational Institutions/Vendors Trains TAA Clients

4. Basic Overview • Company files a petition with DOL • DOL investigates the petition. If approved, DOL issues a certification; a five-digit number is assigned to the certification • Workers are notified about the Trade certification by DCS • Workers go to OSCC for services and case management • Benefits are administered by DCS and DUA

5. Requirements for the State after Certification • Legal Notice in the newspaper • Mailing to all workers notifying them of the certification • Interested Parties Notice • This is an email that is sent to various vendors around the State letting them know about the affected workers. • We hope this will encourage vendors to work with their local Career Centers to market and/or expand current programs and develop new programs which will serve the affected population.

6. Training Mission Trade’s Axiom: The least amount of training at the lowest reasonable cost in the shortest amount of time to obtain the skills, credentials, resources, and support necessary to become suitably reemployed.

7. Reasonable Cost • Currently in Massachusetts, for NEW contracts that commenced July 1, 2013 and after, a training program (tuition, fees and books) cannot exceed: • Reasonable Costs: • Remedial Training: $10,000 (per year) • Occupational Training: $20,000 total • Degree Programs: $28,000 total • MAX (including travel, subsistence, etc.): $35,000 total • These costs are for ALL TAA Participants, regardless of petition number

8. Length of Training • Training which exceeds the maximum number of weeks allowed may not be paid for under the TAA program.

9. Training Information Continued

10. One Training Per Certification • A worker may only be approved for one training program per certification. • Note: A training program may be comprised of several training components (ie, remedial training first, then vocational training)

11. Remedial Training • Remedial training can occur at any time of the training program, but it is encouraged to be taken prior to occupational trainings or degree programs. • Examples of remedial training include: • Basic math & writing skills • English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) • Courses leading to a GED • Coursework required for entry into a training program (Pre-requisites) • Remedial training can also occur concurrently with other training.

12. Completion TRA2011 and 2014-R Law • Income support for UP TO 13 weeks for students meeting required benchmarks • Schools will need to provide progress reports or utilize TAA’s benchmark report form. Student will be given this form to provide to the school. • What are schools currently using to track progress? • What can TAA do to help schools with this required process?

13. Contractual Considerations • Becoming a Qualified Vendor… • Respond to RFR 14-01https://www.commbuys.com/bso/ • To execute a new contract, please follow the instructions to review the Request for Response (RFR) Click on Contract & Bid Search, once you are on Advanced Search, click on Bids and Enter Bid #: S154212; Click on Find It (results will populate) scroll down to see results Click on S154212-vCurrent to download information and learn more about getting into contract with Trade Program. • Complete TrainingPro Requirements • RFR 14-01 • Open Enrollment application process • RFR agreement ends June 30, 2018 • New RFR would be drafted before the end date of RFR 14-01

14. Major RFR Requirements: • Supplier Diversity Program (Replaces • Affirmative Market Program) • Certificate of Good Standing • Registration with Secretary of State • Licensing by the Department of Education • Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT) Authorization • Single Point of Contact ( S.P.O.C.) • Discount Program Selections • Prompt Pay Discount • Dollar Volume Discount

15. RFR Payment Request Requirements • Authorization to submit payment requests is receipt of Participant Approval Notification • (consists of Budget/Payment Schedule, etc) • Payment requests must be submitted on a timely basis. • There are consequences of not submitting timely payment requests. • Payment requests must be submitted in accordance with the budget/payment schedules. • Any payments not submitted in accordance with the budget/payment schedules are subject to return.

16. Participant Training Approvals • Elements of Participant Approval Notification: • Notification Letter • Participant List • Budget/Payment Schedule • Course Description • Break in Training Verification • Refund Policy • Role of the S.P.O.C. • Transparency of the Participant to the Contract Process

17. Information regarding Training Pro • Website: www.mass.gov/dwd/trainingPro • For TAA approval, a course must meet these minimum requirements for performance: • Completion Rate: >/= 70% • Entered Employment Rate: >/= 60% • TAA courses go through an auto-approval process first. If they meet certain criteria then the course is auto approved. If not, the course is put into a pending status for a TAA staff manual determination to be made. • Course approvals last for 1 year. You must resubmit courses for approval the day after they expire. The system at this time will not allow you to do it any earlier.

18. TrainingProCon’tSelecting a Funding Source and Adding a Course to the Account

19. Submitting a Request for Payment Are you wondering what happens once you send YOUR invoices in to the Commonwealth of MA for payment from the Trade Program?

20. Submit your payment voucher to Accounts Payable According to Budget Payment Schedule, vendor submits P.V. to Accounts Payable Accounts Payable passes the P.V. on to the Trade Unit Trade Unit reviews P.V. and data enters payment information into financial database and sends back to AP AP processes payments approved by the Trade Unit EFT is sent out to vendors accordingly

21. Before the Trade Unit processes a payment, there are number of things that must be reviewed. • Most recent participant list to be sure that the student being billed for is listed • Budget Payment Schedule to make sure we are being billed as scheduled at time of approval • For any colleges and universities, a Course Outline is needed to show what classes are being taken and when (TAA now has a Course Outlineform for schools to use!) • Any bookstore Purchase Orders will require receipts as well as a course outline to be sure we are paying for appropriate items, REQUIRED by all students in training • Please note: Class outlines and book lists are received from counselors prior to training approval. Some examples of reviewed items include:

22. How does Trade’s Quarterly Budget Payment Schedule Work?? Invoice can be sent 10/1/11-12/31/11 Invoice can be sent 4/1/11-6/30/11 Invoices can be sent to the Trade Unit via AP at any point within the quarter. Billing does not have to occur on the last day of each quarter listed.

23. Don’t forget about VendorWeb! • Using this web site, vendors to the Commonwealth of Massachusetts can easily and quickly: • Access their payment information • View scheduled payments • View payment history • Print the form to request Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT) • And read news and updates of interest to vendors Visit us at: https://massfinance.state.ma.us/VendorWeb/vendor.asp

24. Contact Information • Accounts Payable: accountspayable@detma.org • Beverly Nisbett • BNisbett@detma.org • 617-626-5937 • Contracts: Myrna Molina • MMolina@detma.org • 617-626-5914 • COMMBUYS: Helpdesk • COMMBUYS@state.ma.us • 888-627-8283

25. Contact Information • TrainingPro: Help Desk • MOSES@detma.org • 617-626-5003 • Trade Unit (TAA): Help Desk* • 617-626-6007 • * Please note, this is a mailbox that is checked daily. Your message will be returned by one of our staff members within 24 hours.