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Resources

COVID-19 Resources

The WINTAC has created a list of resources to help VR programs that are operating by distance and providing services remotely during the COVID-19 crisis.  We will be building on these resources daily, so please check back frequently.  Click to access the COVID-19 Resources. Click to access the Resources on Distance Service Delivery.


CPM Resources

The Departments of Labor and Education have issued a variety of guidance, webinars, and training documents regarding the WIOA Common Performance Accountability System. WINTAC will continue to update this resource section as pertinent information becomes available to help State Vocational Rehabilitation Agencies implement the new common performance measures within their systems. 

For more information and to stay connected to WINTAC regarding Common Performance Measures and 911 Reporting, please join our email distribution list. For training, technical assistance or to speak with one of our Subject Matter Experts (SME), please contact Rachel Anderson at rcanderson@sdsu.edu (please note updated email address for Rachel Anderson) or Doug Keast at dkeast@ndi-inc.org

Click each topic for more information:


ReThink VR Performance

The Rehabilitation Services Administration (RSA) has established the RehabData Workgroup consisting of Federal and State representatives with data or program expertise to identify how to use data to best tell the story of the success of the VR program and identify areas for continued evaluation. The Workgroup is also charged with developing and distributing tools and information that State VR agencies may use to help assess VR program performance using data that is already being collected. The tools will be posted here, as they are developed.

Measurable Skill Gains (MSG) – Tool

This MSG - tool showcases data reported by VR agencies for Program Years 2017 and 2018. The tool provides National and State-level MSG data to all VR programs while being a resource for State VR agencies to analyze their MSG data, compared to National rates, similar States and/or agencies, and a variety of additional ways.

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WINTAC Reporting Resources & Tools

Reasons for Exit Tool - PD 19-03

The WINTAC developed this Reasons for Exit Tool to assist VR agencies in understanding the reporting requirements when an individual exits the VR Program. This tool includes information related to inclusion or exclusion from the performance measures and examples of when the 'Reasons for Exit' may be used.

Calculating VR Performance for MSG Tool - Program Years 2020-2021

The WINTAC, in partnership with RSA, developed this Calculating VR Performance for Measurable Skill Gains (MSG) Tool to demonstrate how RSA will calculate performance after each Program Year ends. The tool includes two examples that show how RSA will use negotiated levels of performance, the Statistical Adjustment Model’s (SAM) estimated levels of performance, and the State VR program’s actual level of performance to calculate the Individual Indicator Score for MSG. This Excel file includes the SAM’s estimated levels of performance and MSG performance for Program Years 2017 and 2018 for each State VR program.

CPM Checklist for State VR Agencies

The WINTAC has developed a checklist for SVRA administrators to assess their progress on CPM implementation. The checklist, Are you ready for CPM implementation, is a guide outlining steps agencies may need to take for full implementation of the Common Performance Measures. Also available as a Word document.

SVRA Reporting Deadlines

The WINTAC has developed a resource table, SVRA Reporting Deadlines, listing the required reports for State VR Agencies. This table includes the report name, reporting frequency, and detailed description of the report. SVRA Reporting Deadlines is also available as a Word document.

WIOA Performance Indicators - IDEA Part B Transition Performance Indicator Crosswalk

The WINTAC has developed a resource for VR and Education, WIOA Performance Indicators – IDEA Part B Transition Performance Indicator Crosswalk. The Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) and Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) require VR and Education agencies to collect data and report on results-driven outcomes. These agencies can support student outcomes and improve agency performance by understanding how they align, the potential impact on shared student data, timelines and priorities. This resource provides a crosswalk of VR and Education performance indicators. In addition, the WINTAC has developed a crosswalk that includes Perkins V Indicators for Career and Technical Education (CTE) programs.

Credential Attainment and Measurable Skill Gains Indicator Guides

The WINTAC, in partnership with RSA, has developed a Credential Attainment Guide and a Measurable Skill Gains (MSG) Guide. The purpose of this WINTAC guide is to provide technical assistance to State Vocational Rehabilitation Agencies (SVRA) to understand the requirements of recognized education and training programs related to the Credential Attainment and MSG Indicator, and to develop policies and procedures using Federal joint guidance. In this guide, the WINTAC outlines questions a SVRA would need to answer, provides some credential and MSG examples (i.e., do and do not count) and highlights other considerations.

Effectiveness in Serving Employers: A Crosswalk for WIOA Title IV Employer Services

The WINTAC, in partnership with The U.S. Department of Education’s Rehabilitation Services Administration (RSA), has developed an Effectiveness in Serving Employers for WIOA Title IV Employer Services crosswalk. The Office of Career, Technical, and Adult Education and the U.S. Department of Labor’s Employment and Training Administration have reviewed this crosswalk and agree that it may be a useful technical assistance resource as VR agencies collaborate with their State partners, across all titles of WIOA, to ensure each core program’s employer services are collected and reported to the Departments as this indicator is piloted.

Registered Apprenticeship Training RSA-911 Reporting 

The WINTAC has developed a resource, Registered Apprenticeship Training, to assist State VR Agencies in accurately reporting Registered Apprenticeship Trainings in the RSA-911. This guide includes information related to training service documentation, WIOA performance reporting and the RSA-911 Data Elements associated.

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RSA-911 Reporting and CPM Resources

MSG Rate Performance Levels for PYs 20 & 21

The Rehabilitation Services Administration (RSA) completed performance negotiations with State VR programs for Measurable Skill Gains (MSG) Rate for Program Years (PYs) 2020 and 2021. In this MSG Rate Performance Excel file, RSA is providing the following MSG Rate performance levels for the 50 States, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico. This file will be updated as additional data becomes available.

Negotiations and Sanctions Guidance for the WIOA Core Programs (RSA-TAC-20-02)

The Rehabilitation Services Administration (RSA), in collaboration with its Federal partners, issued RSA-TAC-20-02 titled Negotiations and Sanctions Guidance for the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) Core Programs. This joint policy guidance outlines the process for negotiating levels of performance; and explains the two instances in which a State may be sanctioned—for performance failure or for failure to report. The U.S. Departments of Labor and Education posted a webcast reviewing important details of this guidance on Workforcegps.

As discussed in RSA-TAC-20-02, WIOA requires that RSA use a statistical adjustment model (SAM) to ensure participant characteristics and economic conditions are accounted for in determining negotiated levels of performance. State performance will be assessed using the iteration of the SAM used to negotiate the levels of performance for that Program Year. RSA provided the Measurable Skill Gains (MSG) estimated levels of performance predicted by the SAM, including the coefficients and state specific values for each variable, in this Excel file. These estimated levels may not be altered for the purposes of negotiations, including any changes in participant characteristics or economic conditions anticipated by the state that would result in changes to the levels predicted by the SAM. Any changes in participant characteristics or economic conditions will be reflected in the SAM by using the actual participant characteristics and economic conditions after the close of each Program Year and they will not be factored into the negotiations process. The Excel file also includes MSG performance for Program Years 2017 and 2018 for each State VR program.

The WINTAC, in partnership with RSA, developed this Calculating VR Performance Tool to demonstrate how RSA will calculate performance after each Program Year ends. The tool includes two examples that show how RSA will use negotiated levels of performance, the SAM’s estimated levels of performance, and the State VR program’s actual level of performance to calculate the Individual Indicator Score for MSG.

PD 19-03 Case Service Report (RSA-911)

The Rehabilitation Services Administration (RSA) issued PD-19-03 including the revised Case Service Report (RSA-911) for implementation beginning in Program Year (PY) 2020, beginning July 1, 2020. The PD-19-03 is posted on the RSA-911 Webpage along with PD-16-04 that remains in effect for PY 2018 and PY 2019. In addition, RSA has released the Case Service Report (RSA-911) in Excel file format. Please note that this file corrects some typographical errors in the RSA-911 issued in PD 19-03 (May 6, 2019); these errors are outlined in the final tab of the Excel file.

RSA also published the Case Service Report (RSA-911) Correction Procedures. This technical assistance resource outlines the options available to State Vocational Rehabilitation agencies to correct information reported on the RSA-911 when errors in data collection or reporting are identified. Please email RSAData@ed.gov or contact your RSA State Liaison with any questions.

Guidance for Validating Jointly Required Performance Data 

The Rehabilitation Services Administration (RSA) released the Technical Assistance Circular 19-01: Guidance for Validating Jointly Required Performance Data Submitted under the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act. This guidance, developed jointly by the U.S. Departments of Labor and Education (the Departments), provides information about the guidelines that States must use in developing procedures for ensuring the data submitted to the Departments are valid and reliable. States must develop data validation procedures consistent with these guidelines. The Departments encourage you to review the guidelines, along with the Source Document Validation Instructions included in the guidance, which provide a list of acceptable source documents States may use to validate the selected data elements.

RSA - WIOA Annual Report Demo - 7/25/2018

This Rehabilitation Services Administration technical assistance program will provide an overview of the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) annual report submission timeline, state requirements and a demonstration of the submission portal located at WIOA Statewide and local performance refport template (June 2016). The transcript and accessible presentation slides can be accessed in the NCRTM library. You can view the presentation on YouTube by visiting https://youtu.be/mzvXTsSKhL4.

If you have questions after viewing this presentation, please submit them to RSAdata@ed.gov.

TAC 17-01: Performance Accountability Guidance for Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act Title I, Title II, Title III and Title IV Core Programs

The Rehabilitation Services Administration (RSA) published updated revisions dated August 17, 2017 to the Technical Assistance Circular (TAC) 17-01: Performance Accountability Guidance for Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) Title I, Title II, Title III and Title IV Core Programs that was originally published on December 19, 2016. This policy guidance has been issued jointly with the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Career Technical and Adult Education and the U.S. Department of Labor’s Employment Training Administration.

The purpose of this guidance is to provide sub-regulatory guidance on the requirements set forth in WIOA, related to the implementation and operation of the performance accountability system under section 116 of WIOA and the implementation of joint regulations in 20 CFR part 677 (and 34 CFR parts 361 and 463). As explained further in this guidance, WIOA requires all States and direct grantees of the Departments to collect and report information on all the participants described in this TAC.

TAC 17-04 Joint Guidance on the Use of Supplemental Wage Information to Implement the Performance Accountability Requirements under the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act

The U.S Departments of Labor and Education have issued joint guidance on the Use of Supplemental Wage Information to Implement the Performance Accountability Requirements under the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act. This joint issuance provides sub-regulatory guidance on the requirements established by the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) and its implementing regulations regarding the use of supplemental wage information, when appropriate, to assist in carrying out the performance accountability requirements under section 116 of WIOA.

911 - Introduction to Data Collection and Reporting Requirements

The Rehabilitation Services Administration (RSA) has posted technical assistance (TA) material related to the changes and the collection and reporting of data via the Case Service Report RSA-911. The TA consists of multiple trainings, including an introduction to data collection and reporting requirements, changes to the 2017 RSA 911 reporting manual and WIOA performance accountability.

States may be particularly interested in the recent self-guided training developed by RSA. The training curriculum provides an overview of the joint guidance issued in Technical Assistance Circulars (TAC) 17-01 and 17-04. This curriculum contains seven independent modules that provide information on the key terms outlined in section 116 of the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) as well as the six performance accountability indicators: Employment 2nd Quarter after Exit, Employment 4th Quarter after Exit, Median Earnings 2nd Quarter after Exit, Credential Attainment, Measurable Skill Gains and Effectiveness of Serving Employers. It also provides an overview of supplemental wage guidance issued in TAC-17-04. States can watch the recorded YouTube videos and download the training transcript for use in staff training and knowledge development in the Common Performance Measures.

The TA materials, including the self-guided seven-module training, are posted and archived on the National Clearinghouse of Rehabilitation Training Materials (NCRTM) website: www.ncrtm.ed.gov.

911 - Reporting FAQ

The Rehabilitation Services Administration (RSA) issued a reporting manual for the Case Service Report RSA-911 in June 2016. This manual provides guidance for State Vocational Rehabilitation Agencies (SVRA) in collecting and reporting additional required data elements needed to be consistent with the performance accountability measures for the core programs of the workforce development system. As of June 14, 2017, a revised version of the Case Service Report RSA-911 manual and Policy Directive (RSA-PD-16-04) was published.

RSA 2017 Monitoring and Technical Assistance Visits: Supporting Documentation Guidance

The supporting documentation described in this guidance pertains to certain key data elements in the Case Service Report (RSA-911) that Rehabilitation Services Administration (RSA) staff will review during Federal fiscal year (FFY) 2017 monitoring and technical assistance visits. The guidance will assist state vocational rehabilitation (VR) agencies in maintaining appropriate supporting documentation in individual service records. These particular data elements also are those that will be reviewed by State auditors conducting A-133 audits during the next year.

The examples of supporting documentation in these guidelines illustrate the types of documents RSA would consider to demonstrate the validity and accuracy of certain key data reported through the RSA-911. This is not an exhaustive list and there may be other documents that RSA would find provide sufficient support to verify the data. It is important to note that this document lists RSA-911 data elements prior to the 2017 published PD-16-04; however, the content and information is still valid. The DE have new numbers in PD-16-04.

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Joint Guidance on CPM for Core Partners

State Wage Interchange System (SWIS)

The U.S. Departments of Labor and Education, has developed for your review and execution, the new State Wage Interchange System (SWIS) Data Sharing Agreement (Agreement). States signing the Agreement will be able to exchange interstate quarterly wage records with any other State signing the Agreement to satisfy performance reporting requirements in section 116 of the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA). States not signing the SWIS Agreement will need to develop and execute separate interstate wage sharing agreements with other States to satisfy the requirement that States use interstate wage records in measuring a State’s performance on the WIOA primary indicators of performance.  The SWIS Agreement will replace the Wage Record Interchange System (WRIS and WRIS2) Data Sharing Agreement previously executed by most States under the Workforce Investment Act.

To aid your review of the SWIS Agreement, please listen to the SWIS Agreement webcast published on the WorkforceGPS website. Click to access the SWIS Agreement webcast.

This webcast covers important topics for the SWIS Agreement, including:

  • Who can sign onto the SWIS?
  • SWIS data
  • The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) of 1974
  • Programs applicable to the SWIS
  • How data is exchanged through the SWIS
  • Confidentiality Compliance Reviews
  • Research and evaluation
  • How to sign the Agreement and other resources 

For your convenience, the Departments published the SWIS Agreement and the Background Document, previously distributed, on the same WorkforceGPS site as the SWIS webcast.  As you may recall, the Background Document provides information and technical assistance developed by the Departments related to the purpose, applicability, and content of the SWIS Agreement.

Joint Guidance on Data Matching to Facilitate WIOA Performance Reporting and Evaluation

The U.S. Departments of Labor and Education (DOL and ED, or, collectively, Departments) provided this Joint Guidance on Data Matching to Facilitate WIOA Performance Reporting and Evaluation as a resource to provide information to assist State agencies (including Vocational Rehabilitation (VR) agencies and workforce development agencies), educational agencies and institutions, and service providers in performance reporting and evaluation requirements under the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) (Pub. L. 113-128).

Under WIOA, States are required to use education information and quarterly wage records to measure performance of the six core programs and other title I programs authorized by WIOA, which raises complex issues related to data sharing and privacy. This guidance provides States with information about applicable requirements for, and procedures and options for, matching confidential Unemployment Compensation (UC) information from wage records with personal information from VR records, and personally identifiable information (PII) from education records, and for protecting the confidentiality of information contained in such records.

The partners also provided a webinar on this joint guidance during WIOA Wednesdays on Workforce GPS, which explains how educational agencies can match personally identifiable information in education records and personal information in Vocational Rehabilitation (VR) records with wage records held by the state agency responsible for administration of the state’s unemployment compensation (UC) program.

Workforce GPS Webinars on CPM

Departments of Labor and Education presented webinars for Performance Accountability during WIOA Wednesdays on Workforce GPS, providing stakeholders with a better understanding of the performance accountability provisions in section 116 of the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) and the accompanying regulation.

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CSAVR & NCSAB Presentations Related to CPM

Spring 2019 CSAVR & NCSAB Conference

Fall 2018 CSAVR & NCSAB Conference

Fall 2018 Fiscal Conference

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Department of Labor CPM Resources

Performance Accountability System

The U.S. Departments of Labor and Education have collaboratively issued Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) provisions related to performance accountability. Through the Employment and Training Administration (ETA), Common Performance Reporting guidance has been posted. The resources available include, but are not limited to, the following:

  • Participant Individual Record Layout (PIRL)
  • WIOA Quarterly Report
  • Periods for Reporting
  • Wage Conversion Chart
  • Eligible Training Provider (ETP) Definitions
  • Effectiveness in Serving Employers Specs

Additional resources to assist in the understanding of how performance is measured, reported, and evaluated may be found at ETA's Performance and Results Website.

2017 WIOA National Labor Convenings' Performance Accountability Track Presentations

Workforce GPS has posted the presentations from the 2017 WIOA National Convenings. One of the tracks for the three convening meetings is Performance Accountability. RSA participated jointly in many presentations during the convenings. The Performance Accountability Track Presentations include six sessions that may be of interest to State VR Agencies:

  • Understanding the Statistical Model and its Use in Negotiations
  • Beyond 101-WIOA performance Accountability
  • Evidence-Building Capacity: Research and Evaluation in State Workforce Agencies
  • Effectiveness in Serving Employers
  • (Handout) Factsheet on Serving Special Populations

Statistical Adjustment Model

During the baseline reporting years for State Vocational Rehabilitation Agencies, guidance regarding the Statistical Adjustment Model will be published by RSA. Until that time, SAM information is located at Department of Labor’s Employment and Training & Administration website. Additional information can be found (using the links above) from the 2017 WIOA National Labor Convening, Performance Accountability Track Presentations.

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