1.
No supplantation .
No CareerCenter or organization receiving CSSP funds may supplant other
funds with CSSP or CSSF funds. Competitive Skills Scholarship Funds (CSSF) and
other sources of funding available to assist people pursuing post-secondary
education shall be combined to maximize available dollars. Policies affecting
eligibility standards or level of education, training and support services
available for individuals in post-secondary training and education under WIOA
shall not be changed by local WIOA areas so as to reduce the level of such
services absent written approval of the Director of the Bureau. The local WIOA
areas must expend the percentage of WIOA spending on education and training
established in their local WIOA plans.
A.
TAA and TRA. Individuals eligible for Trade Adjustment Assistance
(TAA) must exhaust all other resources needed to participate successfully in
their training program. If a participant receiving TAA needs a support service
that is not available under TAA in order to participate successfully in his or
her training program, eligibility for that support service under CSSP may be
determined. Persons eligible for a TRA allowance are not eligible for the CSSP
training stipend under section 6.11 of this rule. The case manager will
determine whether applicants to CSSP may be eligible for TAA or a TRA
allowance.
B.
WIOA.
Participants enrolled in both WIOA and CSSP shall receive WIOA services in
accordance with the written WIOA policies (including policies that determine
the amount or nature of education, training and support services) that are
applicable to all WIO A participants in the local WIOA area. Taking into
account written local WIOA policies and CSSP rules, each ISS should maximize
the availability of education, training and related support services from all
funding sources. All ISS plans containing CSSP funding must be reviewed by the
CareerCenter Manager designated by the Director of the Bureau. WIOA assistance
shall not be reduced if a person who is already participating in WIOA applies
for and is eligible for CSSP unless WIOA funding committed to the participant
under local WIOA policy or WIOA funding for education and training and related
support services for the region has been exhausted. For WIOA enrolled
participants eligible for CSSP, written documentation must be obtained by
participant case managers from the WIOA service provider that education,
training and support service funds have been exhausted. This documentation is
required before CSSP funds may be used to support a current WIOA funded
Individual Service Strategy.
The Bureau of Employment Services (BES) will review WIOA and
CSSP expenditures annually to determine the extent to which both are being
maximized for education and training and related support services.
C.
Dislocated Worker
Benefits (DWB). Applicants and participants who are likely to be
eligible for Dislocated Worker Benefits must apply for those benefits. If a
participant is determined eligible for DWB, the participant is not eligible for
the CSSP training stipend.
D.
Vocational Rehabilitation. If an applicant or participant who has
a disability is eligible for funding from Vocational Rehabilitation (VR) or a
similar program that assists in providing education or training, then, to the
extent that funding is available in a manner that does not delay commencement
of their program, VR funding must be obtained. CSSP services necessary to
participate in the education or training program and that are not available
through VR may be provided. Case managers must assist those with a disability
in accessing other programs that may assist them with education, training and
support expenses in addition to assisting in access to CSSP.
E.
Parents as Scholars. Parents
who are eligible for Parents as Scholars (PaS) (which provides support for
education similar to CSSP) may not simultaneously be eligible for CSSP. Parents
with children who receive TANF will be required to apply for PaS by contacting
their ASPIRE case worker. Single parents or two-parent families in which one
parent is disabled or unemployed with household income below 75% of the poverty
level are required to apply for TANF and Parents as Scholars at the Department
of Health and Human Services if they have not done so already.
F.
Financial Aid. Aid from CSSP
must be calculated only after all other federal, state and campus-based sources
of financial aid (not including loans or federal work study) have been
considered. Applications for Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA)
are required. Student loans are not required to participate in CSSP and the
decision to apply for student loan assistance is left to the discretion of the
CSSP participant to cover unmet costs of participation in her or his education
and training program. If the financial aid administrator confirms in writing
that an application for federal financial aid would be futile then the
applicant or participant need not apply and CSSP may assist.
2.
Identifying
Non-CSSP Supports . The case manager and the applicant or
participant must identify other sources of support in addition to CSSP that are
available and required to participate in his or her education or training
program.
3.
Documentation . Support from programs other than the
CSSP to which the participant has been referred, has applied for, receives or
expects to receive must be documented in the ISS.
