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Vocational Educational Training means instruction conducted at an institutional or worksite setting to provide or upgrade the technical skills required to perform a specific job or group of jobs by a participant, including:
• job specific competency training;
• job specific school-to-work programs;
• on-site industry-specific training;
• customized training;
• entrepreneurial training;
• cooperative education; or
• professional and vocational education.
The activity can only be counted as a core activity for a lifetime maximum of 12 months. An extension beyond the limits may be granted for a maximum of 3 months if deemed necessary in order to provide for successful transition to employment. This extension will be counted as a secondary activity.
Participant Referral Criteria
The Employment Counselor Specialist (ECS) must consider the following specific referral criteria in addition to the general referral criteria in order to refer to the Vocational Educational Training activity:
• the participant’s marketability based on current skills, experience and education;
• the participant’s ability to achieve self-sufficiency without a vocational skills training program;
• the specific Vocational Educational Training program’s direct marketability to the local labor market;
• the participant’s ability to successfully complete a Vocational Educational Training program; and
• the participant’s ability to make use of support services, such as transportation and child care, while engaged in Vocational Educational Training.
A WEP participant who has a job or OJT offer conditional on participating in Vocational Educational Training may be referred to the training prior to or after the completion of the WEP.
Activity Requirement
Vocational Educational Training programs must meet all of the following criteria:
• the classroom training must be designed for vocationally specific skill;
• the vocationally specific training must be in an occupation which is consistent with the participant’s employability plan;
• the training must be industry specific; and
• the training program must have a reasonable expectation to result in the participant obtaining employment.
Distance learning is a permissible method of instruction when prior approval is authorized by DFA State Office.
Determining Hours of Participation in Vocational Educational Training
To determine actual hours of weekly participation, count:
• the actual hours spent in the classroom, verified by the instructor;
• *any additional hours outside the classroom if:
- required by the school or training facility;
- completed in a supervised setting; and
- verified by the school or training facility; and
• one hour of unsupervised homework or study time for each hour of actual classroom time, if required by the school or training facility.
For the distance learning activity, the participant must have a statement on file from the school or instructor documenting the weekly time expectations for the course. That amount indicated by the school or instructor is the maximum that the participant can count towards participation in that activity for a week. Participants must document all the time spent on coursework and there is no allowance for homework time for the distance learning activity.
If the participant is not meeting minimum participation requirements in the Vocational Educational Training activity, enroll the participant in an additional NHEP activity.
The hours of participation, between the minimum and maximum, should be based on what is necessary for the participant to achieve self-sufficiency, and not on the minimum hours set by federal law. When appropriate to support employment goals and self-sufficiency, other activities may be combined with the Vocational Educational Training activity.
Participant Requirement
When determining the need for additional Vocational Educational Training programs for participants with a previous certificate, diploma, degree, or previous Vocational Educational Training, the ECS must consider the following:
• significant labor market changes effecting the occupation in which education or training has been previously received;
• the participant no longer possesses the needed abilities to perform the job functions of the educational or training program received due to a documented disability; or
• that the NHEP participant’s previous educational or training program may have been interrupted due to a major personal emergency, which caused the participant to drop out, and is now resolved.
Documentation and Verification
NHEP participants must use Form NHEP266, NHEP Education/Training Activities Verification Form, to verify weekly participation in vocational activities. These activities are supervised no less frequently than daily. The countable hours are verified and documented no less than once a *month.*
Form NHEP275, NHEP Distance Learning Activity Log, may be used to verify time spent in distance learning activities such as web-based classes or trainings. Participants in distance learning must also verify with their ECS that they are making progress in their course through the submission of corrected quizzes, tests, papers, and emails from the instructor.
Time Limits
All approved Vocational Educational Training activities count as a:
• core activity for a maximum lifetime limit of 12 months; or
• secondary activity for a maximum of 3 months if;
- the 12 month lifetime limit has been exhausted;
- completion of the degree or certificate program does not exceed an additional 3 months; and
- completion of the program is essential for the participant’s transition into employment.
Exception: The time limit specified above for Vocational Educational Training programs does not apply to participants with a documented learning disability verified by a state certified educational professional or licensed psychologist. For extension of participation time, the documentation must specify the need and length of time required.
Support Services
All of the following support services may be authorized for this activity:
• NH Child Care Scholarship;
• transportation assistance (payment to enrolled public/private carriers, mileage and auto repair reimbursement);
• tuition; and
• fees and supplies.