Project Grant 23A60AP000023

TOTAL NUMBER OF APPRENTICES ENROLLED IN RAPS DURING THE LIFE OF THE GRANT:THERE WILL NOT BE GRANT SUPPORTED TRAINING PARTICIPANTS ASSOCIATED WITH THE BASE FORMULA FUNDING PROJECT.THE ARKANSAS SAEF BASE FORMULA FUNDING PROJECT IS FOCUSED ON BUILDING THE STATES CAPACITY TO SUPPORT REGISTERED APPRENTICESHIP EXPANSION ACTIVITIES ACROSS INDUSTRY SECTORS WITH A FOCUS ON MANUFACTURING AND EDUCATIONAL SERVICES. ARKANSAS SAEF WILL BUILD ON SAE 2020 GRANT SUCCESSES ALIGNING WITH OVERARCHING GOALS LEADING TO:1)NATIONAL APPRENTICESHIP SYSTEM BUILDING2)SYSTEM ALIGNMENT FOR APPRENTICESHIP EXPANSION3)IMPROVING DATA SHARING AND DATA INTEGRITYPOPULATIONS TO BE SERVED: ARKANSAS SAEF COLLABORATIVE PARTNERSHIP IS INCLUSIVE OF THE WIOA SYSTEM, EDUCATION PARTNERS, RAP INTERMEDIARIES, AND RELATED WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT INITIATIVES TO EXPAND PRE-APPRENTICESHIP AND REGISTERED APPRENTICESHIP OPPORTUNITIES FOR JOB SEEKERS AND CAREER CHANGERS THAT INCLUDE UNDEREMPLOYED, UNEMPLOYED, DISLOCATED WORKERS, HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS, UNDERSERVED POPULATIONS, AND OTHERS.TARGETED INDUSTRY(IES) AND OR OCCUPATION(S): TARGETED INDUSTRIES INCLUDE MANUFACTURING AND EDUCATIONAL SERVICES. IN THE MANUFACTURING SECTOR, GROWTH OCCUPATIONS INCLUDE INDUSTRIAL MAINTENANCE, MACHINIST (I.E., CNC, PLC, TOOL AND DIE, ROBOTICS), QUALITY CONTROL TECHNICIANS, PRODUCTION TECHNICIANS, IT RELATED OCCUPATIONS, ETC. IN THE EDUCATIONAL SERVICES SECTOR, THE K-12 TEACHER RAP WILL BE IMPLEMENTED WORKING WITH ADE AND PARTNERING EDUCATIONAL SERVICES COOPERATIVES.SUMMARY OF PROGRAM ACTIVITIES: BROADLY DEFINED, MIDDLE SKILL JOBS ARE THOSE THAT REQUIRE MORE THAN A HIGH SCHOOL DIPLOMA BUT LESS THAN A BACHELORS DEGREE. THESE MIDDLE SKILL JOBS REPRESENT A SIGNIFICANT PERCENTAGE OF IN-DEMAND JOBS IN THE MANUFACTURING SECTOR. THE APPRENTICESHIP MODEL IS A VIABLE WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT AND CAREER PATHWAY SOLUTION, WHETHER CONNECTING WITH YOUNG ADULTS AND OR POPULATIONS WITH BARRIERS TO EMPLOYMENT THROUGH CERTIFIED PRE-APPRENTICESHIP OPPORTUNITIES (ALIGNED WITH RA) FOR WORK-READY SKILL ATTAINMENT OR DIRECTLY INTO A REGISTERED APPRENTICESHIP PROGRAM. THE ARKANSAS SAEF PROJECT WILL SCALE THE ADOPTION OF THE RAP MODEL UTILIZING A PROVEN RAP SPONSOR INDUSTRY INTERMEDIARY STRATEGY TO MINIMIZE ADMINISTRATIVE BARRIERS FOR MANUFACTURING EMPLOYERS TO COMMIT. THE WIOA SYSTEM WILL BE LEVERAGED TO ENGAGE EMPLOYERS AND INTEGRATE STATE CERTIFIED PRE-APPRENTICESHIP AND REGISTERED APPRENTICESHIP AS AN OPTION TO MEET EMPLOYER NEEDS.THE ARKANSAS SAEF PROJECT WILL ALSO BE USED TO DEVELOP CERTIFIED PRE-APPRENTICESHIP ALIGNMENT WITH CAREER AND TECHNICAL EDUCATION SECONDARY CAREER CENTERS AS WELL AS LEVERAGE THE ARKANSAS STATE CHAMBER OF COMMERCE BE-PRO-BE-PROUD INITIATIVE TO EDUCATE YOUNG ADULTS FOR CAREER OPPORTUNITIES. THE ARKANSAS SAEF PROJECT WILL LOOK FOR OPPORTUNITIES TO PARTNER WITH AEDCS FUTURE FIT INITIATIVE TO INTEGRATE WORK-READY PRE-APPRENTICESHIP TRAINING TO ALIGN TO RA PATHWAYS IN THE MANUFACTURING SECTOR.IN THE EDUCATIONAL SERVICES SECTOR, THE ARKANSAS SAEF PROJECT WILL PROVIDE TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE RESOURCES TO SUPPORT THE STATES GROW YOUR OWN TEACHER RESIDENCY MODEL FOR TEACHER RAP OPPORTUNITIES FOR PARAPROFESSIONALS AND OTHERS INTERESTED IN THE TEACHING PROFESSION. THE K-12 TEACHER RAP PROVIDES AN OPPORTUNITY TO WORK WHILE MEETING QUALIFICATIONS FOR TEACHER LICENSURE.SUBRECIPIENT ROLES: OSD IS PLANNING TO WORK CLOSELY WITH THE NORTHEAST LOCAL WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT AREA AND THE ARKANSAS DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION TO SUPPORT GOALS 1 AND 2 AS OUTLINED IN THE RA EXPANSION WORK PLAN. LIST OF CREDENTIAL(S): IN THE MANUFACTURING SECTOR, INDUSTRY RECOGNIZED CREDENTIALS WILL BE INCORPORATED INTO RAPS BASED ON PARTICIPATING EMPLOYER NEEDS. FOR EDUCATIONAL SERVICES, TEACHER RAP IS A PATHWAY TO STATE TEACHER LICENSURE AS RECOGNIZED BY THE ARKANSAS DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION.