FOA-ETA-20-06.pdf

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

Employment and Training Administration

NOTICE OF AVAILABILITY OF FUNDS AND FUNDING OPPORTUNITY

ANNOUNCEMENT FOR: Youth Apprenticeship Readiness Grant Program

ANNOUNCEMENT TYPE: Initial

FUNDING OPPORTUNITY NUMBER: FOA-ETA-20-06

CATALOG OF FEDERAL DOMESTIC ASSISTANCE (CFDA) NUMBER: 17.285

KEY DATES: The closing date for receipt of applications under this Announcement is

May 6, 2020. We must receive applications no later than 4:00:00 p.m. Eastern Time.

ADDRESSES: Address mailed applications to:

The U.S. Department of Labor

Employment and Training Administration, Office of Grants Management

Attention: Brinda Ruggles, Grant Officer

Reference FOA-ETA- 20- 06

200 Constitution Avenue, NW, Room N4716

Washington, D.C. 20210

For complete application and submission information, including online application instructions, please refer to Section IV.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

I. FUNDING OPPORTUNITY DESCRIPTION

A. PROGRAM PURPOSE

1. Registered Apprenticeship Program

2. Quality Framework for Pre-Apprenticeship Programs

B. PROGRAM AUTHORITY

C. GEOGRAPHIC SCOPE

D. PROGRAM ACTIVITIES/ALLOWABLE ACTIVITIES

II. AWARD INFORMATION

A. AWARD TYPE AND AMOUNT

B. PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE

III. ELIGIBILITY INFORMATION

A. ELIGIBLE APPLICANTS

1. Eligible Lead Applicant Entities

2. Required Partners:

3. Optional Partners:

B. COST SHARING OR MATCHING

C. OTHER INFORMATION

1. Application Screening Criteria

2. Number of Applications Applicants May Submit

3. Eligible Participants

IV. APPLICATION AND SUBMISSION INFORMATION

A. HOW TO OBTAIN AN APPLICATION PACKAGE

B. CONTENT AND FORM OF APPLICATION SUBMISSION

1. SF-424, “Application for Federal Assistance”

2. Project Budget

3. Project Narrative

4. Attachments to the Project Narrative

C. SUBMISSION DATE, TIME, PROCESS, AND ADDRESS

1. Hardcopy Submission

2. Electronic Submission through Grants.gov

D. INTERGOVERNMENTAL REVIEW

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E. FUNDING RESTRICTIONS

1. Indirect Costs

2. Intellectual Property Rights

3. Use of Grant Funds for On-the-Job Learning

4. Grant Recipient Technical Training

5. Use of Funds for Supportive Services

F. OTHER SUBMISSION REQUIREMENTS

V. APPLICATION REVIEW INFORMATION

A. CRITERIA

B. REVIEW AND SELECTION PROCESS

1. Merit Review and Selection Process

2. Risk Review Process

VI. AWARD ADMINISTRATION INFORMATION

A. AWARD NOTICES

B. ADMINISTRATIVE AND NATIONAL POLICY REQUIREMENTS

1. Administrative Program Requirements

2. Other Legal Requirements

3. Other Administrative Standards and Provisions

4. Special Program Requirements

C. REPORTING

1. Quarterly Financial Reports

2. Quarterly Performance Reports

VII. AGENCY CONTACTS

VIII. OTHER INFORMATION

A. WEB-BASED RESOURCES

B. INDUSTRY COMPETENCY MODELS AND CAREER CLUSTERS

C. WORKFORCEGPS RESOURCES

D. SKILLSCOMMONS RESOURCES

IX. OMB INFORMATION COLLECTION

APPENDIX B: SUGGESTED PROJECT WORK PLAN FORMAT

APPENDIX C: SUGGESTED ABSTRACT FORMAT

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

The Employment and Training Administration (ETA), U.S. Department of Labor (DOL, or the

Department, or we), announces the availability of approximately $42,500,000 in grant funds authorized under the Department of Labor Appropriation Act, 2019 (Public Law 115-245) resulting in approximately 15-20 Youth Apprenticeship Readiness grants.

The Youth Apprenticeship Readiness grant program’s purpose is to support the enrollment of youth (16-24 years, in-and-out of school) into new or existing Registered Apprenticeship

Programs (RAP), and ensure that wraparound services, such as childcare, transportation, and other support services that enable a participant’s participation in the program, are provided to improve youth apprentices’ prospects for success in the program. 1 Grants will be awarded to the lead organization of a youth apprenticeship partnership, which will serve as the applicant and have overall fiscal and administrative responsibility of a resultant grant. Eligibility information, including required partnerships, is further outlined in Section III.

Through this grant program, the partnership will directly engage educational entities, including traditional, alternative, and non-traditional schools, as well as programs that serve out-of-school youth, school boards, workforce boards, employers, workforce partners, and other apprenticeship intermediaries, to develop comprehensive approaches to establishing new apprenticeship models for youth or expanding existing apprenticeship programs for youth.

Successful applicants must demonstrate strategies resulting in the design of new RAPs for youth that respond to labor market demands where there are unfilled jobs and unskilled workers. They must develop methods for promoting the models and assisting education stakeholders and employers of all sizes – particularly small- and medium-sized businesses – in adopting them.

Allowable activities under this grant include establishing or expanding existing RAPs for youth, pre-apprenticeship leading to a RAP, and wrap-around/supportive services that enable youth to participate and succeed in a pre-apprenticeship leading to a RAP or a RAP.

I. FUNDING OPPORTUNITY DESCRIPTION

A. PROGRAM PURPOSE

This Announcement solicits applications for Youth Apprenticeship Readiness grants. The purpose of this grant program is to support the development of new or the expansion of existing

RAPs for youth. This also includes quality pre-apprenticeship programs that lead to a RAP. 2

1https://www.ecfr.gov/cgi-bin/text-idx?SID=b9997eeaeab45b77ad8522923a1e0567&mc=true&node=se29.1.29_12&rgn=div8.

2 Describing a Quality Pre-Apprenticeship and Related Tools and Resources Training and Employment Notice No.

13-12, available at https://wdr.doleta.gov/directives/attach/TEN/TEN_13-12.pdf https://www.ecfr.gov/cgi-bin/text-idx?SID=b9997eeaeab45b77ad8522923a1e0567&mc=true&node=se29.1.29_12&rgn=div8.

https://www.ecfr.gov/cgi-bin/text-idx?SID=b9997eeaeab45b77ad8522923a1e0567&mc=true&node=se29.1.29_12&rgn=div8.

https://wdr.doleta.gov/directives/attach/TEN/TEN_13-12.pdf

In June 2017, the President issued an Executive Order on Expanding Apprenticeship in America, focusing on expanding apprenticeships to secondary and post-secondary institutions, and increasing youth participation. 3 This grant program supports the President’s Executive Order and the Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration’s goals to promote pre-apprenticeships, to develop a strong youth apprenticeship pipeline, and to expand access to youth apprenticeships. As a result, the grant will:

1) Increase awareness and adoption of the earn-and-learn apprenticeship model as a solution for experiential learning at the secondary educational level;

2) Increase parental, young adult, and employer awareness around the benefits of youth participation in RAPs, as well as their engagement in these models;

3) Develop and expand the number of RAP opportunities for youth, ensuring they meet

RAP standards and pre-apprenticeship programs are of high quality and lead to RAP;

4) Increase academic and career-focused learning among youth, based on sound assessments, to increase employability in the labor force;

5) Promote increased alignment between state education and workforce systems through the development of policies that facilitate the transition from school to a RAP; and

6) Increase RAP opportunities for all youth, particularly underrepresented populations

(including women, people of color, ex-offenders, persons with disabilities), youth with barriers to employment, and out-of-school youth.

Expanding the apprenticeship model in the nation will help more individuals gain the skills necessary to fill these vacancies and help more employers find skilled workers more easily and quickly. Research suggests several factors that contribute to the current skills gap, including a lack of workers who have the specialized skills needed to fill many trade positions and a lack of applicants with the science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) skills needed for many of today’s jobs.4 Other factors including an aging workforce and technology changes are also having an impact.

To address these skills gaps, the workplace is radically changing across all industries and employers are turning to apprenticeship as a workforce development solution. With a 94 percent retention rate and proven return on investment, companies of all sizes are creating apprenticeship programs to train students and adults for careers of today and tomorrow. Research has also shown the following benefits from Registered Apprenticeship for apprentices and employers:

For every dollar an employer spends on apprenticeship they get a return on investment of

$1.47;5

3 Executive Order on Expanding Apprenticeships in America, available at https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/3245/ 4 Business Roundtable, Closing the Skills Gap, available at https://www.businessroundtable.org/policy-perspectives/building-americas-tomorrow-ready-workforce/closing-the-skills-gap 5 Jeffrey A. Cantor, 21st-Century Apprenticeship: Best Practices for Building a World-Class Workforce. 2015, available at https://books.google.com/books?id=E5a9CgAAQBAJ&dq=every+%241+invested+in+an+apprentice+their+is+a+re turn+of+%241.47&source=gbs_navlinks_s https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/3245/ https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/3245/ https://www.businessroundtable.org/policy-perspectives/building-americas-tomorrow-ready-workforce/closing-the-skills-gap https://www.businessroundtable.org/policy-perspectives/building-americas-tomorrow-ready-workforce/closing-the-skills-gap

Over their lifetime, an apprentice earns $300,000 more than peers who did not enter into a RAP;6 and

From DOL’s most recent fiscal year data, the average apprenticeship completer earns

$70,000/annum in the year following completion of a RAP.7

There is also growing federal and state support for youth employment and training programs.

For example, final rules for the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) placed increased emphasis on improving youth access to employment in high-quality jobs and careers. 8

While traditional RAPs have served adults, there is growing emphasis among public workforce and education systems on developing RAPs for youth. 9 In FY 2018, more than 238,000 individuals nationwide entered the RAP system, with 47,485 participants being registered youth apprentices. 10 In FY 2019, the number of youth participating in RAPs increased to 52,050. In

FY 2019, the industry with the highest participation of youth was construction (37,641) followed by manufacturing (2,280), healthcare and social assistance (1,838), and education services

(1,455).

Across the United States, states have enacted laws to advance youth employment by promoting the alignment of apprenticeships with education systems.11 Further, there are efforts underway to align Career and Technical Education (CTE) programs within high schools with apprenticeship programs to prepare students to transition to college or enter the workforce job-ready. CTE teachers partner with high school apprenticeship coordinators, businesses, and community or technical colleges to ensure apprenticeship students attain the knowledge and skills needed for success in their chosen career cluster. By integrating classroom instruction and hands-on learning, both Registered Apprenticeships for youth and CTE can enhance a learner’s educational experience and better prepare them for future career success. Rather than isolating

CTE as a separate educational strategy, an integrated approach to education and training can ensure that all learners have opportunities to succeed in a career.

State programs often designate apprenticeship coordinators at the local level – within the high schools or at their partnering community or technical colleges. Apprenticeship coordinators are closely connected with both students and participating businesses, ensuring all have the resources and support they need for success. These coordinators may also serve as conduits

6 An Effectiveness Assessment and Cost-Benefit Analysis of Registered Apprenticeship in 10 States. 2012, available at https://wdr.doleta.gov/research/FullText_Documents/ETAOP_2012_10.pdf 7 U.S. Department of Labor, Apprenticeship Toolkit Frequently Asked Questions, available at https://www.dol.gov/apprenticeship/toolkit/toolkitfaq.htm#2e 8 Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act; Department of Labor Only; Final Rule, available at https://www.doleta.gov/wioa/Docs/wioa-regs-labor-final-rule.pdf.

9 The “National Apprenticeship Act”; 50 Stat.664, chapter 663; 29 U.S.C. 50 et. seq.).” at https://www.doleta.gov/OA/fitzact.cfm 10 Department of Labor, Apprenticeship.gov, Data and Statistics, available at https://www.doleta.gov/oa/data_statistics.cfm 11 Education Commission, Postsecondary Workforce Development Policy, https://www.ecs.org/wp-content/uploads/Postsecondary-Workforce-Development-Policies.pdf https://www.dol.gov/apprenticeship/toolkit/toolkitfaq.htm#2e https://www.doleta.gov/wioa/Docs/wioa-regs-labor-final-rule.pdf https://www.doleta.gov/OA/fitzact.cfm https://www.doleta.gov/oa/data_statistics.cfm https://www.ecs.org/wp-content/uploads/Postsecondary-Workforce-Development-Policies.pdf https://www.ecs.org/wp-content/uploads/Postsecondary-Workforce-Development-Policies.pdf within the schools, monitoring instructional alignment and attainment of student outcomes.

Successful programs promote open and frequent communication among partners, seek feedback

(especially from business partners), and establish program accountability and goals against which progress is measured. One approach is to develop local or regional advisory bodies, comprised of representatives from business, schools, and other key partners.

As a critical step toward advancing high-quality RAPs in the United States, these funds will be awarded to the lead of a youth apprenticeship partnership that seeks to partner with business and industry to develop new RAPs or expand existing RAPs. Specifically, the funds will support training thousands of underrepresented youth for apprenticeships in new and non-traditional occupations or expanded apprenticeship programs.

Grant recipients may establish new RAPs for youth, create the training infrastructure or network necessary to deploy these programs, expand existing RAPs for youth, develop or expand pre-apprenticeship program pathways into RAPs, or promote all grant-funded RAPs for youth within a local/regional, statewide or national scope.

Grant funds must be used primarily to support the assessment, training, and development of youth apprentices in new or expanded RAPs. Allowable training and training-related activities include funding the costs of developing and delivering training through the educational or instructional components; paid, work-based learning components; and some supportive services, such as childcare and transportation, designed to assist youth to participate and remain in a RAP.

The grants will also support the development of curriculum (both for on-the-job learning/training

(OJL/OJT) and classroom training) that satisfy the requirements of a RAP, as well as the development of appropriate quality assurance and processes to ensure consistency and quality of apprenticeship.

RAPs funded and developed under this grant program must align with the below requirements:

1. Registered Apprenticeship Program12

RAPs are a proven model of job preparation, validated by DOL or a DOL-recognized State

Apprenticeship Agency (SAA), which combine paid OJL/OJT with related instruction (RI) to progressively increase workers’ skill levels and wages. RAPs are also a business-driven model that provide an effective way for employers to recruit, train, and retain highly skilled workers. RAPs allow workforce partners, educators, and employers to develop and apply industry standards to training programs, thereby increasing the quality of the workforce and workforce productivity. RAPs offer job seekers immediate employment opportunities that pay sustainable wages and offer advancement along a career path as they complete their training. Graduates of RAPs receive nationally recognized, portable credentials, and their training may be applied toward further post-secondary education.

12 https://www.ecfr.gov/cgi-bin/text-idx?SID=b9997eeaeab45b77ad8522923a1e0567&mc=true&node=se29.1.29_12&rgn=div8.

RAPs are authorized through regulations issued under the National Apprenticeship Act of

1937 (29 U.S.C. 50 et seq.), which are located at 29 C.F.R. 29, Part A, and 30. The Office of

Apprenticeship (OA), in conjunction with SAAs, registers programs for federal purposes, ensures that RAPs meet applicable federal and State laws and regulations covering RAPs, issues certificates of completion to apprentices, encourages the development of new programs through outreach and technical assistance, protects the safety and welfare of apprentices, and ensures equal employment opportunity for apprentices.

All RAPs consist of the following five core components:

Direct Business (Employer) Involvement. Employers are the foundation of all RAPs and are an essential component in every design of a RAP program. Employers must play an active role in developing and expanding RAPs and are most critical in delivering the

OJL/OJT of the apprenticeship program.

Structured On-the-Job Learning/ Training. All RAPs include structured OJL/OJT in a RAP. Companies hire apprentices and provide hands-on training from an experienced professional. This training is developed by mapping the skills and knowledge the apprentice must learn over the course of the program to be fully proficient in the occupation. At a minimum, OJL/OJT for apprentices must last a year (for competency-based occupations) or 2000 hours (for time-based occupations).

Related Instruction (RI). Apprentices receive RI (sometimes referred to as related technical instruction) or classroom style training that complements the OJL/OJT. 29

CFR 29.2, Part A, defines “Related Instruction” as "an organized and systematic form of instruction designed to provide the apprentice with the knowledge of the theoretical and technical subjects related to the apprentice's occupation. Such instruction may be given in a classroom, through occupational or industrial courses, or by correspondence courses of equivalent value, electronic media, or other forms of self-study approved by the

Registration Agency.” Federal regulations recommend a minimum of 144 hours of

Related Instruction annually for apprentices. This instruction helps refine the technical and academic skills that apply to the job. An accredited training provider such as a community college, technical school or college, an apprenticeship training school, an online provider, the sponsor, or a combination of sources, may provide related instruction. This instruction can be provided at the school, online, or at the work site. It can also be front-loaded, where the related instruction occurs upfront and prior to the

OJL/OJT, it can be simultaneously provided with the OJL/OJT (e.g., in the evenings or weekends), or it could be segmented or provided sporadically throughout the OJL/OJT.

These different modalities highlight the flexibility inherent in this apprenticeship model in order to meet unique industry and youth apprentice needs.

Rewards for Skill Gains. Apprentices receive increases in pay as their skills and knowledge increase. Progressive wage increases motivate apprentices as they advance through training and become more productive and skilled at their job. Apprentices must receive at least one pay increase during the RAP.

National Occupational Credential. Every graduate of RAPs receives a nationally recognized credential, referred to as a Certificate of Completion, which is issued by the

DOL or a federally recognized SAA. This portable credential signifies that the apprentice is qualified to perform in an occupation. Many RAPs (particularly in high-growth industries such as healthcare, advanced manufacturing, and transportation) also offer interim credentials as apprentices master a variety of skills as part of a career pathway. These interim credentials, based on specific measurable and technical skills, may also positively count towards the WIOA Credential Attainment Rate.

2. Quality Framework for Pre-Apprenticeship Programs

A pre-apprenticeship program is defined as a set of strategies designed to prepare individuals for entry into a RAP. 13 Pre-apprenticeship programs differ from internships, job shadowing, externships, and co-ops, which may also offer individuals an opportunity to experience firsthand a profession or practice, but do not always engage in “real world” experiential learning.

For the purposes of this FOA, pre-apprenticeship programs must include the following five elements to be considered a quality pre-apprenticeship program:

Designed in Collaboration with RAP Sponsors. Quality pre-apprenticeship programs are designed by organizations with input from a RAP sponsor. A pre-apprenticeship program’s educational and pre-vocational services prepare individuals to meet the entry requisites of one or more RAPs. They have training goals to teach participants a defined set of skills required and agreed upon by the RAP sponsor for entry into their programs.

The start date and length of specific pre-apprenticeship programs may vary. Ideally, pre-apprenticeship programs provide an industry-recognized credential and possibly stipends or wages.

Meaningful Hands-on Training that Does Not Displace Paid Employees. Quality pre-apprenticeship programs provide hands-on training to individuals in 1) a workplace,

2) simulated lab experience, or 3) work-based learning environment, and which also do not supplant a paid employee, while accurately simulating the industry and occupational conditions of the partnering RAPs, which includes observing proper supervision and safety protocols.

Facilitated Entry and/or Articulation. The purpose of a pre-apprenticeship program is

13 Describing a Quality Pre-Apprenticeship and Related Tools and Resources Training and Employment Notice No.

13-12, available at https://wdr.doleta.gov/directives/attach/TEN/TEN_13-12.pdf https://wdr.doleta.gov/directives/attach/TEN/TEN_13-12.pdf to train individuals for entry into a RAP. A quality pre-apprenticeship program assists in exposing participants to local, state, and national apprenticeship programs and provides direct assistance to participants applying to those programs. When possible, formalized agreements exist with RAPs that enable individuals who have successfully completed the pre-apprenticeship program to enter directly into a RAP. These may also include articulation agreements that allow the individual to earn advanced credit/placement for skills and competencies already acquired.

Sustainability through Partnerships. To support the ongoing sustainability of a quality pre-apprenticeship partnership, such partnerships collaboratively promote the use of

RAPs as a preferred means for employers to develop a skilled workforce and to create career opportunities and pathways for individuals.

Access to Appropriate Supportive Services. Quality pre-apprenticeship programs facilitate access to appropriate supportive services during the program; these supportive services may continue after the participant leaves the pre-apprenticeship program and enters a RAP. Services may include counseling, transportation assistance, childcare, and rehabilitative services.

B. PROGRAM AUTHORITY

Funds awarded come from the authority provided in the Department’s Fiscal Year 2019 appropriation, which provided funds to “expand opportunities relating to apprenticeship programs registered under the National Apprenticeship Act… through grants, cooperative agreements, contracts and other arrangements, with States and other appropriate entities…” See

Department of Defense and Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education Appropriations

Act, 2019 and Continuing Appropriations Act, 2019 (Public Law 115-245, Division B, Title I).

C. GEOGRAPHIC SCOPE

As discussed below, applicants must identify the geographic scope of the proposed project.

Applicants may choose one of the following geographic scopes: local/regional, statewide, or national scope. The geographic scope is the physical service area in which awarded applicants will serve participants.

Local/regional means serving a part of one state or a contiguous area that includes multiple sites that may cross more than one state;

Statewide means serving an entire state or multiple non-contiguous sites within one state;

and

National means serving multiple states in multiple locations across the country. The service area does not need to be contiguous.

D. PROGRAM ACTIVITIES/ALLOWABLE ACTIVITIES

The Youth Apprenticeship Readiness grant program will expand opportunities for youth in

Registered Apprenticeships across a diverse group of industries, and increase the participation of employers and industry in developing opportunities for youth to enter apprenticeship. This includes RAPs, and quality pre-apprenticeship programs that lead to a RAP, during the grant period of performance. Applicants must design implementation strategies that comprise all of the following activities:

Establishing new RAPs for youth or expanding existing programs;

Registering the program and apprentices via OA or applicable SAAs;

Recruiting and enrolling youth into RAPs;

Creating the training infrastructure or network to deploy RAPs for youth;

Promoting alignment between state education and workforce systems through the development of or supporting policies that facilitate the transition from school, including alternative and non-traditional schools as well as programs that serve out-of-school youth, to RAP (at the regional, state, and local level), as applicable;

Developing or modifying training activities to meet the needs of youth apprentices;

Creating new national guidelines and/or local program standards for a new RAP;

Modifying and/or developing curricula to prepare youth for entry into a RAP, including the incorporation of quality pre-apprenticeship programs, as defined in Section I.A.2 of this FOA;

Conducting participant assessments to determine skill levels, aptitudes, abilities, interests, and competencies of apprentices;

RI: Grant funds may be used to support the RI (sometimes referred to as classroom training or related technical instruction) of a RAP. Allowable costs include (1) the development of courses at the secondary level that are integrated into the RAP and local and/or state educational standards; (2) apprentice tuition or other educational fees; and (3) the delivery of instruction requirements (e.g., virtual learning technology, classroom instructors, etc.);

OJL/OJT: Grant funds may be used to reimburse employers for the extraordinary costs of OJL/OJT. The negotiated reimbursement percentage may not exceed 50 percent of the participant’s hourly wage (see Section IV.E.5);

Supportive Services: Supportive services for training participants may include transportation, childcare, dependent care, housing, and needs-related payments that are necessary to enable an individual to participate in education and training activities funded through this grant. Supportive services activities may include, but are not limited to, provision of the actual supportive service (i.e. childcare); providing participants with a voucher for the service (i.e. public transportation cards or tokens); or providing a stipend directly to the apprentice. Funding for supportive services may not exceed 20 percent of the funding level;

Pre-Apprenticeship Program Training: As applicable, grant funds may be used to support quality pre-apprenticeship programs and other strategies that can serve as on-ramps to RAP opportunities. Of note, these training efforts should lead youth into a recognized RAP that offers an industry-recognized credential, as outlined in Section I.A.2

Program Purpose;

Providing all grant recipient designated partners (e.g., education stakeholders, workforce boards, and employers) with technical assistance, advice, and support to help create RAP standards;

Increasing awareness of parents, educators, students and employer/sponsors in the targeted service area about the benefits of youth entering a RAP;

Facilitating industry-specific engagement and support to promote registration of apprenticeship programs with OA or the SAA;

Promoting innovation, inclusion, and alignment with CTE programs (if applicable to the program model) and post-secondary opportunities; and

Collecting data on the required program elements for tracking and reporting performance outcomes of enrolled apprentices.

The central goal of this grant program is to increase the number of youth enrolled in RAPs.

While grant funds may be used to subsidize the training, education, and supportive service costs for apprentices enrolled in programs, the Department also encourages Youth Readiness

Apprenticeship Program applicants to submit proposals that maximize the use of their resources and minimize the duplication of efforts through partnership building, system alignment, and leveraging of other federal and non-federal funding sources, such as co-enrolling participants with other youth programs.

The intent of co-enrollment is to meet the education, training and employment needs of program participants and provide as many participants as possible with comprehensive services that may not otherwise be available or allowable under an individual grant or funding source. As programs braid funds together to increase impact, they have the opportunity to show integration in the form of participant co-enrollment, including but not limited to co-enrollment in the WIOA

Adult program, WIOA Youth program, YouthBuild, Job Corps, Adult Education, Career and

Technical Education, and Vocational Rehabilitation.

To address inconsistency in the execution and development of RAPs for youth across the nation, this grant program will encourage consistency and uniformity in the development and promotion of quality RAPs for youth, including quality pre-apprenticeship programs (see Section I.A.2) that have a direct link to a RAP for youth. To support the ultimate goal of increasing employability among youth, this grant will support the use of stackable credentials in pre-apprenticeship programs and/or RAPs. Per ETA TEGL No. 15-10, a credential is considered “stackable” when it is part of a sequence of credentials that can be accumulated over time and move an individual along a career pathway or up a career ladder.14 The opportunity to earn credentials in less than two years is very attractive for youth and young adults who are at-risk, out-of-school, or have some other barrier to employment, as they provide an alternative to more lengthy and costly

14 U.S. Department of Labor Training and Employment Guidance Letter No. 15-10, Increasing Credential, Degree, and Certificate Attainment by Participants of the Public Workforce System, available at https://wdr.doleta.gov/directives/attach/TEGL15-10.pdf undergraduate degrees.15 Additionally, because youth may require additional preparatory training and wraparound services to participate in RAPs, this program encourages providing preparatory and wraparound services so that youth can participate and succeed in a RAP.

At a minimum, successful applications resulting in grant awards must:

Engage employers in developing and sustaining the RAP for youth;

Serve youth 16-24 years (in-school or out-of-school youth) who meet the minimum legal age to be employed as apprentices under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).16 This includes youth enrolled in secondary education, including alternative and non-traditional schools as well as programs that serve out-of-school youth, post-secondary education, or technical training institutions;

Ensure compliance with federal and state regulations on child labor as stated in the FLSA

(see Child Labor Bulletin 101) and also comply with state workers’ compensation laws; 17

Register new apprenticeship programs with the federal or state registering agency to ensure the employer sponsor is in compliance with the agreements and standards, and that youth apprentices will earn a nationally-recognized apprenticeship credential;

Focus on industries that are growing and/or experiencing skills gaps, including new industries for RAPs such as healthcare, Information Technology, advanced manufacturing, transportation, and financial service;

Combine academic and career and technical education classroom instruction with work experience, allowing youth to develop industry specific workplace competencies, skills and knowledge;

Align academic and technical standards in secondary and postsecondary education, including 2- and 4-year institutions and technical colleges, CTE, and industry credentials/certifications;

Design the work portion of the program with flexibility to meet the needs of youth who may be in school or alternative education programming, or as part of a work-study program;

Design classroom instruction with flexibility to meet the needs of youth apprentices, such as frontloading before the on-the-job learning portion of the apprenticeship or occuring simultaneously while the student is working; and

Incorporate stackable credentials of value for multiple pathways, including entrance into community and technical colleges, universities, and sustainable employment.

15 Ibid.

16 The FLSA establishes the minimum age for employment at 16 for youth to be employed for unlimited hours in any occupation other than one declared to be hazardous by the Secretary of Labor. See U.S. Department of Labor

Child Labor Bulletin 101: https://www.dol.gov/whd/regs/compliance/childlabor101_text.htm.

17See U.S. Department of Labor Child Labor Bulletin 101, available at https://www.dol.gov/whd/regs/compliance/childlabor101.pdf https://www.dol.gov/whd/regs/compliance/childlabor101_text.htm https://www.dol.gov/whd/regs/compliance/childlabor101_text.htm https://www.dol.gov/whd/regs/compliance/childlabor101.pdf

II. AWARD INFORMATION

A. AWARD TYPE AND AMOUNT

Funding will be provided in the form of a grant.

We expect availability of approximately $42.5 million to fund approximately 15 to 20 grants ranging from $1 million to $5 million each. Applicants may apply for a ceiling amount of up to

$5 million. Applicants should request funding that is commensurate with the scope and scale of the project proposed, as described below. Awards made under this Announcement are subject to the availability of federal funds. In the event that additional funds become available, we reserve the right to use such funds to select additional grantees from applications submitted in response to this Announcement.

To ensure that grant funds meet required targets, we have established goals for the minimum number of Registered Apprentices to be enrolled during the period of performance, based on the amount of funds requested by the applicant (see Figure 1 below). Applicants must clearly identify the proposed number of apprentices to be enrolled over the life of the grant, based on the minimum thresholds identified in table below, for which they are seeking funding. Applicants that fail to propose to serve the minimum number of apprentices required per the table below will be disqualified because their applications will be considered non-responsive. The minimum number of apprentices enrolled means those individuals who are in a RAP recognized by OA or applicable SAA.

Figure 1. Minimum Goal Examples for Registered Apprentices Enrolled During the Grant

Period Based on Funding Request

Funding Request Minimum Registered Apprentices Enrolled

During Grant Period

$1,000,000 - 1,499,999 200

$1,500,000 - 1,999,999 300

$2,000,000 – 2,499,999 400

$2,500,000 – 2,999,999 500

$3,000,000 – 3,499,999 600

$3,500,000 – 3,999,999 700

$4,000,000 – 4,499,999 800

$4,500,000 – 5,000,000 900

The minimum goals, listed above in Figure 1, identify the minimum number of apprentices the project must enroll in RAP during the grant period based on the applicant’s requested funding amount. Applicants may request any funding amount between $1,000,000 and $5,000,000 as long as the proposed minimum number of apprentices enrolled meets or exceeds the minimum required according to the above table. For example, an applicant requesting funding in the amount of $2,000,000 must propose to enroll no fewer than 400 apprentices, but may propose to enroll more than 400 apprentices. While pre-apprentices do not count toward the Minimum

Number of Registered Apprentices Enrolled target, pre-apprenticeship that leads to a RAP is an allowable activity, and those who participate in pre-apprenticeship count toward overall participant numbers reported. Applicants should refer to Section IV.B.3.a.(2) Expected

Outcomes and Outputs for more information on how they will be scored on the proposed targets.

Grantees are expected to leverage resources up to 25 percent to increase opportunities for RAPs for youth; see Section IV.B.2.

B. PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE

The period of performance is 48 months with an anticipated start date of July 1, 2020. This performance period includes all necessary implementation and start-up activities. These activities include developing and expanding RAPs, providing training to apprentices, and follow-up for tracking and reporting performance outcomes. We expect that hiring appropriate grant project personnel and undertaking start-up activities will begin immediately and that grant recipients will begin enrolling apprentices no later than nine months after the date of grant award. We strongly encourage applicants to develop their Youth Apprenticeship Readiness project work plans and timelines accordingly. Grant recipients must plan to fully expend grant funds during the period of performance.

III. ELIGIBILITY INFORMATION

A. ELIGIBLE APPLICANTS

Grants under this program will be awarded to a youth apprenticeship partnership of public and private sector entities. This Youth Apprenticeship Readiness partnership team must include both public and private sector entities as outlined below; otherwise, the application will be considered non-responsive and will not be considered or reviewed further. An entity cannot serve as more than one type of required partner for the purpose of meeting FOA requirements.

The requirements for the lead applicant are described in Section III.A.1. The requirements for additional required partners are described in Section III.A.2. Required Partner(s).

Grants will be awarded to the lead applicant of a youth apprenticeship partnership, which will serve as the grant recipient and have overall fiscal and administrative responsibility for the grant.

1. Eligible Lead Applicant Entities

The following organizations are eligible to apply:

For the purposes of this FOA, eligible lead applicants for these grants are private non-profit, for-profit, or public agencies and include the following four types of entities:

i. Education and Training Providers

For the purposes of this FOA, education and training institutions include the following entitites:

Local and state education agencies (including high schools and school districts);18

Institutions of higher education (IHEs), as defined in Section 102 of the Higher

Education Act of 1965 (20 USC 1001(a)). This includes IHEs applying as the lead applicant representing a consortium of IHEs;

State college coordinating entities, such as a community college system office or a single state educational board; and

Community-based organizations that offer job training.

These organizations have a direct connection to the youth population and can provide educational programming for youth. These organizations may also provide leadership in developing, operating, and serving as program sponsors for RAPs. By the closing date of this FOA, eligible institutions must be accredited by a nationally recognized accrediting agency or association that has been recognized by the U.S. Department of Education;

grant recipients must maintain that accreditation throughout the entirety of the period-of-performance. A database of institutions that are accredited by bodies recognized by the

U.S. Department of Education can be found at http://ope.ed.gov/accreditation/.

ii. Workforce Development System Entities

Organizations involved in administering the workforce development system established under WIOA (29 U.S.C. 3151), which are limited to State Workforce Development

Boards, Local Workforce Development Boards, and Indian and Native American entities

(as outlined in Section 166 of WIOA) (29 U.S.C. 3221).

These organizations have expertise in workforce development and may provide leadership in implementing the following types of activities: 1) understanding and analyzing the need for education and training in the local labor market and regional economy; 2) identifying targeted industries, occupations, regional clusters, hiring needs, and populations to be served; 3) providing relevant sources of data, including labor market information and other tools or reports; 4) assessing potential participants for the grant program; 5) identifying and referring candidates for education and training in the grant program; 6) providing additional supportive services; 7) connecting and placing participants with employers that have Registered Apprenticeships; and 8) collecting, tracking, and reporting participant data to ETA.

iii. Organizations Functioning as Workforce and Industry Intermediaries

18 A local educational agency is defined as a public board of education or other public authority legally constituted within a State for either administrative control or direction of, or to perform a service function for, public elementary schools or secondary schools in a city, county, township, school district, or other political subdivision of a State, or for a combination of school districts or counties that is recognized in a State as an administrative agency for its public elementary schools or secondary schools. Link accessible at https://www.ed.gov/race-top/district-competition/definitions.

http://ope.ed.gov/accreditation/ https://www.ed.gov/race-top/district-competition/definitions https://www.ed.gov/race-top/district-competition/definitions

These include entities such as, labor-management organizations, community-based organizations, and industry associations, which help broker local, regional, and national workforce solutions. Among other things, they often help job seekers find jobs and employers find workers, convene employers and community partners to determine workforce trends, and may assist in leveraging funding and services to create more impactful workforce solutions.

iv. State Agencies

This includes a State Educational Agency, State Workforce Agencies eligible for funding under Title I of the WIOA, or an SAA.

These agencies are well positioned to align the secondary education system with the workforce system in order to facilitate students moving from high school to Registered

Apprenticeships. In addition, these agencies have the ability to develop or expand policies that can increase alignment between state education and workforce systems that facilitate the transition for in- and out-of-school youth to access Registered

Apprenticeship opportunities.

Role of the Lead Applicant

Grants will be awarded to a lead applicant within the youth apprenticeship partnership, which will serve as the grant recipient and have overall fiscal and administrative responsibility for the grant. Please note that all elements of 2 CFR Part 200 (Uniform Administrative Requirements, Cost Principles, and Audit Requirements for Federal Awards) and 2 CFR Part 2900 (DOL’s

Supplement to 2 CFR Part 200) apply to any entity that carries out a federal award as a recipient or subrecipient, including for-profit organizations. This includes the monitoring and the examination of their records. In addition, the entity may not earn or keep any profit resulting from federal financial assistance.

An eligible entity cannot serve as more than one type of required entity for the purpose of meeting the partnership requirements described below. The lead applicant must be the organization specified in Section 8 of the SF-424 Application Form, and will be:

a) The point of contact with the Department to receive and respond to all inquiries or communications under this FOA and any subsequent grant award;

b) The entity with authority to withdraw or draw down funds through the Department of Health and Human Services - Payment Management System;

c) The entity responsible for submitting to the Department all deliverables under the grant, including all technical and financial reports related to the project, regardless of which partnership member performed the work;

d) The entity that may request or agree to a revision or amendment of the grant agreement or statement of work;

e) The entity with overall responsibility for carrying out the programmatic functions of the grant, as well as for the stewardship of all expenditures under the grant;

f) The entity responsible for coordinating with the national evaluator (if there is a national evaluation of the program), including participating in a random assignment evaluation and other studies, if selected by DOL; and

g) The entity responsible for working with DOL to close out the grant.

2. Required Partners:

The lead applicant must also include the following organizations, in the quantity specified below, as required partners on the application if not the lead applicant:

i. A minimum of two employer partners, or an industry/trade associations that represents at least two employers;

ii. Education or Training Provider (as described above in Section III.A.1.i) ;

iii. The State Apprenticeship Agency (for states with a federally recognized SAA);

and

iv. An entity carrying out activities under WIOA, such as a local workforce development board (as described above in Section III.A.1.ii).

3. Optional Partners:

We strongly encourage applicants to collaborate with other partners that can support and advance the work of the youth apprenticeship partnership. These include, but are not limited to, organizations functioning as workforce intermediaries, labor-management organizations, community-based organizations, training providers, and service providers; other organizations to support outreach and training activities, such as: industry-led training organizations, industry intermediaries, unions, or educational organizations; Small Business Development Centers;

American Job Centers; community organizations that provide social support and/or wrap-around services; YouthBuild programs; Job Corps centers; WIOA Youth programs; foundations and philanthropic organizations; and federally-funded youth-serving programs.

B. COST SHARING OR MATCHING

This program does not require cost sharing or matching funds. Including such funds is not one of the application screening criteria and applications that include any form of cost sharing or match will not receive additional consideration during the review process. Instead, the agency considers any resources contributed to the project beyond the funds provided by the agency as leveraged resources. We intend for this grant program to raise the visibility of the youth pipeline to RAPs as an effective and innovative secondary and post-secondary education and training pathway. These efforts will increase education and business stakeholder confidence in the model as one of primary solutions to train workers for current and future jobs. As a result, we expect that this infusion of additional public funds will increase the willingness of the education community and private sector to participate in and invest further in youth apprenticeships.

Applicants will be required to identify 25 percent of the total grant funds requested in leveraged resources. Please note that this will be a scoring factor for the application. Section IV.B.3.

provides more information on leveraged resources.

C. OTHER INFORMATION

1. Application Screening Criteria

You should use the checklist below as a guide when preparing your application package to ensure that the application has met all of the screening criteria. Note that this checklist is only an aid for applicants and should not be included in the application package. We urge you to use this checklist to ensure that your application contains all required items. If your application does not meet all of the screening criteria, it will not move forward through the merit review process.

2. Number of Applications Applicants May Submit

We will consider only one application from each organization as the lead applicant. However, eligible applicants may submit an application as the lead applicant, and serve as a partner in an application in which they do not serve as the lead applicant. If we receive multiple applications from the same organization, we will consider only the most recently received application that

Application Requirement Instructions Complete?

The deadline submission requirements are met Section IV.C

Eligibility (Applicants that fail to include all of the required partners as detailed in Section III.A.2 will not move forward through the merit review process.)

Section III.A

If submitted through Grants.gov, the components of the application are saved in any of the specified formats and are not corrupt. (We will attempt to open the document, but will not take any additional measures in the event of problems with opening.)

Section IV.C.2

Application federal funds request is at least

$1,000,000 and does not exceed the ceiling amount of $5,000,000 along with the minimum number enrolled in Registered Apprenticeships meets minimum threshold

Section II.A

SAM Registration Section IV.B.1

SF-424, Application for Federal Assistance Section IV.B.1

SF-424 includes a DUNS Number Section IV.B.1

SF-424A, Budget Information Form Section IV.B.2

Budget Narrative Section IV.B.2

Project Narrative Section IV.B.3 met the deadline. If the most recent application is disqualified for any reason, we will not replace it with an earlier application.

3. Eligible Participants

a) Participants Eligible to Receive Training

The intent…