Grants for 2011

The Employment and Training Administration (ETA), in coordination with Department of Labor's (DOL's) Office of Disability Employment Policy (ODEP), announces the availability of approximately $20 million for a second round of cooperative agreements to state agencies that administer the Workforce Investment Act (WIA). These funds provide an opportunity for states to develop and implement a plan for improving effective and meaningful participation of persons with disabilities in the workforce.

DOL is using this funding to implement the Disability Employment Initiative (DEI), through which the Department intends to make six to ten grant awards designed to: 1) improve educational, training, and employment opportunities and outcomes of youth and adults with disabilities who are unemployed, underemployed, and/or receiving Social Security disability benefits; and 2) help these individuals with disabilities find a path into the middle class through exemplary and model service delivery by the public workforce system. The DOL will award DEI grants for a three-year period of performance.

This posting announces the availability of funding for the Jobs Accelerator. Regions across the nation can compete for complementary Federal resources that will be targeted to address the gaps and opportunities specific to their self-identified, high-potential industry clusters. The Jobs Accelerator leverages existing financial and technical resources from 16 Federal agencies and bureaus to support the development of approximately 20 high-growth industry clusters selected through a competitive inter-agency grant process. Funds awarded to the winning applicants can be used to achieve measurable outcomes such as commercialization, business formation, expansion of existing businesses, job creation, and exports. Total proposed funding for the Jobs Accelerator is approximately $33 million in direct Federal support from funding agencies, subject to the availability of appropriations.

The funding agencies are the Department of Commerce's Economic Development Administration, the Department of Labor's Employment and Training Administration, and, subject to the availability of appropriations, the Small Business Administration. This collaboration is designed to allow applicants to submit one application to access three complementary Federal sources to comprehensively support cluster development, and applicants must apply for all three funding sources available under the Jobs Accelerator FFO. Awards are expected to range from approximately $1.5 million to $2.2 million per cluster through the three funding agencies, and matching funds are required for a portion of the funding.

The Employment and Training Administration (ETA), U.S. Department of Labor (DOL or the Department), announces the availability of approximately $240 million in funds for an H-1B Technical Skills Training Grants program. This grant program is designed to provide education, training, and job placement assistance in the occupations and industries for which employers are using H-1B visas to hire foreign workers, and the related activities necessary to support such training. H-1B technical skills training grants are financed by a user fee paid by employers to bring foreign workers into the United States under the H-1B nonimmigrant visa program. This technical skills training program was authorized under Section 414 (c) of the American Competitiveness and Workforce Improvement Act of 1998 (ACWIA), as amended (29 USC 2916a). Grant awards will be made only to the extent that funds are available.

The Department will make awards to two types of training grants: those that provide On-the-Job Training (OJT) to all participants and those that use other training strategies. Of the awards granted through this Solicitation, at least $150 million will be awarded to grantees that provide OJT to all participants. Between the two types of grants awarded (OJT and other training strategies), DOL intends to fund at least $45 million to applicants proposing to provide training for occupations in the health care industry and at least $60 million to applicants that serve long-term unemployed individuals. While this Solicitation is open, DOL anticipates that additional funding will accrue for this grant program. Such additional funding may be made available for awards during the second round of funding,depending on the quality of applications received.

The Department expects to award approximately 75-100 grants ranging from $1 million to $5 million with up to a 48-month period of performance. The Department will award grants to a partnership of private and public sector entities as defined in ACWIA. This partnership must include at least two entities from among the following groups: (1) businesses or business-related nonprofit organizations, such as trade associations; (2) education and training providers, including community colleges and other community-based organizations; and (3) entities involved in administering the workforce investment system established under Title I of the WIA, and economic development agencies.

The Employment and Training Administration (ETA), U.S. Department of Labor (USDOL, or the Department) announces the availability of approximately $5.5 million authorized by the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2010 to support applicants in providing intensive mentoring services to low-income young parents (both mothers and fathers, and expectant parents ages 16 to 24) participating in workforce development programs. Activities under this SGA are authorized under Section 171(b) of the Workforce Investment Act, which allows for demonstration and pilot projects for the purpose of developing and implementing techniques and approaches, and demonstrating the effectiveness of specialized methods, in addressing employment and training needs. Applicants must currently be operating a program for young parents that includes educational and occupational skills training, case management and supportive services that lead to family economic self-sufficiency. Funded projects will be encouraged to serve young parents in high-risk categories, including those who are victims of child abuse, children of incarcerated parents, court-involved youth, youth at-risk of court involvement , homeless and runaway youth, Indian and Native American youth, migrant youth, youth in or aging out of foster care, and youth with disabilities.

The U. S. Department of Labor (DOL), Employment and Training Administration (ETA), Office of Workforce Investment, Division of Adult Services, announces a grant competition for operating the National Farmworker Jobs Program (NFJP), under section 167 of the Workforce Investment Act (WIA), 29 U.S.C. 2912. WIA generally requires DOL to conduct a general grants competition every two years to select NFJP grantees. Under section 167(a) of WIA, the Secretary must award grants on a competitive basis to eligible entities for the purposes of carrying out the activities authorized under section 167. We are conducting this competition before the passage of the Department of Labor's Fiscal Year (FY) 2011 appropriation in anticipation of the appropriation of funds for Program Year (PY) 2011 NFJP grants, but we will not obligate any funds for PY 2011 grants unless and until they are appropriated. The FY 2011 appropriation request for this program is $78,410,000, to be allocated among state service delivery areas for operation of NFJP. All interested applicants should read the full announcement in its entirety.

The U.S. Department of Labor (the Department or DOL), Employment and Training Administration (ETA), Office of Workforce Investment (OWI), Division of Adult Services (DAS), announces a grant competition for operating the Housing Assistance portion of the National Farmworker Jobs Program (NFJP), under section 167 of the Workforce Investment Act of 1998 (WIA), 29 U.S.C. 2912. Section 167(a) of WIA requires the Secretary to conduct a grants competition every two years for the purpose of carrying out the activities authorized under section 167. Although housing assistance is identified in WIA as one of the allowable activities under NFJP, Congressional appropriations language directs the Department to make available a specific amount of the funds appropriated for the NFJP for migrant and seasonal farmworkers housing assistance grants, and requires that no less than 70 percent of the specified amount must be used for permanent housing activities. We are conducting this competition before the passage of the Department of Labor's Fiscal Year (FY) 2011 appropriation in anticipation of the appropriation of funds for Program Year (PY) 2011 NFJP housing assistance grants, but we will not obligate any funds for PY 2011 grants unless and until they are appropriated. The FY 2011 appropriation request for the housing assistance program is $5,700,000. All interested applicants should read the full announcement in its entirety.

The Department of Labor's Employment and Training Administration (ETA) announces the availability of approximately $40 million in grant funds authorized by the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2010 to support successful applicants in providing enhanced transitional jobs (ETJ) programs, as well as other activities and services, to increase the workforce participation of low-income, hard-to-employ populations, specifically non-custodial parents and/or ex-offenders reentering their communities. ETA intends to fund grantees proposing to implement ETJ program models that go beyond transitional jobs (TJ) programs currently operating or tested previously. ETA seeks applications from either Local Workforce Investment Boards or non-profit community or faith-based organizations with 501(c)(3) IRS status with experience with providing TJ programs, or that represents a partnership that includes an organization with experience providing TJ programs. Applicants must demonstrate that a relationship exists with the required partners or that such a relationship could be established quickly because of existing connections and agreements to work together. Applicants may also include other partners that can provide needed services for program participants and/or refer participants to the applicant as described in the SGA. Upon selection, all grantees will be required to participate in a random assignment evaluation.

On April 15, 2011, the President signed Public Law 112-10, Full Year Continuing Appropriation Act, 2011, to appropriate funds for the Department of Labor and other agencies for the remainder of fiscal year 2011. Among the budget cuts, the Full Year Continuing Appropriation contained a rescission of the $125 million in prior year funds that were to be used for this grant competition. In light of this rescission, ETA must cancel the competition. We will not panel applications submitted in response to the Career Pathways Innovation Fund solicitation or take other steps to evaluate the proposals. All applications that were submitted will be properly disposed in accordance with applicable Federal record-keeping requirements.

We do not anticipate that we will renew this funding opportunity in the near future. The Continuing Resolution did not appropriate fiscal year 2011 funds for the Career Pathways Innovation Fund. Additionally, we do not anticipate that the Career Pathways Innovation Fund will be funded in the fiscal year 2012 Department of Labor appropriation.

The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL or the Department) announces the availability of up to $122 million in grant funds to be awarded under the Career Pathways Innovation Fund (CPIF) Solicitation for Grant Applications (SGA, or Solicitation). Based on statutory requirements, at least $65 million of the total designated funds will be reserved for projects that focus on the health care sector. Four types of entities are eligible to apply as lead grantees: Local Workforce Investment Boards (LWIBs), individual community and technical colleges, community college districts, and state community college systems. For the total amount of funds available through this SGA, DOL intends to fund approximately 40 to 50 grants ranging from $1 million to $5 million. In addition, DOL intends to reserve funding of approximately $6.25 million of the total appropriation to award additional funding to support grantee efforts to conduct a third-party evaluation of the grant activities.

The Department of Labor's Employment and Training Administration (ETA) announces the availability of approximately $17 million in grant funds authorized by the Workforce Investment Act of 1998 to serve juvenile offenders, ages 16 to 24, in high-poverty, high-crime communities. The purpose of these grants is to improve the long-term labor market prospects of these youth. The Department expects to award two grants of $8.5 million each to organizations with the capacity to implement multi-site, multi-state projects. Grantees will be required to competitively select local sub-grantees to operate the program in a minimum of five high-poverty, high-crime communities in at least two states.

The Department of Labor's Employment and Training Administration (ETA) announces the availability of approximately $40 million in grant funds authorized by the Workforce Investment Act of 1998, Title I, Subtitle D, Section 171(d), Public Law 105-220 for the Green Jobs Innovation Fund (GJIF) to increase the number of individuals completing training programs who receive industry-recognized credentials and to increase the number of individuals completing training programs for employment in green jobs. ETA proposes to fund approximately five to eight grants to national and statewide organizations with local affiliates with existing career training programs to provide technical and basic skills training that lead to green job opportunities in at least six communities per grant with this SGA. With these grants, the Department is emphasizing critical steps along green career pathways by: 1) forging linkages between Registered Apprenticeship and pre-apprenticeship programs, and/or 2) integrating the delivery of technical and basic skills training through community-based partnerships.

Through this notice, The U.S. Department of Labor's (the "Department") Employment and Training Administration (ETA) announces the availability of approximately $11.7 million in grant funds to provide pre-release and post-release services to ex-offenders returning to high poverty, high-crime communities. These services will include job training and employment preparation, mentoring, and assistance connecting to supportive services such as housing, substance abuse programs and mental health treatment. Specifically, the employment component of the grant will focus on the development of employment opportunities in in-demand occupations, including emerging "green" jobs. These grants will be awarded through a competitive process. The Department expects to award approximately 10 grants of approximately $1,170,000 each for a 27-month period of performance.

The Department of Labor's Employment and Training Administration (ETA) announces the availability of approximately $20 million in grant funds authorized by the Workforce Investment Act for Civic Justice Corps Grants to serve juvenile offenders ages 18 to 24 who have been involved with the juvenile justice system within 12 months before entry into the program. Civic Justice Corps projects funded through this grant announcement will provide young offenders the opportunity to give something back to their communities through community service to make up for past transgressions. Such projects hold promise for reducing the recidivism rate of juvenile offenders by improving their vocational and educational skills and long-term prospects in the labor market and by increasing their attachment to their community and their sense of community responsibility. These grants will be awarded through a competitive process. ETA intends to fund a minimum of 13 grants at various amounts. Applicants may submit only one proposal of up to $1.5 million to cover a 30-month period of performance that includes up to four months of planning and a minimum of 26 months of operation.

The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL or the Department) announces the availability of up to $500 million in grant funds to be awarded under the Trade Adjustment Assistance Community College and Career Training grants program (TAACCCT). These funds are available to eligible institutions of higher education to serve workers who are eligible for training under the TAA for workers program in the 50 States, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico. The TAACCCT provides community colleges and other eligible institutions of higher education with funds to expand and improve their ability to deliver education and career training programs that can be completed in two years or less, are suited for workers who are eligible for training under the Trade Adjustment Assistance for Workers program, and prepare program participants for employment in high-wage, high-skill occupations. The Department intends to fund grants ranging from $2.5 million to $5 million for individual applicants and from $2.5 million to $20 million for consortium applicants.