US Department of Labor announces $98M in available funding to support delivery of academic, skills training, employment services for young people

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor today announced the availability of $98 million in funding to support the delivery of pre-apprenticeships in high-demand industries including construction, healthcare, information technology and hospitality.

Funded through the department’s YouthBuild Program, the grants will help provide educational guidance, occupational skills training and employment services to disadvantaged young people, ages 16 to 24, in communities where barriers to academic and career skills development persist. 

The program aligns with the historic federal investments in the Biden-Harris administration’s Investing in America agenda to create good jobs. They also support the department’s Youth Employment Works strategy, which seeks to ensure youth find “no wrong door” when accessing employment and supportive services. 

Administered by the department’s Employment and Training Administration and supported by the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act, the YouthBuild Programwill fund individual grants for about 75 projects ranging from $700,000 to $1.5 million. 

YouthBuild Program funding has enabled program participants to support initiatives in construction, technology and the care economy that include the following efforts: 

• In Ohio, County Corp works with the Dayton Energy Collaborative to reduce the energy burden on more than 30,000 households in Dayton whose incomes fall below 200 percent of the federal poverty level. 
• In Texas, American YouthWorks collaborates with Workforce Solutions-Capitol Area Workforce Board in Austin to employ a pre-apprenticeship program that connects participants with employment in healthcare, information technology and skilled trades. 
• In Nevada, Chicanos Por La Causa participants are building two single-family homes in collaboration with Southern Nevada Local Laborers Training Trust 872. The project also offers welding, nursing and information technology training to participants. 
• In Tennessee, the Knoxville Leadership Foundation combines experienced staff, a proven workforce model and a network of 52 employers and service providers who create construction and culinary arts career paths for participants. 

Learn more about the YouthBuild Funding Opportunity and apply.