(HISTORICAL) Apprenticeships: Closing the Skills Gap

 
  • Grants Office Grantwriting service fee is currently unavailable for this grant
    Get more information on grantwriting

    CFDA#

    17.268
     

    Funder Type

    Federal Government

    IT Classification

    B - Readily funds technology as part of an award

    Authority

    Employment and Training Administration (ETA)

    Summary

    The purpose of this grant program is to promote apprenticeships as a significant workforce solution in filling current job vacancies and closing the skills gap between employer workforce needs and the skills of the current workforce. The overarching goals of this grant program are threefold:

    1. To accelerate the expansion of apprenticeships to industry sectors and occupations that have not traditionally deployed apprenticeships for building a skilled workforce, such as cybersecurity, artificial intelligence, and health care;
    2. To promote the large-scale expansion of apprenticeships across the nation to a range of employers, including small and medium-sized employers; and
    3. To increase apprenticeship opportunities for all Americans.

    This grant program supports the expansion of apprenticeships to industries that have not typically used the "learn as you earn" model to recruit new apprentices into the workforce, and to upskill those already employed in the industry to bolster the sector's competitiveness. Given the funding source, the industries and occupations that can be targeted with this funding are those for which employers are using H-1B visas to hire foreign workers, such as information technology (IT) and IT-related industries, health care, and advanced manufacturing. The Department is particularly interested in expanding the apprenticeship model to cybersecurity and artificial intelligence (AI) professions. In addition, these grants seek to increase the level of apprenticeship activity among employers within these industry sectors that have not traditionally implemented apprenticeship programs, particularly among small- and medium-sized businesses.


    To promote new, high-quality apprenticeship programs and the expansion of existing apprenticeship programs, this grant program will award grant funds to an apprenticeship partnership of public and private sector entities which, working together, will develop and implement new apprenticeship models or expand an existing apprenticeship program to a new industry sector, new population, or a local/regional, statewide, or national scale. This grant program will also support an array of activities designed to assist the industry in developing and expanding new apprenticeship programs. These activities will include the development of industry-approved, competency-based curricula for both on-the-job and classroom training; and the development of appropriate quality assurance and data systems and processes. Among other benefits, such activities help simplify program development and reduce program start-up times and costs, making it easier for employers to deploy the programs; and promote program consistency and quality, thus facilitating industry-wide acceptance of the apprenticeship model. 


    Grant-funded projects should strive to increase apprenticeship opportunities for all Americans, focusing particularly on veterans, military spouses, transitioning service members, and underrepresented populations in apprenticeship, including women, people of color, and ex-offenders. Priority consideration will be given to applicants who identify that at least one census tract within their physical service area is designated as a Qualified Opportunity Zone.

     

    History of Funding

    Apprenticeships: Closing the Skills Gap is the latest in a long line of Department of Labor H-1B visa funded workforce development grant opportunities featuring partnerships between employers, workforce development groups, and education and training providers. Previous iterations of this grant and their awardees are as follows:

    • Scaling Apprenticeship Through Sector-Based Strategies - https://www.dol.gov/newsroom/releases/eta/eta20190624
    • America's Promise Job Driven Grant Program - https://www.dol.gov/newsroom/releases/eta/eta20161117
    • TechHire Partnership Grants - https://www.doleta.gov/leave-doleta.cfm?target=https://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2016/06/27/fact-sheet-expanding-tech-economies-communities-across-country
    • American Apprenticeship Initiative - https://www.dol.gov/opa/media/press/eta/ETA20151762.htm
    • H-1B Ready to Work Partnership Grants - https://www.dol.gov/opa/media/press/eta/ETA20141956.htm
    • Trade Adjustment AssitanceCommunity College and Career Training Grants - https://www.dol.gov/opa/media/press/eta/ETA20141865.htm

    Additional Information

    Apprenticeship programs funded and developed under this grant program must have the following characteristics:

    • Paid Work Component Apprenticeship programs must pay apprentices at least the applicable Federal, state, or local minimum wage or a Federally approved stipend under Federal wage requirements if otherwise applicable, and must describe wage progression requirements. Additionally, programs must address how they will provide apprentices the opportunity to gain upward mobility in the industry.
    • Work-based Learning and Mentorship An important aspect of apprenticeship programs is offering apprentices the opportunity to apply what they are learning to their work through well-designed and highly structured work experiences. While they are learning on the job, programs must provide mentors to support apprentices and provide guidance on an industry or company culture, and industry or workplace policies and procedures.
    • Educational and Instructional Component Apprenticeship programs must provide or arrange for classroom or related instruction that is high-quality and adequate to help apprentices achieve their proficiency goals and earn certifications or equivalent credentials. As an important indication of quality programs must lead to an industry-recognized, portable credential, and may also be designed to ensure that apprentices receive college credit for classroom or related instruction.
    • Industry-Recognized Credentials Earned Apprentices must earn industry-recognized credential(s) as part of their apprenticeship programs. The credential(s) earned in the program must be portable, and applicants must identify all of the portability benefits in the application. In sectors in which generally accepted credentials already exist, or will be issued by industry organizations or credentialing bodies, applicants must describe whether program completion will result in one or more of these existing credentials or qualify an apprentice to sit for relevant credentialing exams. In sectors where independent credentials exist and are not issued by the apprenticeship program, the applicant must describe the alternative credential(s) that apprentices may earn and information on who is offering the exam
    • Safety, Supervision, and Equal Employment Opportunity Apprenticeship programs must have policies and procedures in place to ensure a safe working environment that adheres to all applicable Federal, state, and local safety, employment, and equal opportunity laws and regulations. 

    To help American industry reduce the need for skilled foreign workers under the H-1B visa program, applicants must design their apprenticeship programs to target one of the following: 1) Occupations in an H-1B industry; and 2) H-1B occupations. H-1B Industries that are using a significant number of visas to hire foreign workers include: (1) IT and IT-related industries; (2) Health Care; and (3) Advanced Manufacturing

    Contacts

    Denise Roach

    Denise Roach
    200 Constitution Ave. NW
    Washington, DC 20210
    (202) 693-3820
     

  • Eligibility Details

    Eligible applicants are partnerships of public and private sector entities. The lead applicant in the partnership can be: (1) an institution of higher education (IHE); (2) an IHE representing a consortium of IHEs; (3) a state system of higher education, such as a community college system office or a single state higher educational board; (4) a nonprofit trade, industry or employer association; labor unions; and (5) labor-management organizations.


    Eligible applicants are required to include the following partners:

    • Employer Partners - Applicants proposing to serve a local/regional or statewide geographic scope are required to partner with at least three employers that will implement apprenticeships. Applicants proposing to serve a national geographic scope are required to partner with at least five employers.
    • Institutions of Higher Education - If the lead applicant is not an IHE, applicants must include in their apprenticeship partnership an IHE or consortia of IHEs.

    Eligible applicants are encouraged (but not required) to include the following optional partners: Additional trade and industry groups; employers; non-profit organizations; educational institutions; labor unions; joint labor-management organizations; education and job training providers; community colleges; other organizations to support outreach and training activities; Small Business Development Centers; community organizations that provide social support and/or wrap-around services; State Apprenticeship Agencies; foundations and philanthropic organizations; and Federally-funded programs.

    Deadline Details

    Applications were to be submitted by September 24, 2019.


    A similarly themed, H-1B visa-funded grant opportunity is anticipated to be released from the Department of Labor annually. The name of the future funding opportunity is not yet known, please check the DOL ETA website in the summer for an announcement.


    This program has been replaced by the Youth Apprenticeship Readiness program for FY2020: https://www.dol.gov/sites/dolgov/files/ETA/grants/pdfs/FOA-ETA-20-06.pdf

    Award Details

    Up to $100 million is available to fund 16 to 30 grants. Individual awards will range from $500,000 to $6 million each, based on the geographic scope and number of apprentices served. Cost sharing/matching of 45% is required. Project periods will extend 48-months starting February 1, 2020.

    Related Webcasts Use the links below to view the recorded playback of these webcasts


    • Funding Classroom Technology to Empower Students and Teachers - Sponsored by Panasonic - Playback Available
    • Maximizing Technology-friendly Workforce Development Grants - Sponsored by Panasonic - Playback Available
    • Funding Data-driven Workforce Development Projects - Sponsored by NetApp - Playback Available

 

You have not selected any grants to Add


Please select at least one grant to continue.


Selections Added


The selected grant has been added to your .



  Okay  

Research Reports


One of the benefits of purchasing an UPstream® subscription is
generating professional research reports in Microsoft® Word or Adobe® PDF format
Generating research reports allows you to capture all the grant data as
well as a nice set of instructions on how to read these reports


Watchlists and Grant Progress


With an UPstream® subscription you can add grants to your
own personal Watchlist. By adding grants to your watchlist, you will
receive emails about updates to your grants, be able to track your
grant's progress from watching to awards, and can easily manage any
step in the process through simplified workflows.

Email this Grant


With an UPstream® subscription, you can email grant details, a research report,
and relevant links to yourself or others so that you never lose your
details again. Emailing grants is a great way to keep a copy of the
current details so that when you are ready to start seeking funding
you already know where to go