Active Grants and Contracts

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In a ceremony today, U.S. Secretary of Labor Marty J. Walsh announced $3.3 million in grant funding to help recruit, train and retain more women in quality pre-apprenticeship and registered apprenticeship programs as well as nontraditional occupations. The event, hosted by Per Scholas Inc., included remarks from the Secretary, Women’s Bureau Director Wendy Chun-Hoon and two graduates of Per Scholas’ technical skills training program. Per Scholas, a grant recipient, will use its grant to launch a Women in Tech Software Engineering Apprenticeship pilot program in the Washington, D.C. area.

Administered by the department's Women's Bureau and Employment and Training Administration, the Women in Apprenticeship and Nontraditional Occupations grants were awarded to organizations in California, Mississippi, New York, Texas and Wisconsin.

“For too long, women have faced barriers to gaining entry into apprenticeships and nontraditional careers,” said U.S. Secretary of Labor Marty J. Walsh. “As we work to build back a better economy, these grants will empower women to get the training and support they need to secure good paying jobs and pathways into the middle class. They are important and effective tools for creating a more inclusive and equitable workforce.”

WANTO grants can be used to support women’s participation in a range of fields in which women have traditionally been underrepresented. These industries include finance, technology, construction, manufacturing, energy and transportation. A portion of the grants may be used to provide supportive services such as child care, transportation, tuition costs and work-related equipment.

Original Opportunity Notice: FOA-ETA-21-07

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The department’s Employment and Training Administration awarded more than $99 million in State Apprenticeship Expansion, Equity and Innovation grants – ranging from $2 million to $10 million – to bolster states’ efforts to expand programming and inclusive recruitment strategies to attract a diverse workforce. The awards include more than $85 million for states that demonstrated a commitment to increase their diversity, equity and inclusion efforts. These grants also aim to develop partnerships with new industries and non-traditional occupations, including industry sectors hardest hit by the pandemic, and align Registered Apprenticeships with other work-based learning opportunities within state education and workforce systems,

Original Opportunity Notice: FOA-ETA-21-06

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The U.S. Department of Labor today announced the award of more than $130 million in grants to develop, modernize and diversify Registered Apprenticeship Programs in 15 states and to establish Registered Apprenticeship Technical Assistance Centers of Excellence in three states and Washington, D.C., to provide technical expertise and services and accelerate the expansion of Registered Apprenticeship programs.

“Today’s announcement reflects the Department of Labor’s renewed commitment to expanding Registered Apprenticeship to train U.S. workers and ensure that diversity and inclusion are core elements of our nation’s post-pandemic economic recovery,” said Secretary of Labor Marty Walsh. “Using Registered Apprenticeships to expand career opportunities for all workers, especially those in under-represented populations, is a priority for the department and a critical component of the Biden-Harris administration’s American Jobs Plan.”

To facilitate expansion of Registered Apprenticeship programs, the department also awarded nearly $31 million through cooperative agreements to establish four Registered Apprenticeship Technical Assistance Centers of Excellence to provide technical assistance to apprenticeship programs and their enrolled trainees. Located in key areas, the RA-TA Centers of Excellence will seek to create successful and inclusive talent pipelines that meet the needs of today’s industries, workers and communities. Centers of Excellence will provide technical assistance to employers and industry to build out model-registered apprenticeship programs across a range of industries and jobs, including those in America’s critical supply chains. The centers will also work across public and private sector partners to expand opportunities in Registered Apprenticeship for women, youth, people of color, rural communities, justice-involved individuals and people with disabilities.  

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Original Opportunity Notice: FOA-ETA-20-12

The Employment and Training Administration (ETA), U.S. Department of Labor (DOL, or the Department, or we), announces the availability of approximately $40 million in grant funds authorized under the American Competitiveness and Workforce Improvement Act of 1998 (ACWIA), as amended (codified at 29 USC 3224a) for the H-1B Rural Healthcare Grant Program. The intent of this grant program is to alleviate healthcare workforce shortages by creating sustainable employment and training programs in healthcare occupations (including behavioral and mental healthcare) serving rural populations.

The COVID-19 pandemic has increased the need for healthcare workers, particularly in rural areas where there was already an acute need.2 Expanding employment and training models for the healthcare industry will help individuals gain the skills necessary to provide needed services, fill vacancies, and allow employers to find skilled workers more readily. This grant program will result in increasing the numbers of individuals in healthcare occupations. Employment and training programs funded through this Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) can propose a wide range of training models, including Registered Apprenticeship Programs (RAPs) and Industry-Recognized Apprenticeship Programs (IRAPs).3 Pre-apprenticeships are permitted only as on-ramps to apprenticeship programs proposed in response to this FOA and must result in placement in apprenticeships during the life of the grant.

Grants under this program will be awarded to partnerships of public and private sector entities. Eligible lead applicants include employers in the healthcare sector; nonprofit healthcare organizations affiliated with hospitals and other medical facilities; healthcare industry and/or occupation associations; organizations designated as “Primary Care Associations” by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Health Resources and Service Administration (HRSA); Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) State or Local Workforce Development Boards (WDB) and Indian/Native American Tribal Government (federally recognized); and Native American Program entities eligible for funding under Section 166 of WIOA (29 U.S.C. 3221).4 Employers and education and training providers are required partners.

For applicants proposing RAPs or IRAPs in states with federally recognized State Apprenticeship Agencies (SAAs), the applicant must include the SAA as a partner. These public-private partnerships will leverage resources across federal and state funding streams as well as from the private sector. They will work together toward a coordinated approach to preparing a skilled healthcare workforce for a rural area. The Department encourages applicants to generate at least 15 percent of the total amount of requested funds as leveraged funds to support the grant project. By engaging partners and aligning grant projects with broader workforce activities, applicants will position their projects to sustain efforts beyond the grant period of performance.

Eligible participants served through this grant program must be at least 17 years old and not currently enrolled in secondary school within a local educational agency. Among the individuals eligible to receive training, those of particular interest include veterans, military spouses, transitioning service members, and underrepresented populations, including women, people of color, ex-offenders, individuals with disabilities, and other populations with employment barriers that hinder movement into middle- to high-skilled H-1B healthcare occupations.

Below you can find a list of awardees. Award abstracts coming soon. Note: These grant awards support a variety of work-based learning activities.  Please refer to the project abstracts when available to identify grants awarded that include apprenticeship as a funded activity.

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Original Opportunity Notice: FOA-ETA-20-13

The Employment and Training Administration (ETA), U.S. Department of Labor (DOL, or the Department, or we), announces the availability of up to $150 million in grant funds authorized under section 414(c) of the American Competitiveness and Workforce Improvement Act of 1998 (ACWIA), as amended (codified at 29 USC 3224a) for the H-1B One Workforce grant program. We expect to fund approximately 15–30 grants, with individual grant amounts ranging from $500,000 to $10 million. The purpose of this grant program is to fill critical shortages in economic regions by encouraging states and economic regions to work with industry stakeholders to develop dynamic workforce strategies that train workers and jobseekers for middle- to high-skilled H-1B occupations in key industry sectors, such as Information Technology (IT), advanced manufacturing, and transportation that are being transformed by technological advancements and automation, as well as other industries of the future that include artificial intelligence (AI), quantum information sciences (QIS), 5G/advanced communications, and biotechnology. 

These grants will build proof of concepts of innovative training models that can be replicated by the broader workforce system. Applicants must build support for a common vision for responding to the workforce challenges within their state and economic regions, ensuring that their projects complement and leverage, but do not duplicate existing programs. By forging public-private partnerships—H-1B One Workforce Partnerships—applicants will bring together industry and employers, education and training providers, the workforce system, state and local government, and other entities that will work collaboratively to align resources in response to employer demand and to offer novel education and job training solutions that generate positive outcomes and results.  

Below you can find a list of awardees. Award abstracts coming soon. Note: These grant awards support a variety of work-based learning activities. Please refer to the project abstracts when available to identify grants awarded that include apprenticeship as a funded activity.

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Original Opportunity Notice: 1630DC-20-R-00020

The U.S. Department of Labor recently awarded approximately $22 million in contract investments to 12 Industry Intermediaries to continue the Department’s efforts to expand the number of apprenticeship opportunities in growing sectors across the country.

This effort will further Registered Apprenticeship expansion strategies in high growth industries including information technology (IT), cybersecurity, telecommunications and 5G advanced manufacturing, hospitality, healthcare and health IT, transportation and logistics, and energy.

Industry Intermediaries are organizations uniquely positioned to convene employers within an industry or sub-sector to determine skill needs and workforce trends and to work with employers on a regional and national level to develop apprenticeship programs with the goal of increasing the number of apprenticeship opportunities. 

“With today’s contract awards, the Department is increasing transparency and accountability for our diversity, equity, and expansion efforts in the Registered Apprenticeship program,” said Assistant Secretary for Employment and Training John Pallasch. “Today’s awards replace outdated contract awards by funding and creating greater collaboration across partners to deliver measurable results for our customers.” 

Industry Intermediaries continue to serve as a conduit between employers and other industry partners and the Department’s Office of Apprenticeship to accelerate apprenticeship program development and help create new sector-based apprenticeship partnerships at the regional and national level. Industry Intermediaries usually specialize in a specific sector but some may possess expertise that cut across more than one market.

As part of this effort, each of the intermediaries are committed to enrolling an average of 750 Registered Apprentices or more a year over the life of the contract through strategies that engage employers and industry; leverage key partnerships; reduce program development time for key occupations in target industries; and increase the number of new apprentices.

See below for a list of awarded contracts.

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Original Opportunity Notice: FOA-WB-20-01

The U.S. Department of Labor has awarded $4.1 million in grant funding to help recruit, train and retain more women in quality pre-apprenticeship and apprenticeship programs.

Administered by the Department’s Women’s Bureau and the Employment and Training Administration, the Women in Apprenticeship and Nontraditional Occupations (WANTO) grants are designed to help women pursue occupations in non-traditional industries to organizations in California, Florida, Illinois, New York, Texas and Washington State.

“The Women’s Bureau is honored to administer the Women in Apprenticeship and Nontraditional Occupations grants,” said Women’s Bureau Director Laurie Todd-Smith, Ph.D. “This grant program provides funding to community organizations to help women reach self-sufficiency by providing the skills needed to pursue careers that they may have thought were out of reach to them.”

The Women’s Bureau formulates standards and policies to promote the welfare of wage-earning women, improve their working conditions, increase their efficiency and advance their opportunities for profitable employment.

The mission of the Department of Labor is to foster, promote and develop the welfare of the wage earners, job seekers and retirees of the United States; improve working conditions; advance opportunities for profitable employment; and assure work-related benefits and rights.

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Original Opportunity Notice: FOA-ETA-20-06

The U.S. Department of Labor’s Employment and Training Administration (ETA) today announced the award of $42,296,247 in Youth Apprenticeship Readiness grants to 14 organizations to increase participation by youth, ages 16 to 24, in new or existing Registered Apprenticeship Programs (RAPs).

These grants will allow educational entities—including traditional, alternative, and non-traditional schools; and programs that serve out-of-school youth, school boards, workforce boards, employers, workforce partners, and other apprenticeship intermediaries—to partner to develop and establish new apprenticeship models for youth or expand existing apprenticeship programs for youth.

Grant recipients will seek to expand opportunities to prepare 16 to 24 year old registered apprentices for careers in industries including manufacturing, information technology, cybersecurity, and healthcare.

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Original Opportunity Notice: ETA-TEGL-15-19

The U.S. Department of Labor awarded $81,046,170 in grants intended to support activities that improve states’ ability to serve, improve and expand the Registered Apprenticeship Program (RAP) model by strengthening the national apprenticeship system, promoting system alignment and partnership, and improving data sharing and data integrity. 

The “Building State Capacity to Expand Apprenticeship through Innovation” grants support statewide RAP expansion through a two-tiered funding system that provides states with maximum flexibility to address local apprenticeship needs while enhancing the focus on employer engagement, performance, and positive outcomes for apprentices. Administered by the Department’s Employment and Training Administration (ETA), the Department awarded grants to 42 states and U.S. territories.

“Registered Apprenticeship Programs provide workers with the right skills needed in today’s labor market and can have a positive impact in fixing the skills gap that employers face,” said Assistant Secretary for Employment and Training John Pallasch. “This will be a great opportunity for young people who want to combine on-the-job training with relevant classroom education, while getting paid at the same time.”

“We thought it necessary to reward states who have demonstrated excellent performance in one of the Department’s key policy objectives,” Pallasch added. “The Department believes positive outcomes for those we serve must carry more weight as we look to award funding.”

The Department awarded funds to states and U.S. territories that applied for Tier I funding to help support the programs’ goals. In addition to Tier I funding, 12 states received additional funds under Tier II, ranging from $3 million to $9 million, based on the number and quality of Tier II applications received, as well as strong evidence of past performance in expanding RAPs; other factors included geographic, industry and Tier II goal distribution. With these additional funds, the selected states will go above-and-beyond supporting the state’s basic Registered Apprenticeship structures in the state. These activities include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Expanding registered apprenticeships in healthcare, mental health care, addiction treatment, or alternative pain management occupations providing support to individuals living in rural areas;
• Incorporating specific strategies to support or expand Registered Apprenticeship opportunities among all workers, including women, minorities, veterans, individuals with disabilities, and individuals with a criminal record;
• Supporting system alignment and partnership through the establishment or expansion of the role of the business service representatives/apprenticeship navigators with the promotion of apprenticeship to partner systems; 
• Developing innovative technical assistance strategies/approaches for Registered Apprenticeship sponsors; 
• Establishing an employer incentive plan to expand or scale Registered Apprenticeships;
• Identifying specific strategies to support engagement with small businesses in nontraditional industries in Registered Apprenticeships; and
• Launching or expanding sector strategies to expand RAPs to new industries and/or new or non-traditional occupations in existing sectors.

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Original Opportunity Notice: FOA-ETA-19-09

The U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration awarded $99,281,216 in grant investments to 28 grantees for the H-1B Apprenticeships: Closing the Skills Gap grant program in February 2020.

The primary goal of this grant program is to increase apprenticeship opportunities for all Americans by accelerating the expansion of apprenticeships to industry sectors and occupations that have not traditionally deployed apprenticeships for building a skilled workforce, such as advanced manufacturing, cybersecurity, artificial intelligence, and health care and by promoting the large-scale expansion of apprenticeships across the nation to a range of employers, including small and medium-sized employers.

The Apprenticeships: Closing the Skills Gap grantees are represented by 17 institutions of higher education (IHE) and 11 nonprofit trade, industry, or employer associations; labor unions; or labor management organizations. All grant projects feature an Apprenticeship Partnership, which is a partnership of public and private sector entities that include the lead applicant, an IHE (if the lead applicant is not an IHE), employer partners and optional partners. The optional partners can include organizations to support outreach and training activities, Small Business Development Centers, community organizations that provide social support and/or wrap-around services, and optional workforce partners.

Program Activities: The Apprenticeships: Closing the Skills Gap grant program will expand apprenticeship opportunities within H-1B occupations and industry sectors, particularly those sectors that have not deployed apprenticeships on a large scale previously. These include in-demand cybersecurity professions and emerging occupations involving artificial intelligence (AI) across several industry sectors.

Grantees will increase the number and types of workers participating as apprentices by establishing new apprenticeship programs or expanding existing apprenticeship programs; creating the training infrastructure/network to deploy the new programs; promoting apprenticeship programs on a local/regional, statewide, or national scale; and developing training activities for an expanded pool of individual apprentices in the newly certified or expanded programs.

Grantees proposed new or expanded apprenticeship programs in H-1B Industries: advanced manufacturing, health care and information technology, with some grantees giving a particular focus to cybersecurity and artificial intelligence in the manufacturing and clean energy industry, wireless technology and broadband, and artificial intelligence in the transportation and supply chain industry.

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Original Opportunity Notice: FOA-WB-19-01

The Women in Apprenticeship and Nontraditional Occupations (WANTO) grant helps to expand pathways for women to enter and lead in all industries.

In 2019, the WANTO grant program awarded $1,492,515 to three community-based organizations to increase women's employment in apprenticeship programs and nontraditional occupations.

Organizations receiving funds will provide one or more of the following types of technical assistance:

• Developing pre-apprenticeship or nontraditional skills training programs to prepare women for those careers;
• Providing ongoing orientations for employers, unions, and workers on creating a successful environment for women to succeed in those careers; and
• Setting up support groups, facilitating networks, and/or providing support services for women to improve their retention.

To be determined

In Summer 2019, DOL awarded $7.7 million through four contracts to Jobs for the Future (JFF), NetAmerica, Urban Institute, and ICF, who serve as youth apprenticeship intermediaries. These intermediaries assist educational institutions, employers, industry associations, joint-labor management organizations, States, grantees, and other organizations to launch in- and out-of-school youth apprenticeship programs to rapidly accelerate the “earn and learn” model across multiple industries and sectors to meet the occupational and skill needs of those industries.

The Youth Apprenticeship Intermediaries help develop and/or strengthen youth apprenticeship programs by infusing the apprenticeship model as the “go-to” human capital solution in national, regional, and state career readiness for various career paths through the following activities:

1. Train 900 youth apprentices over five years across various industries.
2. Increase youth apprenticeship brand awareness through online platforms and a Challenge Competition
3. Host employer/industry meetings and conferences
4. Connect high school students to employers under a Registered Apprenticeship program
5. Integrate youth apprenticeship into school systems
6. Create new apprenticeship programs or expand existing ones
7. Develop best practices and success stories

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Original Opportunity Number: FOA-ETA-18-08

The U.S. Department of Labor Employment and Training Administration (ETA) awarded approximately $184 million in grants to 23 grantees for the Scaling Apprenticeship through Sector-Based Strategies grant program in June 2019. The primary goal of this grant program is to accelerate the expansion of apprenticeships to new industry sectors reliant on H-1B visas, such as information technology (IT) and IT-related industries, advanced manufacturing, and health care. In addition, the grant program will increase the level of apprenticeship activity among employers within these industry sectors that have not traditionally implemented apprenticeship programs, particularly small- and medium-sized businesses.

Scaling Apprenticeship will promote the large-scale expansion of apprenticeships across the nation by supporting the training of thousands of apprentices in new or expanded programs and by assisting partners in their efforts to create and scale the new or expanded apprenticeship programs. This grant program will also increase apprenticeship opportunities for all Americans, particularly veterans, military spouses and those individuals currently underrepresented in existing apprenticeship programs.

Program Activities: This grant program will expand apprenticeship opportunities within H-1B industry sectors, particularly those that have not deployed apprenticeships on a large scale previously, and increase the number and types of workers participating as apprentices. To achieve these goals, projects will undertake activities within each of the following categories:

• Deploying apprenticeship training. Grant funds will be used primarily to support the training of thousands of apprentices in new or expanded programs. Training and training-related activities will include the academic and work-based training itself, as well as supportive services, such as childcare and transportation, designed to assist apprentices to participate and remain in an apprenticeship program.
• Taking apprenticeships to scale. Assisting partners in their efforts to create and scale the new or expanded apprenticeship programs is another critical component of the work under this grant program. Projects will establish new apprenticeship programs, create the training infrastructure/network necessary to deploy these programs, expand existing apprenticeships, and promote all grant-funded apprenticeship programs on a national scale.

Grants totaling $183,883,271 were awarded to 23 partnerships in local and state service areas across the country, and will ultimately expand to reach a national scale.

Apprenticeship Expansion and Modernization Fund is designed to provide foundational and tailored outreach and technical assistance to prospective and current registered apprenticeship program sponsors and other stakeholders to facilitate the development, implementation, and growth of registered apprenticeship programs. It also serve as innovation incubators by managing the development and dissemination of tools and strategies that hold promise to accelerate the expansion of registered apprenticeship across the nation.

Original Opportunity Notice: ETA-OA-VAN

In March 2018, the Department of Labor announced approximately $20 million for a cooperative agreement with the American Association of Community Colleges (AACC) to support the Expanding Community College Apprenticeship (ECCA) Initiative. Through a partnership between Community Colleges and industry, the ECCA Initiative would allow employers / industry partners to identify and match with Community College new and  existing apprenticeship programs. The project will train 16,000 apprentices. 

Original Opportunity Notice: FOA-ETA-16-13

In 2016, DOL awarded a $50.5M grant to expand Registered Apprenticeship Programs (RAPs) in the states, with an emphasis on high-growth industries and underserved populations. The investment marked the first time that the Federal Government provided funding to support States in efforts to expand and diversify RAPs to better respond to industry workforce demands.  In many states, apprenticeship is a component of, but not fully integrated into State economic, workforce, and education talent development systems.  These grants provided an opportunity to further align resources to innovate and expand apprenticeship.

In Spring 2018, DOL made approximately $50 million in continuation funding available to the 37 State Apprenticeship Expansion grantees to enable states to continue their work to expand apprenticeship with the goal of sparking an additional 10 percent growth over the following two years of the grant period of performance.

Original Opportunity Notice: FOA-ETA-15-02

The Employment and Training Administration (ETA), U.S. Department of Labor (DOL, or the department, or we), announces the availability of approximately $100 million in grant funds authorized by Section 414(c) of the American Competitiveness and Workforce Improvement Act of 1998 (ACWIA), as amended (codified at 29 USC 2916a), for the American Apprenticeship Initiative. This initiative is intended to provide a catalyst in supporting a uniquely American Apprenticeship system that meets our country's particular economic, industry and workforce needs. American Apprenticeships (also referred to as Registered Apprenticeships) are innovative work-based learning and post-secondary earn-and- learn models that meet national standards for registration with the U.S. Department of Labor (or federally recognized State Apprenticeship Agencies). Approximately $100 million is expected to be available to fund approximately 25 grants. Grant awards will range from $2.5 - 5 million. Grant awards will be made only to the extent that funds are available.