Open Funding Opportunities

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.  

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.