DOL Awards Millions To Boost Apprenticeship Opportunities
The Department of Labor (DOL) this week upped the ante on apprenticeship programs by providing more than $200 million under four federal grant programs that support apprenticeships to increase employment opportunities.
Yesterday, DOL, through the Employment and Training Administration (ETA), awarded more than $99 million in State Apprenticeship Expansion, Equity and Innovation grants to help 15 states expand programming and inclusive recruitment strategies to attract a diverse workforce. A majority of the funding, ranging from $2 million to $10 million per state, went to those states that demonstrated a commitment to increase their diversity, equity and inclusion efforts. These grants also aim to develop partnerships with new industries and nontraditional 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.
ETA also awarded Registered Apprenticeship Technical Assistance Centers of Excellence cooperative agreements to the Urban Institute ($7 million), The Council of State Governments ($4 million), Jobs for the Future Inc. ($13 million) and Safal Partners Inc. (about $7 million) to provide technical assistance to apprenticeship programs and their enrolled trainees. These Centers of Excellence will seek to provide services to create a pipeline of skilled workers that can meet the needs of today’s industries 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.
On Monday, ETA issued 28 grants to organizations in 17 states and Washington, D.C. through the Pathway Home program and the Young Adult Reentry Partnership program totaling $85.5 million to assist individuals previously involved in the criminal justice system to secure employment in their communities. DOL Secretary Marty Walsh explained that the awards promote the Biden administration’s aim to “create more opportunities for justice-involved individuals to complete high school and college, enter apprenticeships and share the benefits as our economy continues to recover” from the COVID-19 pandemic. Such apprenticeships include those in industries such as information technology, healthcare and energy.
It will be interesting to see how these apprenticeship programs, and the efforts of the award recipients, affect the job market going forward.
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