The U.S. Department of Labor recently announced its plans to allocate $90 million of funding in YouthBuild Program grants to support pre-apprenticeships in industries like construction, healthcare, and hospitality, which are all facing a dearth of skilled workers.
The grants will provide employment services and educational guidance to disadvantaged young people aged 16 to 24 and will be administered by the department’s Employment and Training Administration and supported by the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act, the U.S. Department of Labor stated in a recent news release. Approximately 75 projects nationwide will be funded with individual grants ranging from $700,000 to $1.5 million.
The funding opportunity follows the department’s 2021 guidance that prioritizes quality jobs, green building and community violence intervention.
In August 2022, the department added the YouthBuild program to the Biden-Harris administration’s Justice40 initiative, which aims to ensure that 40 percent of the overall benefits of certain federal investments flow to disadvantaged communities that are overburdened by pollution.
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