Apprenticeship Building America (ABA) Grant Program

Overview

<p>This announcement solicits applications for the ABA grant program. The need for a coordinated national investment strategy for Registered Apprenticeship is critical to support the Administration’s goals and priorities, particularly with the groundbreaking passage of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA). The ABA grant program builds on the Department’s previous and ongoing efforts to expand and modernize Registered Apprenticeship through expanding the number of programs and apprentices, diversifying the industries that utilize Registered Apprenticeship, and increasing access to and completion of RAPs for underrepresented populations and underserved communities.</p> <p>This Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) solicits applications for the ABA grant program to support a coordinated, national investment strategy that aims to strengthen and modernize the RAP system centered on equity and promote Registered Apprenticeship as a workforce development solution.</p> <p><strong>Applicants must propose projects that comprise all of the following activities:</strong></p> <ul> <li>Launch and/or Expand RAPs, increase RAP opportunities for youth, and/or pre-apprenticeship programs that lead to RAP enrollment.</li> <li>Industry Engagement and Support: Grantees must engage employers and other industry organizations to demonstrate insights into industry and workforce needs; become partners in design, implementation and investment of resources; and develop longer-term relationships and efforts to support ongoing employer engagement.</li> <li>Promotion and Outreach Activities: Grantees must engage in efforts to promote and conduct outreach to industry partners and stakeholders regarding the value and benefits of Registered Apprenticeship and pre-apprenticeships that lead to RAP enrollment, as appropriate.</li> <li>Partnership Building: Grantees must identify and collaborate with a broad range of partners to promote RAPs and pre-apprenticeship programs. Grantees are expected to actively support the development and introduction of new apprenticeship partners, including employers, industry associations, labor unions, Registered Apprenticeship Intermediaries, and workforce and educational entities. Grantees are expected to directly and indirectly support the expansion of national, regional, and local RAP and/or pre-apprenticeship models.</li> <li>Engaging Underrepresented Populations and Underserved Communities: Grantees must have a wide range of services, policies and procedures that enable them to effectively serve underrepresented populations and underserved communities specifically.</li> <li>Leveraging Resources: Grantees must leverage local, state, federal, and private sector resources to increase the impacts of grant funding. </li> <li>Data-informed Decision Making: Grantees must use labor market information, industry and occupational trends, assessment data, and other information to guide investment, programmatic, and other key decisions regarding grant planning, implementation, and system capacity. All grantees are required to collect data on the required program elements for tracking and reporting performance outcomes of enrolled apprentices.</li> <li>Policy and System Alignment: Grantees must align and connect with policies and initiatives across workforce development, economic development, education, and other systems to improve grant outcomes and create longer-term conditions for success.</li> </ul> <p><strong>Applicants have the opportunity to apply for funding across four grant categories:</strong></p> <p><strong>(1)</strong> State Apprenticeship System Building and Modernization; <br><strong>(2)</strong> Expansion of RAP Opportunities for Youth; <br><strong>(3)</strong> Ensuring Equitable RAP Pathways Through Pre-Apprenticeship Leading to RAP Enrollment and Equity Partnerships; and<br><strong>(4)</strong> Registered Apprenticeship Hubs.</p> <p><strong>Category 1: State Apprenticeship System Building and Modernization:</strong> Grantees will coordinate RAP expansion and system building efforts at a state level across a wide array of industry sectors with employers, labor organizations, educational institutions, industry groups, joint labor-management partnerships, workforce and apprenticeship intermediaries, communitybased organizations, and other non-profit and public sector partners. Grantees will develop strategies to improve coordination efforts around system alignment, data quality and use, program expansion into target industries, and goals and strategies to ensure equity in RAPs, and also facilitate other data sharing, system change, and governance requirements to comply with the law and ensure a strong and modernized Registered Apprenticeship system.</p> <p><strong>Category 2: Expansion of RAP Opportunities for Youth:</strong> Grantees will establish and expand partnerships that commit to expanding RAPs and/or pre-apprenticeship programs that lead to RAP enrollment for youth through coordination with industry, workforce intermediaries, labor organizations, K-12 districts, community colleges, youth-serving and community-based organizations, and other stakeholders.</p> <p><strong>Category 3: Ensuring Equitable RAP Pathways Through Pre-apprenticeship Leading to RAP Enrollment and Equity Partnerships</strong>: Grantees will establish and develop equitycentered public-private partnerships with pre-apprenticeships leading to RAP enrollment that aim to increase diversity and equity in apprenticeship for underrepresented populations and underserved communities.</p> <p><strong>Category 4: Registered Apprenticeship Hubs:</strong> Grantees will establish a Registered Apprenticeship Hub by forming a multi-partner network capable of serving as a RAP sponsor or intermediary with the primary focus of supporting industry’s needs for creating and expanding RAPs in new and emerging sectors and occupations.</p> <p><strong>GEOGRAPHIC SCOPE</strong><br>Applicants must identify the geographic scope of the proposed project. Applicants may choose one of the following geographic scopes: local/regional, statewide, or national scope. The geographic scope is the physical service area in which awarded applicants will serve participants and/or provide services.</p> <p><strong>1.</strong> Local/regional means serving a part of one state or a contiguous area that includes multiple sites that may cross more than one state;<br><strong>2.</strong> Statewide means serving an entire state or multiple non-contiguous sites within one state; and<br><strong>3.</strong> National means serving multiple states in multiple locations across the country. The service area does not need to be contiguous.</p> <p></p>