DC Youth and Young Adult Update 02-28-2025

By NYEC | February 28, 2025

 

 

News at NYEC:  

  • NYEC is Testifying Before Congress! NYEC has been invited to testify before the House Education and Workforce Committee at the upcoming hearing, “Strengthening WIOA: Improving Outcomes for America’s Workforce.” This is a tremendous opportunity to advocate for the needs of opportunity youth at the federal level. Our Board Chair, Robert Sainz, will provide an expert testimony on how NYEC and partner organizations are working hard to get WIOA reauthorized. We invite you to watch the full committee hearing here! 
  • Join the National Youth Employment Coalition’s 2025 Annual Forum- Empowering Youth, Transforming Communities, in Minneapolis, MN, from May 12-14, 2025! This event will gather practitioners, youth advocates, and community leaders to explore key topics like youth leadership, holistic supports, living wage employment, and policy & advocacy.  
  • Fill out a 6-month Federal Advocacy Calendar! Interested in becoming more engaged in federal advocacy? The hyperlinked title will direct you to a JotForm that lists concrete steps that you can take in the first 6 months of the year to build a relationship with your Members of Congress! NYEC will make it easy to complete each goal of every month by sharing support, reminders, and more!  

Legislative Branch:  

  • 119th Congressional Committee Updates: 
  • Rep. Smucker Introduces H.R.1633: U.S. Representative Lloyd Smucker (PA-11) introduced H.R.1633, which aims to amend the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act to codify a grant program to promote and assist in the reentry of ex-offenders into the workforce.  
  • Rep. Stevens Introduces H.R.1635: U.S. Representative Haley Stevens (MI-11) introduced H.R.1635, which aims to amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to increase the period of eligibility for Federal Pell Grants, and for other purposes.  

 

Executive Branch:  

Federal Funding Opportunities with upcoming deadlines: 

No new federal funding opportunities 

Previously Shared  

  • DOJ Grant: OJJDP FY25 Juvenile Justice System Reform and Reinvestment Initiative: This funding opportunity seeks to support states’ implementation of innovative and/or research-based, data-informed policies to improve juvenile justice system outcomes and sustainable strategies for reinvesting resulting costs saved or averted into effective juvenile justice prevention and intervention programs. Applications due March 3, 2025. 
  • DOJ Grant: OJJDP FY25 National Mentoring Resource Center: This funding opportunity seeks to build on OJJDP’s history and leadership in mentoring by providing the mentoring field and practitioners with comprehensive resources and training materials on the OJJDP National Mentoring Resource Center website. Applications due March 3, 2025. 
  • DOJ Grant: OJJDP FY25 National Mentoring Programs: This funding opportunity seeks to enhance and expand mentoring services for youth who are at risk or high risk for juvenile delinquency, victimization, and juvenile justice system involvement. Applications due March 5, 2025. 
  • DOJ Grant: OJJDP FY25 Strategies To Support Children Exposed to Violence: This funding opportunity seeks to provide funding to communities to develop coordinated and comprehensive community-based approaches to help children and their families who are exposed to violence (CEV) build resilience, restore their safety, heal their social and emotional wounds, and prevent future violence and delinquency. Applications are due March 10, 2025.  
  • DOJ Grant: OJJDP FY25 Regional Children’s Advocacy Centers Program: This program furthers DOJ’s mission by supporting and strengthening four regional children’s advocacy centers (CACs) that will deliver coordinated training and technical assistance within and across the regions to CACs, members of multidisciplinary teams, programs, and organizations to improve the investigation and prosecution of child abuse and neglect and the provision of children’s advocacy center services to child victims and their families. Applications are due March 12, 2025. 
  • HHS Grant: Statewide Family Network: The purpose of this program is to provide resources to enhance the capacity of statewide mental health family-controlled organizations to support, train, and mentor family members/primary caregivers who are raising children, youth, and young adults with serious emotional disturbance (SED) and/or co-occurring disorders (COD). Applications due March 17, 2025. 
  • FY25 U.S. Department of Justice Coordinated Tribal Assistance Solicitation: This Coordinated Tribal Assistance Solicitation (CTAS) funding opportunity seeks to provide funding to improve public safety and victim services in tribal communities. CTAS provides federally recognized tribes and tribal consortia an opportunity to apply for funding to aid in developing a comprehensive and coordinated approach to public safety. Applications are due March 18, 2025.  
  • USDA Grant: Youth Farm Safety Education and Certification: Youth Farm Safety Education and Certification (YFSEC) Program for Fiscal Year 2025 supports national efforts to deliver timely, pertinent, and appropriate farm safety education to youth seeking employment or already employed in agricultural production. Applications are due March 20, 2025. 
  • DOJ Grant: Building a Community of Practice for Women in Strategic Trade: This grant exists to create a professional network and community of practice to advance women working in strategic trade through sustained mentorship. Experienced international strategic trade experts and practitioners will guide early- or mid-career women in the strategic trade field through a sustained six-month mentorship. Applications are due March 25, 2025. 
  • DOJ Grant: BJA FY25 STOP School Violence Program: This funding opportunity aims to support school safety by implementing solutions to enhance school climate, establish school-based behavioral threat assessment and intervention teams to identify violence risks, introduce technologies like anonymous reporting tools, and apply other evidence-based strategies to prevent violence. Applications are due March 27, 2025. 
  • DOJ Grant: BJA FY25 Justice and Mental Health Collaboration Program: This funding opportunity seeks to fund programs that support collaborations to improve public safety responses and outcomes for people with mental health disorders (MHDs) or co-occurring mental health and substance use disorders (MHSUDs). The goal is to improve safety and well-being for adults with MHDs (including people with traumatic brain injury (TBI) and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)) or MHSUDs who come into contact with the criminal justice system. Applications are due April 3, 2025. 
  • DOJ Grant: OVW Fiscal Year 2025 Grants to Indian Tribal Governments Program: The Grants to Indian Tribal Governments Program, referred to as the Tribal Governments Program, assists Tribal governments (or their authorized designees) to respond to domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, sex trafficking, and stalking in Tribal communities. Applications are due April 8, 2025.  
  • DOJ Grant: NIJ FY25 Graduate Research Fellowship: This funding opportunity seeks to support doctoral students whose dissertation research is relevant to preventing and controlling crime, advancing knowledge of victimization and effective victim services, or ensuring the fair and impartial administration of criminal or juvenile justice in the United States. Applications are due April 15, 2025.  
  • USDA Grant: Community Connect Grant Program: The Community Connect Grant Program provides financial assistance to eligible applicants that will provide service at or above the Broadband Grant Speed (100 Mbps down and 20 Mbps up) to all premises in rural, economically-challenged communities where broadband service (10 Mbps down and 1 Mbps up) does not exist. Applications due April 21, 2025. 

 

From The States: 

  • Maine: Maine’s defense industry is actively recruiting younger workers to combat a labor shortage caused by widespread retirements. Bath Iron Works has already begun this process, with a recent independent report showing a significant increase in younger employees. In 2023, 53% of their workforce had five years or less of experience, compared to just 17% in 2010. 
  • Iowa: Childcare workers at Little Clippers Child Development Center in Tiffin, Iowa, are often forced to work second jobs to compensate for low industry wages. Iowa’s childcare sector has long struggled with stagnant pay, stressful working conditions, and high turnover. While Johnson County initiatives, such as a $2 per hour wage enhancement, have provided some relief and improved hiring and retention at Little Clippers, Director Amanda Rairden believes recent state legislation may offer a more comprehensive solution. 

For The Youth: 

  • 8 Volunteer Opportunities (from Do Something): Gen Z’s creativity, social consciousness, and global awareness make them ideal volunteers for addressing the world’s challenges. Whether you are looking to make a difference, contribute to something larger than yourself, or fulfill volunteer hour requirements, this is a suitable place to start. The following organizations offer teen volunteer opportunities that harness young people’s potential for change (much like DoSomething!). And if you cannot volunteer in person, plenty of online opportunities are also available.
  • Career Advice for Young People: Your early career is critical for building the habits and skills that will fuel your long-term success. Focusing on both personal and professional growth, and seeking mentorship, will empower you to make informed choices that shape your future. Indeed is here to support you on that journey. 

Resources:  

  • Mentorship As a Pathway to Opportunity: On a recent CaseyCast episode, Annie E. Casey Foundation President and CEO, Lisa Lawson (formerly Hamilton), interviewed Artis Stevens, President and CEO of Big Brothers Big Sisters of America (BBBSA). Stevens, a 25-year veteran of youth development, shared his personal story, discussed the challenges facing young people today, and explained how BBBSA is using mentorship to create opportunities. 
  • How To Respond to Justice-Impacted Youth: How can communities be made safer, and how can young people—especially those who have made mistakes and broken the law—be helped to thrive? To explore this, Steve Bishop, the Annie E. Casey Foundation’s associate director for Probation and System Transformation, hosted an Instagram Live discussion with Elijah Norris-Holiday, founder and executive director of Project Restore MN. 
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