DC Youth and Young Adult Update 8-29-2025

• Registration is Open for NYEC’s Annual Youth Days Event in Washington, D.C., from November 5-7, 2025! NYEC is inviting practitioners, community and organization leaders, and young people to join us to bring a voice for opportunity youth to Congress. Whether you are new to policy and advocacy or a skilled advocate, we will provide the tools and training so you can join us in calling for increased investments and new policies that will benefit young people across the nation. We hope to see you there!  

Legislative Branch:  

Congress is on recess during the month of August, so there will be less Legislative Branch content this month. 

• House Appropriations Committee: Subcommittee Markup of FY26 LHHS Bill Announced: The House Appropriations Committee has announced that the Labor, Health and Human Services (LHHS) Subcommittee will hold its markup of its FY26 appropriations bill on September 2nd, 2025. This step will shape future funding decisions for workforce, education, and health programs in the coming year.  

• Budget Committee: GAO Releases Report on Expired Appropriations: At the request of Chairman Arrington, Majority Leader Scalise, Chairman Comer, and Representative Spartz, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) released a report highlighting federal spending in the 2023 omnibus funding bill. GAO’s analysis of 17 cabinet-level agencies and their authorization status echoes the Congressional Budget Office’s (CBO) report released in July of this year. The report claims nearly 29 percent of the $1.75 trillion in discretionary spending in 2025 is identified as unauthorized. 

Executive Branch: 

• US Department of Labor Promotes AI Literacy Across the American Workforce: The U.S. Department of Labor’s Employment and Training Administration issued guidance to states on how to use Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act grants to bolster artificial intelligence literacy and training across the public workforce system. The guidance, which encourages states and local workforce development boards to use Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act funding to support AI literacy among participants in WIOA Title I Youth, Adult, and Dislocated Worker programs, is the department’s latest effort to carry out President Trump’s Executive Order, “Advancing Artificial Intelligence Education for American Youth.” In addition to this funding pathway, the department encourages states to use their governor’s reserve funds to integrate AI learning opportunities into programming. Read the full Training and Employment Guidance Letter here. 

• First Lady Melania Trump Launches Nationwide Presidential AI Challenge: First Lady Melania Trump announced the Presidential Artificial Intelligence (AI) Challenge, inviting K-12 students and educators across America to participate. Student participants will complete a project that involves the study, development, or use of an AI method or tool to address community challenges, while educators will focus on creative approaches to teaching or using AI technologies in K-12 learning. The challenge guidebook can be found here. 

• SAMHSA Announces $19M in Supplemental Funding to Address the Intersection of Homelessness and Serious Mental Illness: The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) is awarding $19 million in new supplemental funding through the Community Mental Health Services Block Grant for efforts to address the intersection of homelessness and serious mental illness (SMI). 

Federal Funding Opportunities with upcoming deadlines: 

No new federal funding opportunities. 

Previously Shared: 

• USDA Grant: Rural Housing Preservation Grant: The HPG program is a grant program which provides qualified public agencies, private nonprofit organizations, which may include but not be limited to, Faith-Based and Community Organizations, and other eligible entities grant funds to assist very low- and low-income homeowners in repairing and rehabilitating their homes in rural areas. Applications are due September 4, 2025. 

• DOL Grant: Industry-Driven Skills Training Fund Grant Program: Industry-Driven Skills Training Fund grants of up to $8 million will be awarded to State Workforce Agencies to establish and administer training funds that encourage businesses to create and expand innovative training programs. Priority industries for the grants include artificial intelligence infrastructure, advanced manufacturing, nuclear energy, domestic mineral production, and information technology. Additionally, the department intends to award at least $5 million to build a pipeline of skilled American workers in the shipbuilding industry. Applications are due September 5, 2025. 

• HHS Grant: Grants to Support New Investigators in Conducting Research Related to Preventing Interpersonal Violence Impacting Children and Youth: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), National Center for Injury Prevention and Control (NCIPC) Mentored Research Scientist Development Award (K01) helps researchers develop skills in violence prevention research. The goal is to support scientists in becoming independent researchers. Applicants must propose a research project that focuses on at least one of the following NCIPC research priorities related to interpersonal violence and suicide affecting children and youth (birth to age 17). These research priorities include adverse childhood experiences, child abuse and neglect, youth violence, intimate partner violence (including teen dating violence), sexual violence, suicide, and cross-cutting preventions (i.e. examining two or more of these priority topics). Find more information here. Applicants are encouraged to explore multiple forms of interpersonal violence and/or suicide among children or youth, community factors that increase the risk of interpersonal violence and/or suicide, and the practical relevance of the research for prevention and intervention efforts. Applications are due December 1, 2025. 

• HHS Grant: National Center on Head Start Early Learning, Health and Family Engagement: The Administration for Children and Families, Office of Head Start announces the availability of approximately $15,000,000 to be competitively awarded for the purpose of operating the Head Start National Center on Early Learning, Health, and Family Engagement. This NC will provide training and technical assistance that reflects current evidence, is research-informed, and promotes best practices. Applications are due December 15, 2025. 

From the States: 

• Ohio: Incarcerated youth across the state of Ohio are better positioned for successful careers and fulfilling lives because of the unique partnership between the Ohio Department of Commerce and the Ohio Department of Youth Services (DYS). 

• New York Five Mid-Hudson counties have been awarded $11 million for the state’s Youth Employment Program, which aims to help reduce community violence and youth criminal justice involvement by providing year-round employment and training opportunities to at-risk youths most impacted by gun violence. 

Resources 

• 2025 RFP | Student Upward Mobility Initiative: The Student Upward Mobility Initiative 2025 grant program seeks studies that identify and measure the skills and competencies in late high school (grades 11–12) that propel students into economic mobility and the ways in which skill development and access to opportunity in early high school and middle school shape those trajectories.