DC Youth and Young Adult Update 10-25-2024

By NYEC | October 25, 2024

 

 

News at NYEC: 

  • 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. 
  • WIOA Programs can Help Participants Register to Vote: As we approach the 2024 election, NYEC wants to remind its members that the Department of Labor (DOL) issued guidance in 2022 sharing that programs receiving WIOA funds may engage in voter registration activities. Specifically, DOL stated that the following partners of American Job Centers may engage in such activities: WIOA Title I Youth, YouthBuild, Indian and Native American, National Farmworker, and Reentry Employment Opportunities programs and Job Corps operators.  
  • Sign on to a Support Letter for WIOA Reauthorization: The letter, which can be found here, calls for broad themes that NYEC would like to see incorporated in a final WIOA reauthorization bill, including increasing data collection on opportunity youth, investing in high-quality training programs, mandating the use of self-attestation, and expand youth apprenticeships. The letter will be sent to the leaders of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee and the House Education and Workforce Committee. You can sign on to the letter here. The deadline to sign the letter is October 25.  

Legislative Branch: 

 

Executive Branch: 

  • Tribal Consultation on Opportunities and Access to Registered Apprenticeship and for Competitive Grants: The meeting will be held on November 18 from 2-4 pm EST. Participants will discuss opportunities and access to registered apprenticeship programs for federally recognized American Indian and Alaska Native Tribal Nations (Tribal Nations) and ETA grants to Tribal Nations and Tribal organizations, and provide feedback on proposed guidance that will provide guidance for Tribal Nations seeking to register apprenticeship programs with the Office of Apprenticeship or a federally recognized State Apprenticeship Agency. 

 

Federal Funding Opportunities: 

  • Promoting Resilient Operations for Transformative, Efficient, and Cost-Saving Transportation (PROTECT) Program: The purpose of the PROTECT Program is to provide grants on a competitive basis for projects that seek to strengthen surface transportation to be more resilient to natural hazards, including climate change, sea level rise, heat waves, flooding, extreme weather events, and other natural disasters through support of planning activities, resilience improvements, community resilience and evacuation routes, and at-risk costal infrastructure. Applications are due February 24, 2025.  

 

Previously Shared 

  • SBA Grant: Microloan Program – National Training Conference: Grants are intended to be awarded to experienced microlending organizations and national and regional nonprofit organizations that have demonstrated experience in providing training support for microenterprise development to assist SBA in conducting a national training conference for Intermediaries participating in the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) Microloan Program to ensure that such Intermediaries have the knowledge, skills, and understanding of microlending practice necessary to operate successful SBA microloan programs. Applications are due November 8, 2024.   
  • National Rural Transit Assistance Program: The Federal Transit Administration (FTA) announces the opportunity to apply for $3,250,723 in Fiscal Year (FY) 2024 Rural Transportation Assistance Program funds through a competitive cooperative agreement award. FTA is soliciting proposals under the agency’s Formula Grants for Rural Areas Program to select an entity to administer a National Rural Transit Assistance Program (RTAP). The National RTAP will carry out activities to design and implement training and technical assistance projects and other support services tailored to meet the specific needs of transit operators in rural areas, including tribal transit services. Applications due November 12, 2024. 
  • High School Equivalency Program: The HEP is designed to assist migratory or seasonal farmworkers (or immediate family members of such workers) to obtain the equivalent of a secondary school diploma and subsequently to gain improved employment, enter military service, or be placed in an institution of higher education (IHE) or other postsecondary education or training. Applications will be available on September 3, 2024 and will close November 15, 2024. 
  • DOL Grant: Workforce Pathways for Youth – Rounds 4 and 5: The applicant must be a national OST non-profit (501(c)(3)) organization, that proposes to serve youth that have been historically underserved and marginalized.  For purposes of this funding announcement, a national organization is defined as an organization that has affiliates operating in at least three states. Applications are due December 3rd, 2024. 
  • Fiscal Year (FY) 2024 AmeriCorps State and National Competitive Grants: AmeriCorps grants are awarded to eligible organizations that engage AmeriCorps members in evidence-based or evidence-informed interventions to strengthen communities. AmeriCorps members may receive a living allowance and other benefits. After successful completion of their service, members earn a Segal AmeriCorps Education Award they can use to pay for higher education expenses or apply to qualified student loans. Applications are due by January 23, 2025. 
  • Rural Economic Development Loan and Grant: The Rural Economic Development Loan and Grant programs provide funding for rural projects through local utility organizations. USDA provides zero-interest loans to local utilities which they in turn, pass through to local businesses (ultimate recipients) for projects that will create and retain employment in rural areas. Applications are due June 30, 2025. 

From The States: 

  • Alabama: Despite a significant increase in the number of licensed childcare slots in Alabama, a shortage of available care persists. The Alabama Department of Human Resources (DHR) announced a 17.34% rise in available childcare slots across the state over the past year. However, a recent DHR survey revealed 22,000 vacancies in licensed childcare centers in October 2024, up from 18,653 in October 2023. This discrepancy suggests a potential mismatch between the growing supply of childcare slots and the current demand for those services. Factors such as ongoing staffing challenges within childcare centers and the evolving needs of families may be contributing to this gap. 
  • West Virginia: A significant number of people held in West Virginia jails are eligible to vote in the upcoming election but may not be aware of their rights or how to exercise them. Half of the individuals in the state’s jails are awaiting trial and have not been convicted of any crime, preserving their right to vote. Additionally, West Virginia law allows people incarcerated for misdemeanor offenses to cast ballots. However, these eligible voters face obstacles. To participate in the election, they must obtain an absentee ballot through jail officials by October 30th. Eli Baumwell, Director of the American Civil Liberties Union of West Virginia, highlights a critical issue: many incarcerated individuals are simply unaware of their voting rights and the process for casting a ballot from jail. This situation raises concerns about disenfranchisement and whether these eligible voters are being provided with the necessary information and access to participate in the democratic process. 

For The Youth: 

  • High School Tech Internship (Ohio Students Only): High school students in 17 Ohio counties will have access to new tech internship opportunities thanks to a program led by Youth Opportunities Unlimited. The initiative, supported by the State of Ohio, will provide valuable work experience to students across Northeast Ohio. 

Resources:  

  • Want More Voters? Start in High School: In a new op-ed by the New Voters Collaborative, they highlight that Young Black and Hispanic Americans are turning away from voting and civic engagement, a troubling trend that threatens the health of our democracy. As one young person put it, “I’m disappointed in democracy. Youth voices are overlooked.” This disengagement not only jeopardizes elections but fuels a growing crisis of trust in government. We must act now to re-engage younger generations and rebuild faith in our democratic systems. 
  • Degree-Seeking Educators Find New Path with Reach University: Reach University provides a unique pathway for school staff to advance their careers and become full-time teachers. Through a job-embedded apprenticeship program, classified employees like bus drivers and teaching aides can earn a degree while gaining on-the-job training, all within the school where they already work. 
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