DC Youth and Young Adult Update 12-06-2024

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.  

• Senate HELP and House Education and Workforce Committee Staff Have Reached a WIOA Reauthorization Agreement: As we have shared in the past few weeks, Senate and House Authorizing staff have reached a bipartisan agreement for a WIOA reauthorization bill. Presently, Congress is set to adjourn on December 20, meaning that there is a tight window for the bill to be passed. Staff have expressed a desire to pass the bill as a standalone, but are also exploring attaching the bill to a large vehicle – such as a potential continuing resolution bill that would maintain government funding until the early part of next year. NYEC has convened our Policy Committee to discuss the potential benefits and drawbacks of the legislation being enacted. If you have thoughts or concerns about the agreement, please feel free to contact [email protected].  

• Fill out a 6-month Federal Advocacy Calendar!: Interested in being 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: 

• Congresswoman Mikie Sherill (D-NJ) Introduces Bill to Expand Workforce Innovation Grants: While the full bill text is not uploaded to Congress.gov, the bill seems to authorize workforce development innovation grants for the implementation, expansion, and evaluation of evidence-based workforce programs.  

Executive Branch: 

• Children and Families Administration Final Rule: Adoption and Foster Care Analysis and Reporting System: This rule finalizes revisions to the Adoption and Foster Care Analysis and Reporting System (AFCARS) regulations proposed on February 23, 2024. This final rule requires state title IV-E agencies to collect and report to ACF additional data related to the Indian Child Welfare Act of 1978 (ICWA) for children in the AFCARS Out-of-Home Care Reporting Population.  

Federal Funding Opportunities: 

• DOL Grant: Work Opportunity Tax Credit (WOTC) Initial Funding Allotments for Fiscal Year 2025: The Work Opportunity Tax Credit (WOTC) is a federal tax credit available to employers for hiring and employing individuals from certain targeted groups who have faced significant barriers to employment. State workforce development agencies are the only eligible entity. Questions regarding this funding opportunity may be emailed to Rahel Bizuayene ([email protected]). Applications are due on January 6, 2025.  

 Previously Shared 

• DOS Grant: Youth Coalitions for Drug Demand Reduction: Applicants will use funds to carry out a project to improve youth engagement in drug demand reduction interventions, expanding access to community mental health services, and supporting drug prevention through school-based in underserved communities. The project should plan for implementation in at least 10 communities, including at least three communities each in Peru’s coast, Andean, and Amazonian regions. Applications are due January 10, 2025. 

• 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. 

• FY 2025 National Infrastructure Investments: The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act of 2021 authorized and appropriated $1.5 billion to be awarded by the Department of Transportation for Local and Regional Project Assistance Program Grants under National Infrastructure Investments. This notice of funding opportunity solicits applications for projects funded under the Local and Regional Project Assistance Program, known as the RAISE Grants program. Applications are due January 30, 2025. 

• Office of Postsecondary Education (OPE): Student Support Service: Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs (GEAR UP) Partnership Grants: The GEAR UP program is a discretionary grant program that encourages eligible entities to provide support, and maintain a commitment, to eligible students from low-income backgrounds, including students with disabilities, to assist the students in obtaining a secondary school diploma (or its recognized equivalent) and to prepare for and succeed in postsecondary education. Under the GEAR UP program, the Department awards grants to two types of entities: (1) States and (2) Partnerships consisting of at least one degree-granting institution of higher education (IHE) and at least one local educational agency (LEA). Applications are due on February 3, 2025. 

• IMLS Grant: Native American Library Services Basic Grant: The Native American Basic Grants (NAB) program assists Native American Tribes in establishing, sustaining, and improving library services and operations with their communities. As information needs change, Tribal libraries must be able to serve as knowledge and resource centers to benefit their users and the wellness of their communities. The NAB program supports Tribes across the country to address their individual information needs and priorities. Applications are due February 4, 2025. 

• 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. 

• 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: 

• Colorado: Colorado’s general assembly passed State Bill 24-104, which now requires that the Colorado Department of Labor and the Colorado Community College System align high school career and technical education programs and the registered apprenticeship system for certain industries.  

• Georgia: Georgia’s general assembly passed of State Bill 497, has the High Demand Apprenticeship Program. This program partnered with the Technical College System of Georgia to establish the Public Service Apprenticeship Program, which grants 10 students $5000 a year to use towards a registered apprenticeship program. 

For The Youth: 

• Intern At the Super Bowl:  

Unpaid Internship Opportunity with Lee Johnson Global PR 

• Internship Period: December 2024 – February 2025 

• Opportunity for Employment: Strong performers may be offered full-time positions starting March 2025. 

• Super Bowl Experience: Includes round-trip travel and accommodations to New Orleans during Super Bowl week (February 3-10, 2025). 

• Who should apply: 

• Individuals residing within 150 miles of a Lee Johnson Global PR Market: Denver, Las Vegas, Minneapolis, New Orleans, or Tampa. 

• HBCU students outside these markets are also encouraged to apply. 

• Candidates must be available to travel to New Orleans from February 3-7, 2025. 

Resources:  

• Planning Together: A Playbook for Student Personal Device Policies: This playbook, from the Office of Educational Technology, offers a practical guide for school districts and school leaders looking to create or update their policies on personal devices in schools. 

• FAFSA Goes Live: Good news for students planning to attend college or career school in the 2025-26 academic year! The Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA®) is now open. Visit FAFSA.gov to complete the form and apply for grants, work-study, and loans.