DC Youth and Young Adult Update 7-25-2025

News at NYEC: 

• 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: 

• Senate HELP Committee to Consider President Trump’s Labor, Health Nominees: On Thursday, July 24, the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee will vote on nominations for the Department of Labor, Department of Health and Human Services, Department of Education, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, and the Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission.  

• Senator Murray Demands All Remaining Education Funds Blocked By Trump Get Released Immediately: U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Vice Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, called on President Trump to release all of the $5.5 billion in federal funding for K-12 schools and adult education programs he continues to block after his administration announced it was releasing one stream of the funding that it has now blocked for three weeks. 

Executive Branch: 

• U.S. Department of Education Announces Immediate Implementation of Higher Education Provisions in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act: The U.S. Department of Education released a ‘Dear Colleague Letter’ (DCL) outlining the immediate implementation of numerous higher education provisions in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBB). Key provisions, such as building the new Repayment Assistance Plan and the new Workforce Pell Grant program, will become effective next year, with other changes phased in over the next few years. The Department will issue further guidance and regulations at a future date. 

• Paul Dabbar Confirmed as Commerce Deputy Secretary: The Senate confirmed Paul Dabbar as the Deputy Secretary of the U.S. Department of Commerce in 56-40 vote. In this role, he will serve as the Department’s Chief Operating Officer (COO), overseeing its day-to-day management, a $11.4 billion annual budget, 12 operating units, and 47,000 employees. 

• EPA Announces Availability of Up to $14 Million in Funding for Brownfields Job Training Program Grants: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced the Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) for the Fiscal Year 2026 Brownfields Job Training Grants Program. The grant application may be found on here and applicants must apply by September 26, 2025. For more information, visit EPA’s Brownfields Job Training Grants website. 

Federal Funding Opportunities with upcoming deadlines: 

• DOJ Grant: Emergency and Transitional Pet Shelter and Housing Assistance for Victims of Domestic Violence: Under this notice of funding opportunity, OVC will provide funding for shelter and transitional housing and other assistance to victims of domestic violence and their companion animals. Applications are due August 15, 2025 

Previously Shared  

• HHS Grant: Relationships, Education, Advancement, and Development for Youth for Life (READY4Life): The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Administration for Children and Families (ACF), Office of Family Assistance (OFA) announces its plan to solicit applications for the competitive award of grants that support healthy marriage and relationship education activities including parenting, and job and career advancement activities as authorized under Section 403(a)(2) of the Social Security Act. The Relationships, Education, Advancement, and Development for Youth for Life (READY4Life) grants will be targeted exclusively to projects designed to provide healthy marriage and relationship education skills, parenting (for young fathers and mothers as applicable), financial management, job and career advancement, and other activities, to youth that are high-school aged (grades 9-12) or in late adolescence and early adulthood (ages 14 to 24), including parenting and/or pregnant youth. Applications are due July 29, 2025. 

• USDA Grant: Rural Community Development Initiative (RCDI): Qualified private, nonprofit and public (including tribal) intermediary organizations proposing to carry out financial and technical assistance programs will be eligible to receive the funding. The RCDI structure requires the intermediary (grantee) to provide a program of financial and technical assistance to recipients to develop their capacity and ability to undertake projects related to housing, community facilities, or community and economic development. Applications are due August 7, 2025.  

• DOL Grant: FY25 Women in Apprenticeship and Nontraditional Occupations (WANTO) Technical Assistance Grant Program: This program aims to provide technical assistance to employers (which may include public sector entities) and labor unions in the United States and its territories to encourage employment of women in both apprenticeable occupations and nontraditional occupations (A/NTO). Applications are due August 8, 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: 

• Michigan: Benton Harbor’s Summer Youth Employment Program is up and running for the season. According to reporting partners at WSJM Radio, the program has run for several years using federal Community Development Block Grant funding to employ about 25 young people. 

• Georgia: A pilot program co-led by Operation HOPE and Georgia State University is working to build technical, entrepreneurial, and financial-literacy skills in Atlanta-area youth to help them thrive in the AI-powered workforce. 

• Pennsylvania: Rep. Dan Moul (R-91) recently introduced House Bill 1726 in the state House of Representatives to remove the work permit requirements from the state’s Child Labor Act. 

Resources: 

• I Am Here: Vital Document Legal Hotline for Youth: The I Am Here: Vital Document Legal Hotline for Youth is a free, dedicated legal assistance hotline for youth experiencing homelessness to help obtain essential identification and vital documents. The hotline is staffed by pro bono attorneys from Baker McKenzie and other leading corporations — real legal experts ready to provide free, state-specific guidance on getting ID’s, Birth Certificates, Social Security Cards, and other documents needed to obtain ID. 

• SchoolHouse Connection Webinar: FAFSA and Homeless Youth: Identifying students as homeless on the FAFSA can be complex. To qualify, students must be unaccompanied (not living with their parents or legal guardian) and experiencing homelessness, or unaccompanied and at risk of homelessness and self-supporting. This webinar will walk participants through real-world scenarios to help professionals assess whether students meet this criteria. 

• Summer Jobs Connect: The Cities for Financial Empowerment (CFE) Fund is excited to announce that they are now accepting applications for Summer Jobs Connect Academy, the entry point for the Summer Jobs Connect initiative. SJC Academy participants will receive robust technical assistance to learn how to integrate banking access into their programs, build partnerships with financial institutions, deliver financial education, and leverage data to improve program performance. Academy participants will join the national Summer Jobs Connect learning community. They also will receive support to attend an in-person SJC Academy convening, access to our robust resource library, and more. We are also excited to expand eligibility for SJC: historically, SJC has only been available to summer youth employment programs. However, any youth program that provides a paid work opportunity to youth ages 14-24 and has a government connection can now apply to SJC Academy.  The CFE Fund will hold an informational webinar about the SJC Academy opportunity on August 6th at 3:00 pm ET. Applications are due by August 29th at 11:59pm ET and must be submitted through the CFE Fund’s online portal.