Department of Labor Grant Opportunities

Career Pathways Innovation Fund Grant Program

The U.S. Department of Labor has a solicitation for grant applications for the national Career Pathways Innovation Fund Grant Program.  Over the next year, the department will award approximately $122 million through this program, including $65 million for health care-focused projects, and intends to fund 40 to 50 grants ranging from $1 million to $5 million each.  These grants – which are replacing the former Community-Based Job Training grants – will focus on career pathway programs that help individuals of varying skill levels enter and pursue rewarding careers in emerging industries and in-demand occupations.

Programs funded through these grants will have multiple entry and exit points, and many will include links to services such as basic adult education and English for speakers of other languages classes that make them accessible to individuals who are not yet prepared to enroll in college courses. The grants, which will be made to community colleges and other organizations, support President Obama’s broader agenda of helping every American gain at least one year of postsecondary education, and will help reach his goal of America having the highest proportion of college graduates in the world by 2020.

The Career Pathways Innovation Fund grants will emphasize career pathway programs implemented by community colleges in partnership with employers, local workforce investment boards, and community and faith-based organizations.  In order to further the goals of career training and education, and encourage innovation in the development of new learning materials leading to industry-recognized credentials, grantees will be required to license to the public (not including the federal government) all work created with the support of their grants.


Serving Juvenile Offenders in High-Poverty, High-Crime Communities

The U.S. Department of Labor announced the availability of approximately $17 million in funds for two grants to support the employment prospects of young offenders, ages 16 to 24, in high-poverty, high-crime communities.

The grants will be awarded through a competitive process open to national and regional intermediaries with experience in conducting multi-site projects and serving young adult offenders. The Labor Department expects to award two grants of $8.5 million each. Grantees will be required to competitively select local sub-grantees to operate the programs in a minimum of five high-poverty, high-crime communities across at least two states.

Each year, juvenile courts in the United States handle approximately 1.6 million delinquency cases, and an estimated 144,000 youth are placed in juvenile correctional facilities, according to the U.S. Department of Justice. Young people placed in these facilities face severe educational and labor market barriers.
 
To view these full solicitations online, visit http://www.doleta.gov/grants/find_grants.cfm <http://www.doleta.gov/grants/find_grants.cfm> or http://www.grants.gov <http://www.grants.gov>.

For information on the range of Department of Labor employment and training programs, visit http://www.doleta.gov <http://www.doleta.gov> .