Joplin organization gets $1.2m grant to prepare workforce
WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor today announced its award of $99.3 million in grants to 71 organizations in 31 states to provide training and employment services in its continuing effort to expand access to Registered Apprenticeships, prepare young workers for quality jobs and equip them with industry skills.
These YouthBuild Program grants will support pre-apprenticeships to educate and train young people from 16 to 24 and neither enrolled in school or now in the labor market for construction jobs and employment in other high-demand industries. YouthBuild grants will help deliver education and training to enable participants to build or rehabilitate affordable housing in their communities for people in need.
Today’s awards follow the department’s July 18, 2024, funding availability announcement.
| Workforce Investment Board of the Southwest Region Inc. | Joplin | MO | $1,217,063 |
“YouthBuild grants are investments in young people who want to pursue education and receive hands-on training, while providing service to neighbors in need,” explained Assistant Secretary for Employment and Training José Javier Rodríguez. “The awards we announced today will help ensure that young people, regardless of their background, benefit from the opportunities created by the Biden-Harris administration.”
The department made proposals that align training with local infrastructure projects funded by the Biden-Harris administration’s Investing in America agenda a priority.
Overseen by the department’s Employment and Training Administration, and supported by the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act, YouthBuild grants promote a pre-apprenticeship model that provides disadvantaged young people with educational guidance, occupational skills training and significant supportive services through participation and in the 12-month follow-up period. The supportive services may include transportation assistance, childcare, healthcare referrals and the provision of work attire and personal protective equipment.
YouthBuild participants will divide their time between classroom instruction – where they earn a high school diploma or equivalency degree – and workplace training to prepare for careers in healthcare, information technology, manufacturing and logistics, culinary arts and hospitality.