DEPARTMENT OF LABOR GRANT ANNOUNCEMENT

Unemployment is one of the largest issues impacting the nation and everyday more and more people are losing jobs. Communities of color are feeling the effects of the job crisis the most. To tackle this issue, the Department of Labor has announced three new grant opportunities totaling $193.2 million. These grants are available for community-based job training ($125 million), trade adjustment assistance ($1.2 million) and Indian and Native American Employment and Training programs ($67 million).

To help you make an IMPACT in your community through these grant programs, below is a summary of each grant including its purpose, key dates and eligibility rules:

Community-Based Job Training Grants

Size of Awards: Awards will range from $1 million to $3 million. The exception is that applicants that include three or more community, technical, or tribal colleges will be considered “consortium applications,” and may request an award ranging from $1 million to $5 million. 

Deadline for Application: April 30th, 2010

In order to be eligible for consideration under this solicitation, the applicant must be either:
An individual Community or Technical College, such as a public community college, a nonprofit community college, a tribally controlled college, or a tribally controlled university;
A Community College District;
A State Community College System;
a One-Stop Career Center in partnership with its Local Workforce Investment Board, that specifies one or more community or technical colleges where education/training activities will occur; or 

An applicant proposing to serve an educationally underserved community without access to community or technical colleges
Projects must focus on providing services to workers in one or more of the following three categories: unemployed workers, dislocated workers, and incumbent workers. Within these categories, grantees may serve a wide range of individuals, such as individuals receiving public assistance, high school dropouts, individuals with disabilities, veterans, and other disadvantaged groups. 
Applicants are required to partner with Local Workforce Investment Boards and their One Stop systems, Employers and/or Labor-management Organizations, and Labor Organizations. ETA strongly encourages applicants to include other partners to further assist the project.

Trade Adjustment Assistance Grants

Size of Awards: ETA has approximately $1.2 million available under this competition and expects to fund approximately one to four grants. Individual grant amounts will not exceed $1.2 million. Any grant application with a proposed value greater than $1.2 million will be deemed non-responsive and will not be considered.
Deadline for Application: April 15th, 2010

SGA Details: Proposed projects must be developed and implemented through strategic partnerships. Eligibility is restricted to the following types of entities under this solicitation: National Employer Associations; National Labor Union Organizations; Other Labor Union Affiliates; Non-profit Organizations and National Associations with connections to the TAA program or trade-affected workers. 
Grantees will develop and propose outcomes and measures by which to determine the success of the grantee’s efforts and report on any “best practices” developed or lessons learned as a result of the grant project. Best practices must be replicable and serve as a model for the TAA program and similar programs for dislocated workers such as WIA. 

Indian and Native American Employment and Training Program Grants

Awards under the Comprehensive Service Program are anticipated to range from approximately $16,000 to $5.8 million each. Awards under the Supplemental Services Program are anticipated to range from approximately $1,073 to $3.1 million. The period of grant performance for these awards will be two years.

Deadline for Application: Monday, April 12 at 4:00 p.m. EST
SGA Details: The adult program will provide quality employment and training services that prepare Native Americans to gain employment in today’s competitive workforce. . The youth program will offer summer and year-round employment and training activities for American Indian, Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian youth between the ages of 14 and 21. Program resources are targeted to at-risk individuals who face substantial barriers to educational and employment success.

Will be awarded to Indian tribes, tribal organizations, Alaska Native entities, Indian-controlled organizations serving Indians, or Native Hawaiian organizations. ETA strongly encourages eligible applicants to include other partners to further assist the project such as Local Workforce Investment Boards and their One Stop systems, the education and training community and nonprofit organizations.

The Solicitation for Grant Application (SGA) for each grant is published in the Federal Register and you will find links to each SGA here:http://www.doleta.gov/grants/find_grants.cfm . Please note that an optional pre-recorded Webinar on the CBJT grant only will be on-line (http://www.workforce3one.org) and accessible for viewing on April 6, 2010, and will be available for viewing anytime after that date.

The Department of Labor provides a wealth of resources to assist you in your application process which can be accessed at at http://www.workforce3one.org/page/grants_toolkit. Please feel free to pass this information along to someone and make an IMPACT in your community!