The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) provided $750 million to the Department of Labor (DOL) for a program of competitive grants for worker training and placement in high growth and emerging industries. Of the $750 million allotted for competitive grants, the Recovery Act provided up to $250 million for high growth industries with a priority on projects that prepare workers for careers in the health care sector.
Today, the Department of Labor.s Employment and Training Administration (ETA) published a Notice of Availability of Funds (NOFA) and Solicitation for Grant Applications for Health Care and Other High Growth and Emerging Industries for this $250 million in available funding.
To access a copy of the DOL grant funding synopsis and links to the announcement and application, click here: http://www07.grants.gov/search/search.do?oppId=48679&mode=VIEW.
ETA is particularly interested in receiving applications that focus on one or more of the following health care sub-sectors and occupational categories:
- Nursing: Projects that provide training and support career progression in nursing, as well as short-term skills certification or credentialing that enables incumbent workers to advance along a career ladder/lattice in health care.
- Allied Health: Investments that support recruitment, retention, and career pathways in related allied health occupations.
- Long-Term Care: Projects that provide training and educational pathways to careers in long-term care occupations.
- Health Information Technology: Projects that design state of the art training and support progression in the health information workforce for individuals who want to specialize in the management of health information, as well as incumbent workers who must use new information technology to perform the duties of their jobs.
Other High Growth and Emerging Industries: ETA is soliciting grant applications that address current and forecasted workforce shortages and provide workers with career opportunities in high growth, high demand sectors of the economy. Examples include information technology, advanced manufacturing, wireless and broadband deployment, transportation and warehousing and biotechnology. The Solicitation directs applicants to define local high growth or emerging industries in the context of their state or regional economy.
Eligible Applicants: Public entities or nonprofit entities are eligible applicants. These may include local Workforce Investment Boards and One-Stop Systems, Tribal organizations, education and training providers, labor organizations, and faith-based and community organizations. Applicants must demonstrate that the proposed project will be implemented by a strong strategic partnership. This partnership must include at least one entity from the following: public workforce investment system, public and private employers and industry related organizations (such as Federally Qualified Health Centers and other health care employers), and the education and training community. Applicants are encouraged to include other partners such as non-profit organizations, labor organizations, organizations implementing projects funded by the Recovery Act that will create or support jobs in the health care or high growth and emerging industries, national, state and local foundations, and state and local social service agencies.
Eligible Activities: Eligible activities include training, education, and job placement assistance to prepare workers to enter the health care sector and other high growth and emerging industries. All projects must lead to employment for participants and must incorporate training activities that address skills and competencies demanded by target industries, support participants advancement along a defined career pathway, result in an employer or industry recognized certificate or degree, take place at times and locations convenient for the targeted populations, integrate occupational training with basic skills training, and integrate training activities with supportive services to help target populations overcome barriers to participation in training and employment. Allowable activities are described in the Solicitation and include items such as on the job training, internship programs, basic skills training, and classroom occupational training.
Target Populations: Individuals eligible to receive training include unemployed workers, dislocated workers, and incumbent workers including low-wage workers. Within these categories, grantees may serve a wide range of individuals, such as those on public assistance, high school drop-outs, individuals with disabilities, veterans, Indians and Native Americans and individuals with Limited English Proficiency.
Grant Amounts: ETA intends to fund 45 . 65 grants ranging from approximately $2 million to $5 million each.
Deadline: The closing date for receipt of applications under this announcement is October 5, 2009. Applications must be received no later than 4 p.m. (Eastern Time).
Auto Communities: Approximately $25 million of the total funds available through this Solicitation will be awarded for projects serving communities impacted by automotive-related restructuring.
Working with Other Recovery Act Programs: DOL is partnering with other federal agencies to support the creation of jobs by developing a pipeline of skilled workers in the health care industry and other high growth and emerging industries. Where possible, ETA encourages applicants to connect their workforce development strategies to other Recovery Act funded projects that create jobs or impact the skill requirements of existing jobs. ETA recommends that applicants review other parts of the Recovery Act, such as those sections that include activities related to health care through the Departments of Education and HHS, Health Resources and Services Administration. For other high growth and emerging industries, applicants are suggested to review other Recovery Act programs from the Department of Energy, the Department of Transportation and others.
Please do not hesitate to contact us if you have any questions.