The Employment and Training Administration (ETA), U.S. Department of Labor (DOL), announces the availability of approximately $34,200,000 in grant funds authorized by the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) for the fourth round of Workforce Opportunity for Rural Communities (WORC) Initiative demonstration grants.
Donor Name: Employment and Training Administration
States: Selected States
County: All Counties
Type of Grant: Grant
Deadline (mm/dd/yyyy): 07/08/2022
Size of the Grant: $150,000 – $1,500,000
Grant Duration: 3 years
Details:
The purpose of this grant opportunity is to create economic mobility, address historic inequities for marginalized communities of color and other underserved and underrepresented communities, and produce high-quality employment for workers who reside in the Appalachian and Delta regions, enabling them to remain and thrive in these communities. The WORC Initiative provides funding to eligible applicants proposing to meet this goal with a project addressing the employment and training needs of the local and regional workforce, created in collaboration with community partners and aligned with existing economic and workforce development plans and strategies.
Successful applicants will further propose strategies to achieve economic opportunity and address historical inequities affecting marginalized individuals and communities, especially in Energy Communities (as defined in Section IV.B.3(a)). Such strategies should include the following:
- comprehensively and intentionally address and promote racial equity through recruitment strategies, service design, implementation, and support services that aim to provide equitable access and outcomes to communities of color, immigrants, and other marginalized groups; including partnerships with a range of organizations that support the applicant’s ability to reach out to and deliver equitable services to marginalized groups; or improve data collection and analysis that allows the applicant to disaggregate program outcomes by race, ethnicity, gender, disability, and income in order to improve performance outcomes for marginalized groups;
- endeavor to ensure that grant participants achieve high-quality employment outcomes;
- develop and maintain meaningful partnerships with community residents, stakeholders, and experts in designing, implementing, and evaluating the proposed project;
- support eligible individuals impacted by substance use disorder; or
- address the transformation in energy production by including in the service area Energy Communities that currently or historically have had a high concentration of employment in energy extraction and related industries.
Funding Information
- You may apply for a minimum award of $150,000 and a ceiling amount of up to $1,500,000.
Grant Period
- The period of performance is 36 months with an anticipated start date of 09/15/2022.
- The period of performance end date is the quarter ending 9/30/2025.
Eligibility Criteria
The following organizations are eligible to apply:
- State governments
- County governments
- City or township governments
- State or Local Workforce Development Boards
- Special district governments
- Independent school districts
- Public and State controlled institutions of higher education
- Native American tribal governments (Federally recognized)
- Public housing authorities/Indian housing authorities
- Native American tribal organizations (other than Federally recognized tribal governments)
- Labor organizations or labor-management partnerships
- Nonprofits having a 501(c)(3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education
- Nonprofits without 501(c)(3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education
- Private institutions of higher education
- Hispanic-serving institutions
- Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs)
- Tribally Controlled Colleges and Universities (TCCUs)
It includes 420 counties across 13 states: Alabama, Georgia, Kentucky, Maryland, Mississippi, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia.
The Delta Regional Authority is a partnership to improve economic and community growth in eight states. Those states are Alabama, Arkansas, Illinois, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, and Tennessee.
For more information, visit Grants.gov.
