The Employment and Training Administration (ETA), U.S. Department of Labor (DOL), announces the availability of approximately $44,200,000 in grant funds authorized by the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) for the fifth round of Workforce Opportunity for Rural Communities (WORC) Initiative grants.
Donor Name: Employment and Training Administration
State: Selected States
County: All Counties
Type of Grant: Grant
Deadline: 06/13/2023
Size of the Grant: $1,500,000
Grant Duration: 36 months
Details:
This announcement solicits applications for the WORC Initiative for grants serving the Appalachian, Delta, and Northern Border regions.
The Biden-Harris Administration has established the Justice40 Initiative, which aims to ensure that 40 percent of the overall benefits of certain Federal investments flow to disadvantaged communities that are marginalized, underserved, and overburdened by pollution. The U.S. Department of Labor has designated the WORC Initiative as a Justice40 covered grant program. The White House Council on Environmental Quality developed a Climate and Justice Screening Tool that includes a map of all Census tracts that meet the Justice40 criteria to be deemed disadvantaged. Many communities across the WORC Initiative meet the designation for distressed, and thus align with the principles of Justice40. As appropriate, applicants are encouraged to include distressed communities in their WORC applications.
In alignment with the Justice40 Initiative, the purpose of the WORC Initiative grants is to create economic mobility, address historic inequities for marginalized communities of color, rural areas, and other underserved and underrepresented communities, and produce high-quality employment outcomes for workers who live or work in the Appalachian, Delta, and Northern Border regions, enabling them to remain and thrive in these communities. The WORC Initiative is designed to address persistent economic distress by aligning community-led economic and workforce development strategies and activities to ensure long-term economic resilience and enable dislocated and other workers in the regions to succeed in current and future job opportunities.
WORC Initiative Core Principles
Core Principle 1: Promoting Availability of Good Jobs
- The first Core Principle of the WORC Initiative is promoting the availability of good jobs, and building, expanding, or improving training programs that provide a skilled workforce to fill those jobs. Generally, a good job helps workers achieve economic stability and mobility, while prioritizing diversity and worker voice.
- The indicators of good jobs that inform the WORC Initiative project design are:
Core Principle 2: Prioritizing Equity
- The second Core Principle of the WORC Initiative is equity. For WORC Initiative applications, this means that successful applicants will design programs that prioritize efforts to recruit and improve the lives of historically underserved workers adversely affected by persistent poverty, discrimination, or inequality, including, but not limited to, Black, Indigenous, people of color; LGBTQ+ individuals; women; veterans; individuals with disabilities; individuals without a college degree; individuals with substance use disorder; and justice-impacted individuals.
Core Principle 3: Driving and Sustaining Economic Transformation
- The final Core Principle of the WORC Initiative is to ensure that the investment in the Appalachian, Delta, and Northern Border regions supports long-term, sustainable economic prosperity for individuals, businesses, and communities.
Funding Information
- Estimated Total Program Funding: $44,200,000
- Award Ceiling: $1,500,000
- Award Floor: $150,000
Period of Performance
The period of performance is 36 months with an anticipated start date of 10/01/2023. This performance period includes all necessary implementation and start-up activities.
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
- State or local education agencies
- 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 unions, worker 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)
- Labor organizations or labor-management partnerships
For more information, visit Grants.gov.
