Apprenticeship Building America (ABA) Grant Program

The Employment and Training Administration is seeking applications for the Apprenticeship Building America (ABA) Grant Program.

Donor Name: Employment and Training Administration

State: All States

County: All Counties

Territories: Selected Territories

Type of Grant: Grant

Deadline: 04/25/2022

Size of the Grant: $8 million

Grant Duration: 4 years

Details:

Through the Apprenticeship Building America (ABA) grant program, the Department will continue efforts to expand, diversify, and strengthen the Registered Apprenticeship system through support for public and private partnerships designed to serve a range of industries and individuals. RAPs and pre-apprenticeship leading to RAP enrollments can be designed to serve a range of industries and individuals from underrepresented populations and underserved communities, allowing for diversification in program delivery to address individual participant needs.

Categories

Applicants have the opportunity to apply for funding across four grant categories:

State Apprenticeship System Building and Modernization: Grantees will coordinate RAP expansion and system building efforts at a state level across a wide array of industry sectors with employers, labor organizations, educational institutions, industry groups, joint labor-management partnerships, workforce and apprenticeship intermediaries, community-based organizations, and other non-profit and public sector partners.
Expansion of RAP Opportunities for Youth: Grantees will establish and expand partnerships that commit to expanding RAPs and/or pre-apprenticeship programs that lead to RAP enrollment for youth through coordination with industry, workforce intermediaries, labor organizations, K-12 districts, community colleges, youth-serving and community-based organizations, and other stakeholders.
Ensuring Equitable RAP Pathways Through Pre-Apprenticeship Leading to RAP Enrollment and Equity Partnerships: Grantees will establish and develop equity-centered public-private partnerships with pre-apprenticeships leading to RAP enrollment that aim to increase diversity and equity in apprenticeship for underrepresented populations and underserved communities.
Registered Apprenticeship Hubs: Grantees will establish a Registered Apprenticeship Hub by forming a multi-partner network capable of serving as a RAP sponsor or intermediary with the primary focus of supporting the industry’s needs for creating and expanding RAPs in new and emerging sectors and occupations.

The ABA grant program builds on the Department’s previous and ongoing efforts to expand and modernize Registered Apprenticeship through expanding the number of programs and apprentices, diversifying the industries that utilize Registered Apprenticeship, and increasing access to and completion of RAPs for underrepresented populations and underserved communities.

Cross-Cutting Principles

Across all four grant categories, the ABA grants will incorporate the following cross-cutting principles into their projects to support the Administration’s goal of ensuring quality jobs for all workers:

Equity
Job Quality
Support for high-quality, sustainable programs
Evidence-based approaches
New opportunities for innovation, engagement, and ease of access

Funding Information

You may apply for a ceiling amount:

Category 1: State Apprenticeship System Building and Modernization: up to $4 million;
Category 2: Expansion of RAP Opportunities for Youth: up to $5 million;
Category 3: Ensuring Equitable RAP Pathways Through Pre-apprenticeship Leading to RAP Enrollment and Equity Partnerships: up to $3 million;
Category 4: Registered Apprenticeship Hubs: up to $6 million for projects with a local/regional or statewide geographic scope; and up to $8 million for projects with a national geographic scope.

Period of Performance

The period of performance is 48 months with an anticipated start date of 07/01/2022. This performance period includes all necessary implementation and start-up activities.

Eligibility Criteria

The following organizations are eligible to apply:

States are eligible to apply for grants in Category 1. The term “state” means any of the 50 states of the United States, District of Columbia, or any Territory or possession of the United States. For the purposes of this FOA, territories or possessions of the United States are defined as Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, and American Samoa. Only state agencies may submit an application for this category, and only one application may be submitted by a state in response to this category
States must identify the state agency that will be the grant recipient (e.g., state workforce agency eligible for funding under Title I of WIOA, state educational agency, or SAA). This entity must have the capacity to administer the grant, will have sole responsibility for administering the project and will serve as the grant’s fiscal agent.
Cities;
Municipalities;
Tribal Nations;
Workforce Development System Entities, Agencies, and Associations – Organizations involved in administering the workforce development system established under WIOA (29 U.S.C. 3151), which are limited to State Workforce Development Boards, Local Workforce Development Boards, and Indian and Native American entities.
Community-based Organizations – Organizations that are representative of a community or significant segments of a community and which provide education, career technical education or rehabilitation, job training, or internship services and programs and includes neighborhood groups and organizations, community action agencies, community development corporations, union-related organizations, and employer-related organizations;
Industry groups and associations;
Labor and Joint labor-management partnerships;
Workforce and apprenticeship intermediaries;
Educational institutions (e.g., alternative, private or traditional high schools; community colleges; CTE; HSIs; MSIs; HBCUs; school districts);
Consortia: