The New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development is seeking applications for its Pre-Apprenticeship in Career Education (PACE) Program to promote equality of opportunity, upward mobility, and economic fairness.
Donor Name: New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development
State: New Jersey
County: All Counties
Type of Grant: Grant
Deadline: 01/06/2023
Size of the Grant: $2,000,000
Grant Duration: 18 months
Details:
The purpose of the PACE Program is to prepare individuals to enter and succeed in Registered Apprenticeship programs. These pre-apprenticeship programs have a documented partnership with at least one Registered Apprenticeship program sponsor that is committed to hiring from the pre-apprenticeship program within 18 months from the start of the contract period of performance, and together, they expand the participant’s career pathway opportunities with industry-based training coupled with classroom instruction. The program will drive economic development through skills and educational attainment and create pathways to better paying careers and advanced credentials.
The New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development, Office of Apprenticeship seeks to encourage the growth of career pathway opportunities for people disconnected from employment, training, and education. Within the workforce development system, pre apprenticeships serve a critical role for people to acquire career-specific skills, advance work readiness, and connect them to longer-term career opportunities.
The PACE Program also seeks to eliminate economic barriers commonly associated with an individual’s inability to invest in skills training and work readiness. In order to mitigate these barriers, the PACE Program encourages the use of stipend payments for all pre-apprenticeship program participants. This NGO provides funding for stipends for participants in the pre apprenticeship training program.
Goals
This competitive NGO is being made available to accomplish any of the following primary goals:
- Create a pipeline of qualified individuals that move from pre-apprenticeship programs to Registered Apprenticeship, employment, or post-secondary career pathways.
- Expand Registered Apprenticeship opportunities to New Jersey residents, including the underrepresented, disadvantaged, or low-skilled populations.
- Increase the New Jersey labor supply with a larger pool of qualified workers who possesses the skills and qualifications necessary to receive and maintain employment.
Objectives
NJDOL has established the following objectives for the PACE Program:
- Increase the number of pre-apprenticeship programs in NJ.
- Develop more pre-apprenticeships opportunities that target high-growth, high vacancy, or emerging regional sectors, industries, and occupations.
- Increase the number of pre-apprentices in NJ.
- Improve job prospects for all New Jersey residents.
- Remove economic barriers to training and employment (childcare, transportation, etc.)
- Provide training that leads to certifications, licenses and/or college credits.
- Move workers from low skill entry-level positions or from industries directly affected by international trade or skill-biased technical change to full occupational proficiency.
- Provide greater employment opportunities for members of underrepresented group’s unemployed/dislocated workers, students.
- Assist small businesses with developing quality training programs.
- Develop a highly-skilled workforce that possesses the skills and qualifications demanded by businesses in NJ.
- Increase the proficiency of NJ’s labor supply with the goal of increasing wages in the state and making the state labor market an attractive option for out of state businesses to locate.
- Increase the number of professional credentials for residents in NJ.
- Increase employment opportunities for residents in existing or new apprentice able industries.
- Recognition of Registered Apprenticeship as a key component of New Jersey’s Workforce Readiness System.
Funding Information
Funding for this program is expected to be $2,000,000 for FY2023, and is contingent upon the availability of funds. The anticipated length of the contract period is 18 months, unless otherwise extended or reduced at the discretion of the NJDOL. NJDOL seeks to fund multiple programs throughout the program year. NJDOL reserves the right to negotiate the costs of all training programs upon award selection. The payment structure for all contracts will be cost reimbursement
Eligibility Criteria
- To implement the PACE Program, NJDOL is seeking proposals from eligible entities with demonstrable capacity, experience, and history of success providing evidence-based career pathways. All respondents will be required to demonstrate that they have the fiscal and administrative capacity to manage a program at whatever scale they propose.
- In soliciting proposals, NJDOL shall not discriminate against any person or organization submitting a proposal pursuant to this NGO because of ethnicity, color, creed, religion, gender, sexual orientation, age, disability, national origin, or other basis prohibited by law.
- This competitive grant opportunity is open to the following entities:
- Any employer.
- Workforce Intermediary Sponsors.
- Employer / Trade Associations.
- Any labor organization which represents workers in the occupation for which the apprentices will be trained.
- Labor/Management Partnership (public or private).
- New Jersey Local Education Agency (LEA).
- Public vocational schools within New Jersey.
- Public high schools within New Jersey.
- Two- and four-year institutions of higher education.
- Public or private non-profit organizations (including Community Based Organizations).
- Business or trade organizations representing a particular trade, group of trades, contractors or employers.
- Community-based organizations.
- New Jersey local Workforce Development Boards.
- Economic development organizations.
- State, Local, County governments within New Jersey.
- Any other private educational or training entity that is on the Eligible Training Provider List (ETPL).
NOTE: Organizations awarded FY2022 PACE contracts are not eligible to apply for FY2023 PACE funding.
For more information, visit NJDOL.
