Analysis

The 30-year old YouthBuild program provides employment opportunities and educational certification for young people between 16 and 24 who have dropped out of school or who are deficient in basic skills.

The ETA is specifically will be measuring placement rates (placement in employment, education, or training), attainment of a degree or recognized certificate, and literacy/numeracy gains. Since these are the ETA’s measures, winning proposals should provide good evidence that they will be able to produce these results with their funding.   

The range of allowable uses of YouthBuild funding is also quite broad, so you can include apprenticeships and internships as a complement to GED or other classroom work.

The April 22 deadline is for full proposals, so you’ll want to get started right away!

 More Details on the Opportunity 

YouthBuild is a youth and community development program that simultaneously addresses several core issues facing low-income communities:

• Affordable housing
• Education
• Employment
• Crime prevention
• Leadership development

The purpose of YouthBuild is to:

• Enable disadvantaged youth to obtain the education and employment skills necessary to achieve economic self-sufficiency in occupations in demand and post-secondary education and training opportunities
• Provide disadvantaged youth with opportunities for meaningful work and service to communities
• Foster the development of employment and leadership skills and commitment to community development among youth in low-income communities
• Expand the supply of permanent affordable housing for homeless individuals and low-income families by utilizing the energies and talents of disadvantaged youth

The YouthBuild model balances in-school learning that leads to the achievement of a high school diploma or passing the General Education Development (GED) test and occupational skills training that prepares youth for career placement. The in-school component is an alternative education program that assists youth who are often significantly behind in basic skills to obtain a high school diploma or GED credential.

The target populations for YouthBuild are high school dropouts who may also be adjudicated youth, youth aging out of foster care, youth with disabilities, and other at-risk youth populations.

Eligibility

Public and private nonprofit agencies are eligible to apply for these grants, and winning projects will include meaningful collaboration with K-12 schools, institutions of higher education, and employers, keeping in mind that construction-related training will be a required activity for all YouthBuild grantees.

Award Information 

The ETA is planning to fund approximately 75 grants of up to $1.1 million each. There is a 25 percent matching requirement, which may come from cash or in-kind sources, and additional cost sharing will increase an application’s competitiveness.  

In 2012, approximately 75 grants were awarded, ranging from $750,000 to $1.1 million.

For more information, visit: www.grantsoffice.com/GrantDetails.aspx?gid=23459