Youth Workforce Readiness Act of 2023

I 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 3416 To establish a competitive grant program to support out-of-school-time youth workforce readiness programs, providing employability skills development, career exploration, employment readiness training, mentoring, work-based learning, and workforce opportunities for eligible youth. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MAY 17, 2023 Mr. HARDER of California (for himself, Mr. FITZPATRICK, Mrs. MCBATH, and Mrs. CHAVEZ-DEREMER) introduced the following bill; which was re- ferred to the Committee on Education and the Workforce A BILL To establish a competitive grant program to support out- of-school-time youth workforce readiness programs, pro- viding employability skills development, career explo- ration, employment readiness training, mentoring, work- based learning, and workforce opportunities for eligible youth. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Youth Workforce 4 Readiness Act of 2023’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:11 Jun 02, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3416.IH H3416 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 3416 IH SEC. 2. PURPOSE. 1 The purpose of this Act is to establish or expand ac- 2 tivities to— 3 (1) increase access and opportunities for youth 4 to obtain the education and training that youth need 5 to succeed in the labor market; 6 (2) support engagement in and the integration 7 of programs and activities offered during out-of- 8 school-time hours through the workforce investment, 9 education, and economic development systems; 10 (3) improve the quality of the workforce and 11 meet the skill requirements of employers; 12 (4) engage employers in addressing the train- 13 ing, skill, and employment needs of youth and youth 14 jobseekers, and fostering opportunities for connec- 15 tion and economic mobility; and 16 (5) include younger youth in the education and 17 workforce investment activities in an age and devel- 18 opmentally appropriate manner. 19 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 20 In this Act: 21 (1) COMMUNITY-BASED ORGANIZATION.—The 22 term ‘‘community-based organization’’ means a 23 youth-serving private nonprofit organization (which 24 may include a faith-based organization) that— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:11 Jun 02, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3416.IH H3416 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 3416 IH (A) is representative of a community or a 1 significant segment of a community; 2 (B) has demonstrated expertise and effec- 3 tiveness in workforce development; and 4 (C) has demonstrated expertise— 5 (i) in the planning and delivery of 6 education, training, and related activities 7 that are included in a career pathway; 8 (ii) in forging coordination and co- 9 operation between educators and other 10 members of the community; and 11 (iii) in development and implementa- 12 tion of data systems that measure the 13 progress of students and outcomes of ca- 14 reer pathways. 15 (2) COVERED PARTNERSHIP.—The term ‘‘cov- 16 ered partnership’’ means a partnership between— 17 (A) a community-based organization; and 18 (B) an industry or sector partnership, a 19 local educational agency, and another public en- 20 tity or private employer, as appropriate. 21 (3) ELIGIBLE YOUTH.—The term ‘‘eligible 22 youth’’ has the meaning given the term in section 3 23 of the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:11 Jun 02, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3416.IH H3416 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 3416 IH (29 U.S.C. 3102), except that the individual involved 1 shall be— 2 (A) not younger than age 6; and 3 (B) not older than age 18 (or age 19 if en- 4 rolled in secondary school). 5 (4) INDUSTRY OR SECTOR PARTNERSHIP.—The 6 term ‘‘industry or sector partnership’’ means— 7 (A) an industry or sector partnership, as 8 defined in section 3 of the Workforce Innova- 9 tion and Opportunity Act (29 U.S.C. 3102); 10 and 11 (B) a collaborative that meets the require- 12 ments of paragraph (26) of that section 3 but 13 also includes— 14 (i) an Indian tribe or tribal organiza- 15 tion (as such terms are defined in section 16 166(b) of that Act (29 U.S.C. 3221(b))), 17 as appropriate; or 18 (ii) a community-based organization. 19 (5) OUT-OF-SCHOOL-TIME.—The term ‘‘out-of- 20 school-time’’, used with respect to a program de- 21 scribed in section 7, means a supervised program 22 regularly attended by eligible youth, that fosters 23 learning and development during out-of-school-time 24 hours, which includes hours before school, after 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:11 Jun 02, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3416.IH H3416 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 3416 IH school, during summer vacation or another school 1 holiday, or on a Saturday or Sunday. 2 (6) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 3 the Secretary of Labor. 4 (7) WIOA DEFINITIONS.—The terms ‘‘career 5 pathway’’, ‘‘customized training’’, ‘‘in-demand indus- 6 try sector or occupation’’, ‘‘local area’’, ‘‘local 7 board’’, ‘‘local educational agency’’, and ‘‘recognized 8 postsecondary credential’’ have the meanings given 9 the terms in section 3 of the Workforce Innovation 10 and Opportunity Act (29 U.S.C. 3102). 11 (8) WORKFORCE READINESS PROGRAM.—The 12 term ‘‘workforce readiness program’’ means an out- 13 of-school-time program that— 14 (A) meets the requirements of section 7; 15 (B) is offered by a community-based orga- 16 nization of an eligible entity or a related cov- 17 ered partnership; and 18 (C) is intended to help prepare eligible 19 youth for the workforce. 20 SEC. 4. GRANT PROGRAM ESTABLISHMENT. 21 (a) GRANTS.—Using the amounts made available 22 under section 9, the Secretary shall award grants, on a 23 competitive basis, to eligible entities. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:11 Jun 02, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3416.IH H3416 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 3416 IH (b) GENERAL USE OF FUNDS.—The Secretary shall 1 award the grants, on a competitive basis, to assist eligible 2 entities in planning, developing, and implementing nation- 3 wide, comprehensive workforce readiness programs, that 4 are— 5 (1) in out-of-school-time programs; 6 (2) carried out by community-based organiza- 7 tions of the eligible entity or related covered partner- 8 ships; and 9 (3) for eligible youth. 10 (c) PERIODS OF GRANTS.—The Secretary shall 11 award the grants for periods of not less than 3 years and 12 not more than 5 years. 13 SEC. 5. ELIGIBLE ENTITIES. 14 To be eligible to receive a grant under section 4, an 15 entity shall— 16 (1)(A) be a national youth-serving organization 17 with active chapters, affiliates, or subgrant recipi- 18 ents, that are community-based organizations (in- 19 cluding such organizations that are facility-based or- 20 ganizations) in not fewer than 35 States; and 21 (B) provide programming focused on youth 22 workforce readiness in an out-of-school-time pro- 23 gram; and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:11 Jun 02, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3416.IH H3416 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 3416 IH (2) obtain approval of an application under sec- 1 tion 6. 2 SEC. 6. APPLICATION. 3 To be eligible to receive a grant under section 4, an 4 entity shall submit an application to the Secretary at such 5 time, in such manner, and containing such information as 6 the Secretary may require, including— 7 (1) a description of how the entity will imple- 8 ment a youth workforce readiness program in a 9 manner that ensures an equitable geographic dis- 10 tribution of program activities, including an equi- 11 table distribution between urban and rural commu- 12 nities; 13 (2) a description of the proposed program ac- 14 tivities to be funded and their locations; 15 (3) a description of populations of eligible youth 16 to be served, including populations living in or from 17 underserved communities or communities with em- 18 ployment disparities; 19 (4) a description of the effective strategies, best 20 practices, or evidence-based practices the workforce 21 readiness program will use; 22 (5) an assurance that the program will take 23 place in safe and easily accessible facilities; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:11 Jun 02, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3416.IH H3416 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 3416 IH (6) a demonstration of how, in implementing 1 the proposed program activities, the entity will co- 2 ordinate activities with Federal, State, and local pro- 3 grams and make the most effective use of public re- 4 sources; 5 (7) a description of— 6 (A) the community-based organizations or 7 the covered partnerships through which the en- 8 tity will implement the program; and 9 (B) if a covered partnership will assist in 10 implementing the program, the collaboration 11 and coordination activities that the community- 12 based organization in the partnership has car- 13 ried out or will carry out with other entities in 14 the partnership, related to that implementation; 15 (8) if the program includes an opportunity to 16 earn a recognized postsecondary credential, a de- 17 scription of the activities leading to the credential; 18 (9) an assurance that funds provided under this 19 Act will be used to supplement and not supplant 20 other Federal, State, or local funds expended to pro- 21 vide youth programs or workforce readiness pro- 22 grams; and 23 (10) a budget detailing program activities and 24 administrative costs. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:11 Jun 02, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3416.IH H3416 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 3416 IH SEC. 7. PROGRAM ACTIVITIES. 1 (a) IN GENERAL.—An eligible entity that receives a 2 grant under section 4 shall use the grant funds— 3 (1) if the entity seeks to implement the work- 4 force readiness program through a covered partner- 5 ship, to establish the partnership; and 6 (2) to carry out the development and implemen- 7 tation of a youth workforce readiness program— 8 (A) that includes services to help prepare 9 eligible youth who are not younger than age 15 10 for the workforce, which services shall include— 11 (i) support for the use of career path- 12 ways; 13 (ii) paid and unpaid work experiences 14 that have as a component academic and 15 occupational education, which may in- 16 clude— 17 (I) summer employment opportu- 18 nities and other employment opportu- 19 nities available throughout the school 20 year; 21 (II) pre-apprenticeship and ap- 22 prenticeship programs registered 23 under the National Apprenticeship 24 Act; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:11 Jun 02, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3416.IH H3416 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 10 •HR 3416 IH (III) internships and job shad- 1 owing; and 2 (IV) on-the-job training opportu- 3 nities; 4 (iii) work-based learning (as defined 5 in section 3 of the Carl D. Perkins Career 6 and Technical Education Act of 2006 (20 7 U.S.C. 2302)) that provides opportunities 8 for the application of employability skills, 9 and hands-on work experiences through 10 covered partnerships; 11 (iv) occupational skill training, which 12 shall include priority consideration for 13 training programs that lead to recognized 14 postsecondary credentials that are aligned 15 with in-demand industry sectors or occupa- 16 tions in the local area involved, if the local 17 board determines that the programs meet 18 the quality criteria described in section 123 19 of the Workforce Innovation and Oppor- 20 tunity Act (29 U.S.C. 3153); 21 (v) the provision of customized train- 22 ing; 23 (vi) education offered concurrently 24 with and in the same context as workforce 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:11 Jun 02, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3416.IH H3416 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 11 •HR 3416 IH readiness activities and training for a spe- 1 cific occupation or occupational cluster; 2 and 3 (vii) activities that help youth prepare 4 for and transition to postsecondary edu- 5 cation and training; 6 (B) that includes services to help prepare 7 eligible youth for the workforce, which services 8 shall include— 9 (i) leadership development opportuni- 10 ties, which may include community service 11 and peer-centered activities encouraging 12 responsibility and other positive social and 13 civic behaviors, as appropriate; 14 (ii) workforce or workforce readiness 15 opportunities; 16 (iii) supportive services; 17 (iv) adult mentoring for the period of 18 participation and a subsequent period, for 19 a total of not less than 12 months; 20 (v) comprehensive guidance and coun- 21 seling, which may include drug and alcohol 22 abuse, prevention services, counseling and 23 referral, as appropriate; 24 (vi) financial literacy education; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:11 Jun 02, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3416.IH H3416 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 12 •HR 3416 IH (vii) entrepreneurial skills training; 1 (viii) services that provide labor mar- 2 ket and employment information about in- 3 demand industry sectors or occupations 4 available in the local area, such as career 5 awareness, career counseling, and career 6 exploration services; 7 (ix) activities to develop fundamental 8 workforce readiness skills, or to develop 9 employability skills (such as communica- 10 tion, creativity, collaboration, and critical 11 thinking) that support social-emotional de- 12 velopment through every developmental 13 stage, in both formal and informal learning 14 experiences; 15 (x) academic counseling to support 16 workforce readiness; and 17 (xi) career exposure, through men- 18 toring and targeted programming, offered 19 by local industry or sector partnerships, to 20 provide career assessments and education 21 and career planning; and 22 (C) that may include— 23 (i) the provision of professional devel- 24 opment (as defined in section 3 of the Carl 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:11 Jun 02, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3416.IH H3416 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 13 •HR 3416 IH D. Perkins Career and Technical Edu- 1 cation Act of 2006 (20 U.S.C. 2302)) for 2 training educators and other providers of 3 educational services who participate in the 4 workforce readiness program; and 5 (ii) developing assets and resources 6 that assist an employer or groups of em- 7 ployers or sectors in working with eligible 8 youth. 9 (b) SUBGRANTS.—The eligibl [Text truncated for display. Full text available on Congress.gov.]