U.S. Department of Labor: Young Adult Reentry Partnership (YARP)

The Young Adult Reentry Partnership (YARP) will support applicants who have sub-grantees that partner with community colleges to provide education and training to improve workforce outcomes for justice-involved young adults, the criminal justice system, and employers. YARP aims to partner with organizations that provide reentry services with community colleges to provide education and training services to improve the employment outcomes for young adults involved in the criminal justice system. Young adults served under this grant are between the ages of 18 and 24 and currently or previously have been involved in the juvenile or adult criminal justice system or are high school dropouts, are low-income, and either reside in or are returning to the targeted geographic area.

These projects ensure that young adults transitioning from the criminal justice system are prepared to meet the needs of their local labor markets with the skills required by employers. Applicants must establish a partnership with the criminal justice system. Applicants also must establish partnerships through their sub-grantees with community colleges that have designed their courses and career pathways/guided pathways program curricula to ensure relevance to the needs of local industries and jobs. Applicants must ensure participants are provided comprehensive and personalized student support services and career guidance. Additionally, applicants must include at least one of the below activities:

• Providing online and technology-based learning strategies where feasible to allow participants who may be on house arrest or have transportation limitations to participate
• Providing competency-based assessments and training courses to recognize skills proficiency and attainment
• Aligning education with industry-recognized stacked and latticed credentials on an in-demand career pathway
• Supporting evidence-based remediation policies and practices
• Where possible, assessing credit for prior learning and awarding credits for prior learning

In order to focus grant funds on services that directly benefit participants, grant budgets are expected to limit community college adaptations or capacity building to 25 percent of the grant budget. However, higher percentages will be considered in cases where the applicant can demonstrate value to the target population through higher community college expenditures in these areas.

Grantees will provide reentry services and will spend at least 75 percent of grant funds (or, if the above 25 percent limit is increased, the entire remaining portion of the grant funds outside of the percentage spent on community college capacity building) to offer the following services:

• Job assistance services
• Job preparatory experiences
• Career exploration activities, which include information on barriers to employment and requirements for entering their occupation
• Assistance with applying for financial aid for postsecondary education, particularly for programs of study leading to degrees
• Tuition assistance, where financial aid is not available (see note below)
• Case management, including the development of an Individual Development Plan (IDP) that identifies strategies for achieving their employment goal, including overcoming barriers and acquiring supportive services
• Legal services, such as record expungement, modifying child support arrears, or obtaining a state driver’s license
• Assistance with linking participants to the social services required to help participants transition back to their communities
• Providing 12 months of follow-up services

All projects must include the following activities and components:

• Employment-focused services which lead to hiring and must include a variety of the following approaches: 1) Occupational education leading to industry-recognized credentials; 2) Work-based learning, which could include apprenticeship; and 3) Work experience
• Case management, including an individual development plan, assessments, and career exploration
• Documented strategies to address and overcome barriers
• Legal services (such as record expungement, modifying child support arrears, or obtaining a state driver’s license)
• Job placement assistance
• Collaboration with agencies to provide supportive services, such as substance abuse and mental health treatment, healthcare, transportation, childcare, housing, legal aid, and other social services
• Assistance with securing identification, such as a driver’s license and state-issued identification

Amount: A total of $25,000,000 is available to make six awards of up to $4,500,000 each. The period of performance is 42-months.

Eligibility:

• All applicants must be community- or faith-based intermediary organizations (organizations that have sub-grantees, an affiliate network, or offices in at least three communities and across at least two states, and that propose to serve at least three communities across at least two states for this project), with IRS 501(c)(3) nonprofit status (including women’s and minority organizations and postsecondary education institutions), or any Indian and Native American entity eligible for grants under section 166 of WIOA that have a presence in at least three communities and across at least two states.
• Entities eligible for WIOA Section 166 grants include: Federally recognized Indian tribes; Tribal organizations; Alaska Native-controlled organizations; Native Hawaiian-controlled organizations; Indian-controlled organizations serving Indian and Native Americans; a consortium of eligible entities that meet the legal requirements for a consortium; and State-recognized tribal organizations.

Link: https://www.grants.gov/web/grants/view-opportunity.html?oppId=325079

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