The Secretary uses funds authorized for appropriation under WIOA sec. 171(i) to administer YouthBuild as a national program under title I, subtitle D of WIOA. YouthBuild grants are awarded to eligible entities, as defined in § 688.120, through the competitive selection process described in § 688.210.

The Secretary announces the availability of grant funds through a Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA). The FOA contains instructions for what the Department requires in the grant application, describes eligibility requirements, the rating criteria that the Department will use in reviewing grant applications, and special reporting requirements to operate a YouthBuild project. The FOA, along with the requisite forms needed to apply for grant funds, can be found at http://www.doleta.gov/grants/find_grants.cfm.

In order to receive funds under the YouthBuild program, an eligible entity must meet selection criteria established by the Secretary which include:

(a) The qualifications or potential capabilities of an applicant;

(b) An applicant's potential to develop a successful YouthBuild program;

(c) The need for an applicant's proposed program, as determined by the degree of economic distress of the community from which participants would be recruited (measured by indicators such as poverty, youth unemployment, and the number of individuals who have dropped out of secondary school) and of the community in which the housing and community and public facilities proposed to be rehabilitated or constructed are located (measured by indicators such as incidence of homelessness, shortage of affordable housing, and poverty);

(d) The commitment of an applicant to provide skills training, leadership development, counseling and case management, and education to participants;

(e) The focus of a proposed program on preparing youth for local in-demand sectors or occupations, or postsecondary education and training opportunities;

(f) The extent of an applicant's coordination of activities to be carried out through the proposed program with:

(1) Local WDBs, one-stop center operators, and one-stop partners participating in the operation of the one-stop delivery system involved, or the extent of the applicant's good faith efforts, as determined by the Secretary, in achieving such coordination;

(2) Public education, criminal justice, housing and community development, national service, or postsecondary education or other systems that relate to the goals of the proposed program; and

(3) Employers in the local area;

(g) The extent to which a proposed program provides for inclusion of tenants who were previously homeless individuals or families in the rental of housing provided through the program;

(h) The commitment of additional resources to the proposed program (in addition to the funds made available through the grant) by:

(1) An applicant;

(2) Recipients of other Federal, State, or local housing and community development assistance who will sponsor any part of the rehabilitation, construction, operation and maintenance, or other housing and community development activities undertaken as part of the proposed program; or

(3) Entities carrying out other Federal, State, or local activities or activities conducted by Indian tribes, including vocational education programs, adult and language instruction educational programs, and job training using funds provided under WIOA;

(i) An applicant's ability to enter partnerships with:

(1) Education and training providers including:

(i) The kindergarten through twelfth grade educational system;

(ii) Adult education programs;

(iii) Community and technical colleges;

(iv) Four-year colleges and universities;

(v) Registered apprenticeship programs; and

(vi) Other training entities;

(2) Employers, including professional organizations and associations. An applicant will be evaluated on the extent to which employers participate in:

(i) Defining the program strategy and goals;

(ii) Identifying needed skills and competencies;

(iii) Designing training approaches and curricula;

(iv) Contributing financial support; and

(v) Hiring qualified YouthBuild graduates;

(3) The workforce development system which may include:

(i) State and Local WDBs;

(ii) State workforce agencies; and

(iii) One-stop centers and their partner programs;

(4) The juvenile and adult justice systems, and the extent to which they provide:

(i) Support and guidance for YouthBuild participants with court involvement;

(ii) Assistance in the reporting of recidivism rates among YouthBuild participants; and

(iii) Referrals of eligible participants through diversion or reentry from incarceration;

(5) Faith-based and community organizations, and the extent to which they provide a variety of grant services such as:

(i) Case management;

(ii) Mentoring;

(iii) English as a Second Language courses; and

(iv) Other comprehensive supportive services, when appropriate;

(j) The applicant's potential to serve different regions, including rural areas and States that may not have previously received grants for YouthBuild programs; and

(k) Such other factors as the Secretary determines to be appropriate for purposes of evaluating an applicant's potential to carry out the proposed program in an effective and efficient manner.

(l) The weight to be given to these factors will be described in a FOA issued under § 688.210.

At minimum, applications for YouthBuild funds must include the following elements:

(a) Labor market information for the relevant labor market area, including both current data (as of the date of submission of the application) and projections on career opportunities in construction and in-demand industry sectors or occupations;

(b) A request for the grant, specifying the amount of the grant requested and its proposed uses;

(c) A description of the applicant and a statement of its qualifications, including a description of the applicant's relationship with Local WDBs, one-stop operators, employers, local unions, entities carrying out registered apprenticeship programs, other community groups, and the applicant's past experience with rehabilitation or construction of housing or public facilities (including experience with programs through the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) under sec. 3 of the Housing and Urban Development Act of 1968 (12 U.S.C. 1701u)), and with youth education and employment training programs);

(d) A description of the proposed site for the proposed program;

(e) A description of the educational and job training activities, work opportunities, postsecondary education and training opportunities, and other services that will be provided to participants, and how those activities, opportunities, and services will prepare youth for employment in in-demand industry sectors or occupations in the labor market area described in paragraph (a) of this section;

(1) A description of the proposed activities to be undertaken under the grant related to rehabilitation or construction, and, in the case of an applicant requesting approval from the Secretary to carry out additional activities related to in-demand industry sectors or occupations, a description of such additional activities.

(2) The anticipated schedule for carrying out all activities proposed under paragraph (f) of this section;

(f) A description of the manner in which eligible youth will be recruited and selected as participants, including a description of arrangements that will be made with Local WDBs, one-stop operators, faith and community-based organizations, State education agencies or local education agencies (including agencies of Indian tribes), public assistance agencies, the courts of jurisdictions, agencies that serve youth who are homeless individuals (including those that operate shelters), foster care agencies, and other appropriate public and private agencies;

(g) A description of the special outreach efforts that will be undertaken to recruit eligible young women (including young women with dependent children) as participants;

(h) A description of the specific role of employers in the proposed program, such as their role in developing the proposed program and assisting in service provision and placement activities;

(i) A description of how the proposed program will be coordinated with other Federal, State, and local activities conducted by Indian tribes, such as workforce investment activities, career and technical education and training programs, adult and language instruction educational programs, activities conducted by public schools, activities conducted by community colleges, national service programs, and other job training provided with funds available under WIOA, in particular how programs will coordinate with local Workforce Development funds outlined in WIOA sec. 129(c)(2);

(j) Assurances that there will be a sufficient number of adequately trained supervisory personnel in the proposed program;

(k) A description of the level of performance to be achieved with respect to primary indicators of performance for eligible youth as described in § 688.410;

(l) The organization's past performance under a grant issued by the Secretary to operate a YouthBuild program;

(m) A description of the applicant's relationship with local building trade unions regarding their involvement in training to be provided through the proposed program, the relationship of the proposed program to established registered apprenticeship programs and employers, the ability of the applicant to grant an industry-recognized certificate or certification through the program, and the quality of the program leading to the certificate or certification;

(n) A description of activities that will be undertaken to develop leadership skills of participants;

(o) A detailed budget and description of the system of fiscal controls, and auditing and accounting procedures, that will be used to ensure fiscal soundness for the proposed program;

(p) A description of the commitments for any additional resources (in addition to funds made available through the grant) to be made available to the proposed program from:

(1) The applicant;

(2) Recipients of other Federal, State, or local housing and community development assistance that will sponsor any part of the rehabilitation or construction, operation or maintenance, or other housing and community development activities undertaken as part of the proposed program; or

(3) Entities carrying out other Federal, State or local activities conducted by Indian tribes, including career and technical education and training programs, and job training provided with funds under WIOA;

(q) Information identifying and describing of, the financing proposed for any:

(1) Rehabilitation of the property involved;

(2) Acquisition of the property; or

(3) Construction of the property;

(r) Information identifying and describing of, the entity that will manage and operate the property;

(s) Information identifying and describing of, the data collection systems to be used;

(t) A certification, by a public official responsible for the housing strategy for the State or unit of general local government within which the proposed program is located, that the proposed program is consistent with the housing strategy;

(u) A certification that the applicant will comply with requirements of the Fair Housing Act (42 U.S.C. 3601 et seq.) and will affirmatively further fair housing; and

(v) Any additional requirements that the Secretary determines are appropriate.

The Secretary will, to the extent practicable, notify each eligible entity applying for funds no later than 5 months from the date the application is received, whether the application is approved or disapproved. In the event additional funds become available, the Employment and Training Administration (ETA) reserves the right to use such funds to select additional grantees from applications submitted in response to a FOA.