The October 9 FEDERAL REGISTER provides additional background, including the grant-making history under this initiative. This notice also addresses the administration of the survey, furnishes burden hour estimates, and describes the desired focus for public comment. The notice outlines agency expectations that there will be approximately 4,160 respondents for the screener survey and 7,800 respsondents for the WIRED survey. Both surveys will be administered twice.

A copy of the proposed information collection can be obtained by contacting Eileen Pederson, Telephone number: 202-693-3647 (this is not a toll-free number), Fax number: 202-693-2766. e-mail: pederson.eileen@dol.gov. A copy can also be found at http://www.doleta.gov/OMBCN/OMBControlNumber.cfm

These grants will be awarded through a competitive process to support workforce training for high-growth/high-demand industries through the national system of community and technical colleges. Funds will be awarded to individual community and technical colleges, community college districts, state community college systems, and One-Stop Career Centers to support or engage in a combination of capacity building and training activities for the purpose of building the capacity of community colleges to train individuals for careers in high-growth/high-demand industries in the local and/or regional economies. This Solicitation contains an exception for rural areas and other communities that are educationally underserved due to their lack of access to community or technical colleges.

In awarding Community-Based Job Training Grants, every effort will be made to fairly distribute grants across rural and urban areas and across the different geographic regions of the United States. It is anticipated that individual awards will range from $500,000 to $2 million.

The closing date for receipt of applications under this solicitation is November 24, 2008.

A Virtual Prospective Applicant Conference will be held for this grant competition on October 24, 2008 at 1 p.m. Eastern Time. Additional information and links to registration for the Virtual Prospective Applicant Conference will be posted on at www.doleta.gov/business/Community-BasedJobTrainingGrants.cfm.

The October 10 FEDERAL REGISTER contains the solicitation. The document will also be available at www.grants.gov and www.doleta.gov/grants/find_grants.cfm.

Additional Background on Community-Based Job Training Grants

News Release

The Department of Labor's regulations implementing Executive Orders 12073 and 10582 are set forth at 20 CFR Part 654, Subparts A and B. These regulations require the Employment and Training Administration (ETA) to classify jurisdictions as labor surplus areas pursuant to the criteria specified in the regulations and to publish annually a list of labor surplus areas.

In addition, the regulations provide exceptional circumstance criteria for classifying labor surplus areas when catastrophic events, such as natural disasters, plant closings, and contract cancellations are expected to have a long-term impact on labor market area conditions, discounting temporary or seasonal factors.

These YouthBuild grants will be awarded through a competitive process. Grant funds will be used to provide disadvantaged youth with: The education and employment skills necessary to achieve economic self-sufficiency in occupations in high demand and postsecondary education and training opportunities; opportunities for meaningful work and service to their communities; and opportunities to develop employment and leadership skills and a commitment to community development among youth in low-income communities. As part of their programming, YouthBuild grantees will tap the energies and talents of disadvantaged youth to increase the supply of permanent affordable housing for homeless individuals and low-income families and to help youth develop the leadership, learning, and high-demand occupational skills needed to succeed in today's global economy.

Applicants can apply for 3 year grants (2 years of program operations with a 12 month follow-up period) that will range from $700,000 to $1.1 million. These grants will be incrementally funded, with half of the grant funds awarded from fiscal year (FY) 2009 appropriations, for the first 12 months of operations. Pending satisfactory performance and availability of funds, the remaining funds would be awarded next year (FY 2010) for second year operations. These awards will support 2 years of core program operations (education, occupational skills training, and youth leadership development activities) plus an additional 12 months of follow-up support services and tracking of participant outcomes for each cohort of youth. A minimum of 5 percent of total funds should be reserved for the 12 month follow-up period.

ETA hopes to serve approximately 2,900 youth participants during the first year of the grant, with projects operating in approximately 90-100 communities across the country. Under this announcement, the agency will be awarding grants to organizations to oversee the provision of education and employment services to disadvantaged youth in their communities. Each applicant should indicate the proposed number of participants to be served based on an average annual cost of between $15,000--$18,000.

An organization is an eligible applicant for these grants if it is a public or private non-profit agency or organization (including a consortium of such agencies or organizations with a designated lead applicant), including, but not limited to:

• Community-based organizations, including faith-based organizations;
• An entity carrying out activities under the WIA, such as a local workforce investment board or One-Stop Career Center;
• A community action agency;
• A State or local housing development agency;
• An Indian tribe or other agency primarily serving Indians;
• A community development corporation;
• A State or local youth service conservation corps; or
• Any other relevant public or private non-profit entity that provides education or employment training and can meet the required elements of the grant.

The closing date for applications is January 15, 2009.

Full background / eligible applicants / application requirements / evaluation criteria.

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