In 2020, the U.S. Department of Labor awarded Youth Apprenticeship Readiness grants to 14 organizations to develop or expand registered youth apprenticeships. Grant funds can be spent on activities to support apprentices ages 16 to 24 years participating in Registered Apprenticeship programs in high-demand industries, including manufacturing, health care, information technology, and cybersecurity.

This research report by the Urban Institute provides background on youth apprenticeship programs in the U.S. to provide context for finalizing the design of the implementation evaluation of the Youth Apprenticeship Readiness grants. The report also summarizes the planned activities of the 14 grantees and the key features of each grantee’s youth apprenticeship model and discusses key issues to include in the implementation evaluation.

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The Association of Chamber of Commerce Executives (ACCE) serves more than 9,000 leaders from 1,300 chambers of commerce, including 93 of the top 100 metro areas in the U.S. The Center of Excellence presented at the ACCE's 2024 conference about leveraging Chambers of Commerce in Registered Apprenticeship alignment efforts. Participants explored the five core components of Registered Apprenticeship and gained insights into the current role of Chambers of Commerce in these programs. The session showcased best practices for Chamber involvement, featuring a presentation from the Greater Cleveland Partnership. Attendees also learned how their Chambers can engage more effectively to benefit local jobseekers, employers, and the Chambers themselves.

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The presentation "Essentials of a High-Quality Pre-Apprenticeship" outlines key elements for developing effective pre-apprenticeship programs that prepare participants for high-quality apprenticeship opportunities. It highlights six critical characteristics: transparent entry and success requirements, skill development through hands-on activities, alignment with local employer needs, earning industry-recognized credentials, offering academic and career support, and ensuring a smooth transition to registered apprenticeships. These programs aim to increase diversity and equity, bridge skill gaps, and provide essential support for participants to succeed in their career paths.

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This flowchart shows the relationship between recruitment and retention services for pre-apprenticeship to apprenticeship with your local workforce board. Once a participant transitions from pre-apprenticeship to apprenticeship, available resources for apprentices consist of On-the-Job Training, Supportive Services, and Related Technical Instruction.

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The "Principles for Equity in Apprenticeship" emphasizes designing apprenticeship programs that integrate equity throughout their structure, from recruitment to support systems, to ensure they cater to diverse workers' needs. Programs, including WERC in Los Angeles, leverage socio-economic and cultural backgrounds as assets, using these unique experiences to enhance apprentices' ability to connect in their roles​​. Mentorship and continuous feedback are crucial, helping programs to refine and improve while ensuring apprentices transition smoothly into quality jobs that support families​ ​. Overall, the principles advocate for leveraging race, ethnicity, and gender as strengths and ensuring that apprenticeships lead to substantial career opportunities, not just jobs​.

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This brief outlines principles to guide federal, state, and local decision-makers and partners in developing equitable pre-apprenticeship programs and policy. These principles can mitigate the risk of investing in low-quality programs that lead to nowhere. Use this document to frame, analyze, and receive recommendations for the development of high-quality pre-apprenticeship programs.

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In this webinar, you will learn about strategies for increasing diversity in the apprenticeship pipeline. You will have the opportunity to hear from experts in the field as they share knowledge and resources about increasing diversity in apprenticeship as well as learn some insights shared by states who participated in the Diversity of Apprenticeship Participants Innovation Cohort. You will also hear insights from states who participated in the Diversity of Apprenticeship Participants Innovation Cohort.

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In this report, Young Invincibles provides recommendations on how Illinois can create apprenticeships that achieve gender and racial equity. The recommendations are based on a review of state and local strategies for scaling apprenticeships that serve women and people of color, examining work in Oregon, South Carolina, New York, and Massachusetts. You'll also read about strong practices in Illinois, learned from the apprenticeship and work-based learning programs of multiple partners nationwide. In this report, you will learn about the apprenticeship landscape in Illinois and the challenges the state faces in apprenticeship growth as well as the state's equity vision.

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This brief explores strategies that 22 leading companies and industry associations are using to make apprenticeship models more diverse and inclusive and, in turn, advance equity in their companies and the communities they serve. Some of these strategies have been identified as best practices by community-based organizations working with underrepresented populations and training providers but have not yet gained widespread employer buy-in. The examples shared here serve as lessons illustrating how more businesses can apply these strategies in their apprenticeship programs to improve diversity and equity within their internal operations and throughout their industries.

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As part of the Center of Excellence’s work on System Alignment and Strategic Partnerships in Registered Apprenticeship, the Center chose five initial states in 2021 to do focused work with leaders across workforce, industry, education, and labor. California was one of the five states. Center lead, Safal Partners, engaged the California Workforce Association (CWA) as a lead partner on the Center grant.

Together, Safal Partners, CWA and leadership from the state apprenticeship agency (Division of Apprenticeship Standards – DAS) and the U.S. Department of Labor (U.S. DOL) Office of Apprenticeship (OA) formed a Leadership Team of representative organizations to guide the Center’s work in the state. The team is comprised of 26 members representing industry, workforce, education, government, and labor; it has representation from both the state and local level within each sector.

This Center of Excellence California Regional Sessions Report-Out documents the 2022 regional sessions utilizing methods such as asset mapping and guided questions focused on opportunities and actions. Overviews of meeting outputs are recorded from the Sacramento, Clovis, Long Beach regions.

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Apprenticeship Training Representatives (ATRs) and Business Services Representatives (BSRs) are key in system alignment for Registered Apprenticeship (RA) and the workforce system. By collaborating, ATRs and BSRs can rapidly accelerate effective employer outreach and engagement in RA nationwide. While both ATRs and BSRs have their own unique set of responsibilities, the overlap in their respective roles related to employer engagement presents a natural opportunity to collaborate for accelerating industry’s understanding and adoption of RA to build talent pipelines which will, in turn, benefit job seekers who are served by Local Workforce Development Board case managers.

This “capstone” training session is the culmination of the first four sessions which were developed for each stakeholder group focused on educating each group on the other’s work. This session includes interactive learning from workforce experts and features effective ATR and BSR partnerships.

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This is the second session for ATRs in this training series.

Broad and robust partnerships give value to expanding registered apprenticeships that ultimately help meet program outcomes and increase engagement with employers. Building on the knowledge gained from the first Apprentice Training Representative (ATR) session, this training includes how to engage with Business Services Representatives (BSRs) to develop strategies for effective, collaborative outreach to industry in developing new and expanded registered apprenticeship (RA) programs; promising practices for engaging with BSRs and other Local Workforce Development Board staff; and what successful collaboration between ATRs and the workforce system can look like.

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In cooperation with the USDOL’s Office of Apprenticeship (OA) and its Division of Indian and Native American Programs (DINAP), the Center of Excellence hosted a webinar series featuring Safal Partners, a U.S. DOL funded Cyber and Tech Industry Intermediary and Registered Apprenticeship (RA) program sponsors in Washington State. Presenters gave details about their RA programs and application process to professionals representing Native American jobseekers, Tribal college career centers, one-stops, and other workforce offices to show how to connect their workforce program participants and students to federally RA opportunities in the State of Washington.

Each webinar session consists of three different apprenticeship programs sharing their program’s occupations, application dates, application process, expectations, wages, cost, benefits, work/school location(s), and other pertinent details and includes a short Q&A period. This recruiting opportunity is designed to benefit Native American jobseekers and to bridge partnerships between RA programs and tribal organizations.

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This second Business Services Representatives’ (BSRs) training session features how registered apprenticeship (RA) bolsters the success of Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) business services, the RA System and the role of Apprenticeship Training Representatives (ATRs), and how to coordinate and collaborate with ATRs and Navigators.

RA is an ideal solution for many employers that are partners with workforce boards and American Job Centers. This online training explores innovative ways that apprenticeship ties in with WIOA business services. It also equips you to connect with and leverage the support of the apprenticeship system on behalf of employers.

By connecting intentionally and regularly with ATRs, WIOA business services can better engage employers, place candidates in well-paying RA employment, and increase positive WIOA performance metrics.

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The National Association of Workforce Boards held The Forum in Washington, DC. about workforce policy, initiatives, and trends.

Registered Apprenticeship (RA) subject matter experts, Alan Dodkowitz from Safal Partners, Brent Weil from the Wireless Infrastructure Association, Jeff Smith from the U.S. DOL Office of Apprenticeship, and James Disbro from Career Source Suncoast, presented to workforce stakeholders discussing core RA-related elements of the Investing in America Agenda and promising practices for partnership development to access and implement Investing in America funding.

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