OpportunityTitle: Notice of Availability of Funds and Solicitation for Grant Applications for Indian and Native American Employment and Training Programs
AdditionalInformationOnEligibility: To be eligible for an award under WIA Section 166 and this solicitation, an entity must meet all eligibility requirements of WIA Section 166 and 20 CFR 668.200, as well as the application and designation requirements found at 20 CFR Part 668, subpart B.  The Federal regulations are available at: http://www.doleta.gov/dinap/cfml/wiaregfinal.cfm.  Potential applicants are expected to thoroughly review and comply with the statute and regulations.    The types of entities that are potentially eligible to apply for WIA Section 166 funds under this solicitation are:  &#149; Federally-recognized Indian Tribes;  &#149; Tribal organizations as defined in 25 U.S.C. &#167;450b;  &#149; Alaskan Native-controlled organizations representing regional or village areas, as defined in the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act;   &#149; Native Hawaiian-controlled entities;  &#149; Native American-controlled organizations serving Indians; and/or  &#149; State-recognized tribal organizations serving individuals eligible to participate under section 401 of the Job Training Partnership Act (JTPA).    Applicants may apply individually or in a consortium.  Consortia must be comprised exclusively of eligible entities as described above and must meet the additional requirements for consortia detailed in Section III.A.1 of the full announcement.
Description: The Employment and Training Administration (ETA), U.S. Department of Labor (the Department or DOL), announces the availability of approximately $58 million in grant funds authorized by the Workforce Investment Act (WIA) Section 166 for the Indian and Native American Program (INAP) to fund approximately 170 grants&#151;$46 million to fund the Comprehensive Service Program (CSP) serving adult participants and $12 million to fund Supplemental Youth Service Program (SYSP) serving summer youth participants. Awards under the CSP are anticipated to range from approximately $13,000 to $5 million. Awards for the SYSP are anticipated to range from approximately $1,000 to $2.6 million. American Indians, Alaskan Natives, and Native Hawaiians are the most impoverished group in the United States, with acutely high unemployment rates in rural and isolated reservations and villages, and often challenged by multiple barriers to employment. One in every four (25.3 percent) Native Americans live in poverty, and these individuals are three times as likely to receive public assistance compared to the total population. Reducing the education and employment inequality between Indian and Native Americans requires a concentrated effort to enhance education and employment opportunities, create pathways to careers and skilled employment, help Indian and Native Americans to enter and remain in the middle class, and respond to the needs of employers in the local economies. The WIA Section 166 program provides training and employment services specifically targeted to Indian and Native Americans. The WIA Section 166 program is the only Federal employment and job training program that serves American Indians, Alaskan Natives, and Native Hawaiians who reside both on and off reservations. Section 166 of WIA authorizes programs to serve the employment and training needs of Indian and Native American adults and youth through competitive two-year grant awards to Indian tribes, tribal organizations, Alaska Native entities, Indian-controlled organizations serving Indians, and Native Hawaiian organizations (see WIA Section 166, Public Law 105-220 as amended, codified at 29 U.S.C. 2911). The terms &#147;Indian,&#148; &#147;Indian tribe,&#148; and &#147;tribal organization&#148; have the meanings given such terms in subsections (d), (e), and (l), respectively, of section 4 of the Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act (25 U.S.C. 450b). This SGA contains the procedures by which the Department will designate grantees for Program Years (PY) 2014 and 2015 to operate Indian and Native American Employment and Training Programs under WIA Section 166 within specified geographic service areas. Grantees must provide services to all eligible applicants and ensure equitable access to employment and training services within the geographic service area. The Department waived the previous competitive round of WIA Section 166 awards for PY 2012-2013, and has determined that no waivers of competition under WIA Section 166(c)(2) will be available for the next two-year designation cycle.
GrantorContactEmailDescription: Email Grant Specialist
GrantorContactText: Serena Boyd &lt;br/&gt;Grants Management Specialist &lt;br/&gt;Phone 202-693-3338
CloseDateExplanation: The closing date for receipt of applications under this announcement is April 23, 2014.  Applications must be received no later than 4:00:00 p.m. Eastern Time.