Welfare Info

Youth Education and Training Activities

WIA Youth Grant Program The Workforce Investment Act (WIA) Youth Program provides formula funded grants to state and local communities to operate a comprehensive array of youth services that help low-income youth (ages 14-21) seeking assistance in a...

What is Youth Education and Training Activities?

WIOA Title I Youth Program
The Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Investment Act (WIOA) Youth Program provides formula funded grants to state and local communities to operate a comprehensive array of youth services that help low-income eligible in-school and out-of-school youth (ages 14-21) seeking assistance in achieving academic and employment success. Program participants receive services such as occupational skills training, counseling, internships, job placements, mentoring, tutoring, leadership development, and support services. Local communities provide youth activities and services in partnership with the American Job Center network and under the direction of local Workforce Development Boards.

YouthBuild
YouthBuild grants provide job training and educational opportunities for at-risk youth ages 16-24 while constructing or rehabilitating affordable housing for low-income or homeless families in their own neighborhoods. Youth split their time between the construction site and the classroom, where they earn their high school diploma or equivalency degree, learn to be community leaders, and prepare for employment and postsecondary training opportunities. .

Reentry Employment Opportunities (REO)

Reentry Employment Opportunities (REO), formerly Reintegration of Ex-Offenders (RExO), grants which benefit youth ages 14 to 24 and adults aged 18 and over are designed to strengthen the communities with high rates of poverty and crimes through an employment-centered program that focuses on job opportunities and training that leads to credentials in in-demand industries. Grantees must provide comprehensive and coordinated services to justice-involved youth and formerly incarcerated individuals in programs that incorporate mentoring, job training, and other comprehensive transitional services. Additionally, faith-based and community organizations (FBCOs) provide soft-skills and other basic job retention training, serve as mentors, make referrals to the American Job Centers System, connect participants with community colleges and other providers of occupational skills training, and provide or refer justice-involved youth and formerly incarcerated individuals to needed supportive services.

Program Requirements

In order to qualify for the WIOA Youth Program, in-school youth must be attending school, low income, have one or more barriers to employment, and be between 14 and 21 years of age. Out-of-school youth must not be attending school, have one or more barriers to employment, and be between 16 and 24 years of age.

To qualify for Youthbuild, you must be between 16 and 24 years of age. You must also be a member of a low-income family, a youth in foster care (including youth aging out of foster care), a youth offender, a youth who is an individual with a disability, a child of incarcerated parents, or a migrant youth; and a school dropout, or an individual who was a school dropout and has subsequently reenrolled.

Not more than 25 percent of the participants in YouthBuild may be individuals who do not meet the eligibility requirements but who:

  • are basic skills deficient, despite attainment of a secondary school diploma or its recognized equivalent (including recognized certificates of attendance or similar documents for individuals with disabilities); or
  • have been referred by a local secondary school for participation in a YouthBuild program leading to the attainment of a secondary school diploma.

In order to qualify for REO, you must be between 13 and 24 years of age.

Application Details

What is the application process for Youth Education and Training Activities?

For more information, see the Program Contact Information below.