Sponsors (36)
The bill invests federal funds and a structured grant system to expand youth workforce training, mentoring, and employer-aligned credential pathways—improving job-readiness for many young people—while increasing federal spending, administrative and compliance burdens, and the risk that larger providers and employer-focused outcomes will outcompete smaller community-based supports.
Children, teens, and young adults gain substantially expanded access to structured out-of-school workforce-readiness programs (training, mentoring, internships, apprenticeships) that build job skills and employability.
Students and program participants get stronger alignment with employers and credential pathways, increasing chances of recognized postsecondary credentials and job placements in in-demand local industries.
Nonprofits and program operators receive multi-year grant funding and predictable federal authorization ($100M/year FY2026–2030), enabling longer-term planning, hiring, and program stability.
Taxpayers face increased federal spending (authorized $100M/year; about $500M over five years) and ongoing program costs to fund expanded grants and paid work experiences.
Local boards, schools, and nonprofits will face substantial new administrative, reporting, and compliance burdens (applications, performance metrics, coordination, budget disclosure), straining staff time and capacity especially in smaller or under-resourced areas.
Smaller, grassroots, or regional providers risk being crowded out as competitive and multi-year grants concentrate funding with national or better-resourced organizations that can meet complex application and reporting requirements.
Based on analysis of 10 sections of legislative text.
Requires youth councils on local workforce boards and funds competitive grants for out-of-school youth workforce readiness programs serving ages 6–18 (3–5 year grants).
Creates a new requirement that local workforce development boards establish youth councils to advise on youth workforce policy and planning, and requires state/local plans and reports to document how councils’ recommendations are used. It also authorizes competitive federal grants to national youth-serving organizations to plan, develop, and operate multi-year out-of-school workforce readiness programs for youth, defines eligible youth (ages 6–18, or 19 if in secondary school), sets application and program requirements, requires evaluation and reporting, and authorizes $100 million per year for FY2026–FY2030.
Official title: To establish a competitive grant program to support out-of-school-time youth workforce readiness programs, providing employability skills development, career exploration, employment readiness training, mentoring, work-based learning, and workforce opportunities for eligible youth.
Introduced April 14, 2025 by Josh Harder · Last progress April 14, 2025