I 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3342 

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. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MAY 19, 2021 

Mr. HARDER of California (for himself, Mr. FITZPATRICK, Mr. POCAN, and 

Mrs. MCCLAIN) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Education and Labor 

A BILL 

To establish a competitive grant program to support outof-school-time youth workforce readiness programs, providing employability skills development, career exploration, employment readiness training, mentoring, workbased learning, and workforce opportunities for eligible 

youth. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Youth Workforce 

5 Readiness Act of 2021’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. PURPOSE. 

2 The purpose of this Act is to establish or expand ac3 tivities to— 

4 (1) increase access and opportunities for youth 

5 to obtain the education and training that youth need 

6 to succeed in the labor market; 

7 (2) support engagement in and the integration 

8 of programs and activities offered during out-of9 school-time hours through the workforce investment, 

10 education, and economic development systems; 

11 (3) improve the quality of the workforce and 

12 meet the skill requirements of employers; 

13 (4) engage employers in addressing the train14 ing, skill, and employment needs of youth and youth 

15 jobseekers, and fostering opportunities for connec16 tion and economic mobility; and 

17 (5) include younger youth in the education and 

18 workforce investment activities in an age and devel19 opmentally appropriate manner. 

20 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

21 In this Act: 

22 (1) COMMUNITY-BASED ORGANIZATION.—The 

23 term ‘‘community-based organization’’ means a 

24 youth-serving private nonprofit organization (which 

25 may include a faith-based organization) that— 


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1 (A) is representative of a community or a 

2 significant segment of a community; 

3 (B) has demonstrated expertise and effec4 tiveness in workforce development; and 

5 (C) has demonstrated expertise— 

6 (i) in the planning and delivery of 

7 education, training, and related activities 

8 that are included in a career pathway; 

9 (ii) in forging coordination and co10 operation between educators and other 

11 members of the community; and 

12 (iii) in development and implementa13 tion of data systems that measure the 

14 progress of students and outcomes of ca15 reer pathways. 

16 (2) COVERED PARTNERSHIP.—The term ‘‘cov17 ered partnership’’ means a partnership between— 

18 (A) a community-based organization; and 

19 (B) an industry or sector partnership, a 

20 local educational agency, and another public en21 tity or private employer, as appropriate. 

22 (3) ELIGIBLE YOUTH.—The term ‘‘eligible 

23 youth’’ has the meaning given the term in section 3 

24 of the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act 


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1 (29 U.S.C. 3102), except that the individual involved 

2 shall be— 

3 (A) not younger than age 6; and 

4 (B) not older than age 18 (or age 19 if en5 rolled in secondary school). 

6 (4) INDUSTRY OR SECTOR PARTNERSHIP.—The 

7 term ‘‘industry or sector partnership’’ means— 

8 (A) an industry or sector partnership, as 

9 defined in section 3 of the Workforce Innova10 tion and Opportunity Act (29 U.S.C. 3102); 

11 and 

12 (B) a collaborative that meets the require13 ments of paragraph (26) of that section 3 but 

14 also includes— 

15 (i) an Indian tribe or tribal organiza16 tion (as such terms are defined in section 

17 166(b) of that Act (29 U.S.C. 3221(b))), 

18 as appropriate; or 

19 (ii) a community-based organization. 

20 (5) OUT-OF-SCHOOL-TIME.—The term ‘‘out-of21 school-time’’, used with respect to a program de22 scribed in section 7, means a supervised program 

23 regularly attended by eligible youth, that fosters 

24 learning and development during out-of-school-time 

25 hours, which includes hours before school, after 


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1 school, during summer vacation or another school 

2 holiday, or on a Saturday or Sunday. 

3 (6) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

4 the Secretary of Labor. 

5 (7) WIOA DEFINITIONS.—The terms ‘‘career 

6 pathway’’, ‘‘customized training’’, ‘‘in-demand indus7 try sector or occupation’’, ‘‘local area’’, ‘‘local 

8 board’’, ‘‘local educational agency’’, and ‘‘recognized 

9 postsecondary credential’’ have the meanings given 

10 the terms in section 3 of the Workforce Innovation 

11 and Opportunity Act (29 U.S.C. 3102). 

12 (8) WORKFORCE READINESS PROGRAM.—The 

13 term ‘‘workforce readiness program’’ means an out14 of-school-time program that— 

15 (A) meets the requirements of section 7; 

16 (B) is offered by a community-based orga17 nization of an eligible entity or a related cov18 ered partnership; and 

19 (C) is intended to help prepare eligible 

20 youth for the workforce. 

21 SEC. 4. GRANT PROGRAM ESTABLISHMENT. 

22 (a) GRANTS.—Using the amounts made available 

23 under section 9, the Secretary shall award grants, on a 

24 competitive basis, to eligible entities. 


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1 (b) GENERAL USE OF FUNDS.—The Secretary shall 

2 award the grants, on a competitive basis, to assist eligible 

3 entities in planning, developing, and implementing nation4 wide, comprehensive workforce readiness programs, that 

5 are— 

6 (1) in out-of-school-time programs; 

7 (2) carried out by community-based organiza8 tions of the eligible entity or related covered partner9 ships; and 

10 (3) for eligible youth. 

11 (c) PERIODS OF GRANTS.—The Secretary shall 

12 award the grants for periods of not less than 3 years and 

13 not more than 5 years. 

14 SEC. 5. ELIGIBLE ENTITIES. 

15 To be eligible to receive a grant under section 4, an 

16 entity shall— 

17 (1)(A) be a national youth-serving organization 

18 with active chapters, affiliates, or subgrant recipi19 ents, that are community-based organizations (in20 cluding such organizations that are facility-based or21 ganizations) in not fewer than 35 States; and 

22 (B) provide programming focused on youth 

23 workforce readiness in an out-of-school-time pro24 gram; and 


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1 (2) obtain approval of an application under sec2 tion 6. 

3 SEC. 6. APPLICATION. 

4 To be eligible to receive a grant under section 4, an 

5 entity shall submit an application to the Secretary at such 

6 time, in such manner, and containing such information as 

7 the Secretary may require, including— 

8 (1) a description of how the entity will imple9 ment a youth workforce readiness program in a 

10 manner that ensures an equitable geographic dis11 tribution of program activities, including an equi12 table distribution between urban and rural commu13 nities; 

14 (2) a description of the proposed program ac15 tivities to be funded and their locations; 

16 (3) a description of populations of eligible youth 

17 to be served, including populations living in or from 

18 underserved communities or communities with em19 ployment disparities; 

20 (4) a description of the effective strategies, best 

21 practices, or evidence-based practices the workforce 

22 readiness program will use; 

23 (5) an assurance that the program will take 

24 place in safe and easily accessible facilities; 


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1 (6) a demonstration of how, in implementing 

2 the proposed program activities, the entity will co3 ordinate activities with Federal, State, and local pro4 grams and make the most effective use of public re5 sources; 

6 (7) a description of— 

7 (A) the community-based organizations or 

8 the covered partnerships through which the en9 tity will implement the program; and 

10 (B) if a covered partnership will assist in 

11 implementing the program, the collaboration 

12 and coordination activities that the community13 based organization in the partnership has car14 ried out or will carry out with other entities in 

15 the partnership, related to that implementation; 

16 (8) if the program includes an opportunity to 

17 earn a recognized postsecondary credential, a de18 scription of the activities leading to the credential; 

19 (9) an assurance that funds provided under this 

20 Act will be used to supplement and not supplant 

21 other Federal, State, or local funds expended to pro22 vide youth programs or workforce readiness pro23 grams; and 

24 (10) a budget detailing program activities and 

25 administrative costs. 


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1 SEC. 7. PROGRAM ACTIVITIES. 

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—An eligible entity that receives a 

3 grant under section 4 shall use the grant funds— 

4 (1) if the entity seeks to implement the work5 force readiness program through a covered partner6 ship, to establish the partnership; and 

7 (2) to carry out the development and implemen8 tation of a youth workforce readiness program— 

9 (A) that includes services to help prepare 

10 eligible youth who are not younger than age 15 

11 for the workforce, which services shall include— 

12 (i) support for the use of career path13 ways; 

14 (ii) paid and unpaid work experiences 

15 that have as a component academic and 

16 occupational education, which may in17 clude— 

18 (I) summer employment opportu19 nities and other employment opportu20 nities available throughout the school 

21 year; 

22 (II) pre-apprenticeship and ap23 prenticeship programs registered 

24 under the National Apprenticeship 

25 Act; 


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1 (III) internships and job shad2 owing; and 

3 (IV) on-the-job training opportu4 nities; 

5 (iii) work-based learning (as defined 

6 in section 3 of the Carl D. Perkins Career 

7 and Technical Education Act of 2006 (20 

8 U.S.C. 2302)) that provides opportunities 

9 for the application of employability skills, 

10 and hands-on work experiences through 

11 covered partnerships; 

12 (iv) occupational skill training, which 

13 shall include priority consideration for 

14 training programs that lead to recognized 

15 postsecondary credentials that are aligned 

16 with in-demand industry sectors or occupa17 tions in the local area involved, if the local 

18 board determines that the programs meet 

19 the quality criteria described in section 123 

20 of the Workforce Innovation and Oppor21 tunity Act (29 U.S.C. 3153); 

22 (v) the provision of customized train23 ing; 

24 (vi) education offered concurrently 

25 with and in the same context as workforce 


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1 readiness activities and training for a spe2 cific occupation or occupational cluster; 

3 and 

4 (vii) activities that help youth prepare 

5 for and transition to postsecondary edu6 cation and training; 

7 (B) that includes services to help prepare 

8 eligible youth for the workforce, which services 

9 shall include— 

10 (i) leadership development opportuni11 ties, which may include community service 

12 and peer-centered activities encouraging 

13 responsibility and other positive social and 

14 civic behaviors, as appropriate; 

15 (ii) workforce or workforce readiness 

16 opportunities; 

17 (iii) supportive services; 

18 (iv) adult mentoring for the period of 

19 participation and a subsequent period, for 

20 a total of not less than 12 months; 

21 (v) comprehensive guidance and coun22 seling, which may include drug and alcohol 

23 abuse, prevention services, counseling and 

24 referral, as appropriate; 

25 (vi) financial literacy education; 


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1 (vii) entrepreneurial skills training; 

2 (viii) services that provide labor mar3 ket and employment information about in4 demand industry sectors or occupations 

5 available in the local area, such as career 

6 awareness, career counseling, and career 

7 exploration services; 

8 (ix) activities to develop fundamental 

9 workforce readiness skills, or to develop 

10 employability skills (such as communica11 tion, creativity, collaboration, and critical 

12 thinking) that support social-emotional de13 velopment through every developmental 

14 stage, in both formal and informal learning 

15 experiences; 

16 (x) academic counseling to support 

17 workforce readiness; and 

18 (xi) career exposure, through men19 toring and targeted programming, offered 

20 by local industry or sector partnerships, to 

21 provide career assessments and education 

22 and career planning; and 

23 (C) that may include— 

24 (i) the provision of professional devel25 opment (as defined in section 3 of the Carl 


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1 D. Perkins Career and Technical Edu2 cation Act of 2006 (20 U.S.C. 2302)) for 

3 training educators and other providers of 

4 educational services who participate in the 

5 workforce readiness program; and 

6 (ii) developing assets and resources 

7 that assist an employer or groups of em8 ployers or sectors in working with eligible 

9 youth. 

10 (b) SUBGRANTS.—The eligible entity may use the 

11 grant funds, with the approval of the Secretary, to award 

12 subgrants to eligible organizations to carry out activities 

13 through a youth workforce readiness program. 

14 SEC. 8. EVALUATION AND REPORTING. 

15 (a) MEASURES OF EFFECTIVENESS.— 

16 (1) IN GENERAL.—An eligible entity that imple17 ments a youth workforce readiness program under 

18 this Act shall— 

19 (A) ensure that the program is— 

20 (i) based upon an assessment of objec21 tive data regarding the need for such a 

22 program in the communities served; and 

23 (ii) evaluated on an established set of 

24 performance measures aimed at ensuring 

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1 ties by measuring eligible youth success; 

2 and 

3 (B) collect the data necessary for the 

4 measures of eligible youth success described in 

5 subparagraph (A)(ii). 

6 (2) MEASURES.—The performance measures 

7 (including indicators) that will be used to evaluate 

8 the youth workforce readiness programs— 

9 (A) shall be aligned with the regular aca10 demic program of the school of and the aca11 demic needs of participating eligible youth; 

12 (B) shall include performance measures 

13 that— 

14 (i) are able to track the success (such 

15 as improvement over time) of eligible 

16 youth; and 

17 (ii) include assessment results and 

18 other indicators of eligible youth success, 

19 such as improved attendance during the 

20 school day, better classroom grades, reg21 ular (or consistent) program attendance, 

22 and on-time advancement to the next 

23 grade level; and 

24 (C) for high school students, may include 

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1 petencies, or successful completion of intern2 ships, apprenticeships, or work-based learning 

3 opportunities, or high school graduation. 

4 (b) PERIODIC EVALUATION.— 

5 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall conduct 

6 a periodic evaluation of the eligible entity, to assess 

7 the progress of the entity’s youth workforce readi8 ness program toward ensuring high-quality opportu9 nities by measuring eligible youth success. 

10 (2) USE OF RESULTS.—The results of evalua11 tions under paragraph (1) shall be— 

12 (A) used to refine, improve, and strengthen 

13 the program, and to refine the performance 

14 measures; and 

15 (B) used by the Secretary to determine 

16 whether a grant for a program is eligible to be 

17 renewed under section 4. 

18 (c) REPORTING.—The Secretary shall submit a re19 port containing the results of the evaluation to the appro20 priate committees of Congress, and make the report avail21 able to the public. 

22 SEC. 9. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

23 There is authorized to be appropriated to carry out 

24 this Act $100,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2022 

25 through 2026. 


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1 SEC. 10. REESTABLISHMENT OF YOUTH COUNCILS. 

2 Section 107 of the Workforce Innovation and Oppor3 tunity Act (29 U.S.C. 3122) is amended by adding at the 

4 end the following: 

5 ‘‘(j) YOUTH COUNCIL.— 

6 ‘‘(1) ESTABLISHMENT.—There shall be estab7 lished, as a subgroup within each local board, a 

8 youth council appointed by the local board, in co9 operation with the chief elected official for the local 

10 area. 

11 ‘‘(2) MEMBERSHIP.—The membership of each 

12 youth council shall include representatives with spe13 cial interest or professional expertise with youth 

14 workforce development programs, activities related 

15 to youth workforce readiness, youth workforce in16 vestment activities, local labor or joint labor-man17 agement organizations, and education related rep18 resentatives— 

19 ‘‘(A) membership may include— 

20 ‘‘(i) members of the local board with 

21 special interest or expertise in youth work22 force readiness or youth workforce develop23 ment; 

24 ‘‘(ii) local labor or joint labor-manage25 ment organizations with a special interest 

26 or expertise in youth workforce readiness 


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1 or youth workforce development; represent2 atives of the workforce, in the local area, 

3 with a special interest or expertise in youth 

4 workforce readiness or youth workforce de5 velopment; 

6 ‘‘(iii) representatives of entities ad7 ministering education and training activi8 ties, including career and technical edu9 cation activities, in the local area, with 

10 special interest or expertise in youth work11 force readiness or youth workforce develop12 ment; 

13 ‘‘(iv) representatives of youth service 

14 agencies, including juvenile justice, local 

15 law enforcement agencies, and representa16 tives of local public housing authorities; 

17 ‘‘(v) parents of eligible youth, and 

18 current or former youth program partici19 pants; 

20 ‘‘(vi) representatives of vulnerable 

21 populations (including but not limited to 

22 foster youth, minority youth, and youth 

23 with disabilities); 

24 ‘‘(vii) community representatives, em25 ployers of eligible youth, and Workplace 


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1 Learning Advisors (as defined in section 3 

2 of WIOA), with experience relating to 

3 youth workforce activities; and 

4 ‘‘(viii) representatives of the Job 

5 Corps; and 

6 ‘‘(B) may include such other individuals as 

7 the chairperson of the local board, in coopera8 tion with the chief elected official, determines to 

9 be appropriate. 

10 ‘‘(3) RELATIONSHIP TO LOCAL BOARD.—Mem11 bers of the youth council who are not otherwise 

12 members of the local board shall be voting members 

13 of the youth council and nonvoting members of the 

14 board. 

15 ‘‘(4) DUTIES.—The duties of the youth council 

16 shall include— 

17 ‘‘(A) representing the interests of youth 

18 before the local board; 

19 ‘‘(B) collaborating with the local board to 

20 ensure programs address youth workforce devel21 opment and youth workforce readiness; and 

22 ‘‘(C) advising the local board on the inclu23 sion and incorporation of the local youth work24 force in decisions as appropriate. 


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1 ‘‘(k) RECOMMENDATIONS.—Amend WIOA to include 

2 Youth Councils as a required section of the State and local 

3 plan, including how they are incorporating the rec4 ommendations of the youth councils, including in the an5 nual report have a requirement to report on activities re6 lated to council’s recommendations.’’. 

Æ 


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