Workforce Success Grants for Training and Placement Programs
The Workforce Success Grants for Training and Placement Programs are being made available to support the ongoing economic recovery and growth objectives of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
This RFP is designed to fund training and placement programs in occupational priorities identified through the Regional Workforce Skills Planning Initiative regional blueprint process ... Commonwealth Corporation seeks to fund proposals from qualified partnerships that propose to deliver cohort-based, occupationally focused training and placement programs to unemployed and/or underemployed individuals, with a goal to place them in unsubsidized employment in the target occupation upon completion of training.
Target Populations: Grant funds may be used to train Massachusetts residents who are unemployed or underemployed. Applicants may propose to serve a narrower sub-set, such as individuals receiving public assistance.
As part of an ongoing strategy given persistent racial inequities and related workforce challenges in the Commonwealth, and in the context of rapidly shifting economic conditions due to the COVID-19 pandemic, we are interested in supporting partnerships seeking to uplift populations who have traditionally experienced higher rates of unemployment and barriers to employment, including populations emphasized by the Black Advisory Commission and the Latino Advisory Commission (BAC and LAC), who have been major champions of advancing equitable workforce development initiatives in the Commonwealth.
Eligible Lead Applicants: The following organizations are eligible to apply as lead applicants on behalf of a partnership:
- Community-based organizations, including adult basic education providers
- Employers with operations in Massachusetts and that employ Massachusetts residents in the proposed target occupation
- Employer associations
- Higher education institutions
- Labor organizations
- Local workforce development entities
- Local workforce boards
- Nonprofit education, training or other service providers
- One-stop career centers
- Vocational education institutions