Short title

This Act may be cited as the

Leveraging Educational Opportunity Networks Act

Findings

Congress finds the following: (1)About 60 percent of workers in the United States do not hold a 4-year college degree. These almost 70,000,000 workers in the United States without a bachelor’s degree have gained marketable skills through on-the-job training, boot camps, micro-credentialing programs, community colleges, and many other types of job training programs. Short-term workforce training programs have been growing in demand. Polling data finds that people in the United States are increasingly seeking education programs that are relevant for work and suited to their personal needs. Over the past 2 years, even as community college enrollment has dropped, boot camps, and online training programs are growing in size and market share. (2)Federal job training policy should focus on making more funding available to support high-quality sectoral training programs, including wraparound supports. Policymakers should prioritize options that boosts Federal funding for cohort-based sectoral training programs, including through the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act. Complementary models could include grant competitions that encourage cross-sector partnerships and support training investments for high priority roles (e.g. the Department of Commerce’s Good Jobs Challenge). (3)Further, the working poor are a pool of invisible talent and the source for a revitalized workforce to fill high-demand jobs in manufacturing, energy, health, technology, and science sectors of the economy. More than 32 percent of the United States labor force, or 51.9 million workers, currently make less than $15 an hour and 1.1 million workers earn wages at the prevailing Federal minimum wage ($7.25 an hour, or $14,137 a year). (4)Using United States Census Bureau data, the Bureau of Labor Statistics determined that 6,300,000 workers were living at or below the official poverty level in 2020, which represented 4.1 percent of the total workforce (U.S. Department of Labor, September 2022) and 25 percent of working families can be considered working poor. (5)The United States is experiencing a long-term labor shortage, The Demographic Drought. As the size of the United States working age population shrinks, the country is experiencing record-low rates of labor participation, and it has the lowest birth rates in history. (6)Economic growth is dependent on a reliable supply of skilled and ready to work employees. The economy is expected to add 12,000,000 jobs between 2020 and 2030. Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) occupations will experience the highest growth rates. Occupations in the STEM field are expected to grow 8 percent by 2029, compared with 3.7 percent for all other occupations. (7)As of April 2023, there were 10,100,000 job openings and only 5,700,000 people looking for work (U.S. Department of Labor April 2023 Employment Report). (8)About 60 percent of workers do not have a bachelor’s degree, and about 45 percent of workers have a bachelor’s degree. (9)More than 39 million people in the United States have attended some college but earned no degree. (10)A 2015 evaluation by the Aspen Institute’s Economic Opportunities Program documented that poor, unemployed, and under employed students who earned an industry-recognized credential landed high skill entry level positions and earned 18 percent more in income than a similar group of people who did not receive this type of training. (11) African American men face a range of challenges in the labor market which hinder their employment opportunities. African American men comprise about 13 percent of the male population, but 35 percent of those incarcerated. One in 3 African American men born today can expect to be incarcerated in his lifetime, compared to 1 in 6 Latino men and 1 in 17 White men. African American women are similarly affected where 1 in 18 African American women born in 2001 are likely to be incarcerated sometime in her life, compared to 1 in 111 white women. The effect of these realities is devastating and enduring, formerly incarcerated people are unemployed at a rate of over 27 percent which is higher than the total United States unemployment rate during any historical period, including the Great Depression. (12)More must be done to break the cycle of generational poverty and reduce racial, economic, and social disparities in the United States.

Establishment of grant program

(a)

Grants authorized

(1)

In general

The Secretary of Labor shall award grants, on a competitive basis, to eligible entities to develop and implement workforce training programs. (2)

Geographic diversity

To the maximum extent practicable, the Secretary shall ensure geographical diversity in selecting eligible entities to receive grants under subsection (a). (b)

Eligible entity

An eligible entity is a consortium of the following: (1)An organization described in section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (26 U.S.C. 501(c)(3)); (2) A national training organization with dues paying affiliated members in at least 10 States; (3) An accredited institution, not including an institution of higher education (as defined in section 101 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 101)); or (4)An institution that operates a post-secondary, career and technical network of accredited, dues paying institutions. (c)

Uses of funds

(1)

In general

An eligible entity that receives a grant under this Act shall use such grant to— (A) develop and implement a career and technical education program as described in subsection (d); (B) offer a program to enrollees prior to the participation of such enrollees in a workforce training program that supports the enrollees in transitioning to a learning environment, which shall include— (i) opportunities to foster camaraderie among enrollees; (ii) prepare enrollees for training success; (iii) tutoring and employment readiness coaching; and (iv) cognitive behavioral techniques to support a change in the perception and thinking of enrollees; (C) provide— (i) need-based stipends to enrollees in a workforce training program to assist enrollees in completing training programs; (ii) conflict resolution services and regular check-ins on a monthly basis to an employer that employs an enrollee who has completed a workforce training program offered by the eligible entity; and (iii) supportive services to enrollees; (D) partner with an employer that— (i) pays a living wage; (ii) provides avenues for career growth and professional development to enrollees who complete a program of an eligible entity that the employer partnered with; and (iii) engages in the career training process, including— (I) serving on an industry advisory group; (II) assisting the eligible entity with establishing a career and technical education program as described in subsection (d); (III) sponsoring internships; and (IV) participating in mock interview hiring sessions and hiring fairs; (E) determine the qualifications and credentials required for employment by the employers identified in paragraph (4); (F) assess and understand the demand of employers for employees in the local areas in which; (G) identify employers that pay a living wage in the local areas in which an eligible entity operates a career and technical education program; (H) identify employers and industry sectors in which job growth is expected to occur; (I) produce— (i) an analysis of existing and emerging in-demand industry sectors and occupations and the employment needs of employers in such industry sectors; and (ii) an analysis of the knowledge and skills needed to meet the employment needs of the employers in the States in which the entity operates a career and technical education program; and (J) implement strategies to recruit individuals into the workforce training program and assess prospective enrollees. (2)

Required allocation of funds

An eligible entity that receives a grant under this Act shall use at least 70 percent of such grant for the uses of funds described in subparagraphs (A) and (C)(i). (d)

Career and technical education program

A career and technical education program developed and implemented under this Act shall— (1)be developed to meet the in-demand needs of employers in the local area in which such program is being implemented; (2)pay enrollees a living wage; (3)be at least 12 weeks in duration; (4)upon an enrollee completing such a program, result in the enrollee earning a recognized post-secondary credential; (5)operate in at least 10 States; (6) prioritize enrollees who read at no higher than the 6th grade reading level; and (7)ensure that at least 50 percent of the individuals enrolled the program are— (A) offenders (as defined in section 3(38) of the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (29 U.S.C. 3102(3)(38))); (B)low-income and economically isolated individuals (including individuals who are from rural, urban, and historically disadvantaged communities); and (C)from populations that have been underserved or adversely affected by persistent poverty or inequality. (e)

Application

(1)

In general

To be eligible to receive a grant under this Act, an eligible entity shall submit an application at such time, in such manner, and containing such information as the Secretary may require. (2)

Priority

The Secretary shall prioritize eligible entities that propose to carry out a workforce training program in the following industries: (A)Construction. (B)Disaster relief and recovery services. (C)Industrial manufacturing. (D)Food manufacturing. (E)Supply chain management and services. (F)Information technology. (G)Financial services. (H)Ship building and other defense-related industries. (I)Health care. (f)

Report

Not later than 1 year after and eligible entity receives a grant under this Act, and on an annual basis thereafter, each eligible entity shall submit to the Secretary of Labor a report on the following: (1)The earnings of each enrollee— (A)prior to entering into a career and technical education program operated by such eligible entity; and (B)6 months after completing such program. (2)The percentage of program participants who are in unsubsidized employment— (A)after 30 days and prior to 90 days after exit from such program; and (B)after 280 days and prior to 365 days after exit from such program; (3)The starting wages of the program participants described in paragraph (2)(A); and (4)The percentage of program participants who obtain a recognized postsecondary credential during participation in, or within 1 year after exit from, the program. (g)

Definitions

In this Act: (1)

Career and technical education

The term career and technical education has the meaning given the term in section 3(5) of the Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Act of 2006 (20 U.S.C. 2302). (2)

Living wage

The term living wage means a wage that one full-time worker earns that covers the cost of the minimum basic needs of the worker and the family of the worker for the area in which such worker lives. (3)

Supportive services

The term supportive services means services such as transportation, child care, dependent care, housing, and needs-related payments, that are necessary to enable an individual to participate in a career and technical education program carried out under this Act. (4)

WIOA terms

The terms local area and recognized postsecondary credential have the meanings given the terms in section 3 of the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (29 U.S.C. 3102).

Authorization of appropriations

To carry out this Act, there is authorized to be appropriated $30,000,000 for each of the fiscal years 2026 through 2029.