Findings

Congress finds the following: (1)There are millions of young people ages 16 through 24 who are neither in school nor in the labor force. (2)According to a report issued by the Community Service Society in June 2008, entitled Out of Focus: A Snapshot of Public Funding to Reconnect Youth to Education and Employment, the young people described in paragraph (1), often referred to as disconnected youth, are largely youth of color from poor communities and at risk of becoming permanently disengaged from the labor market which threatens their ability to break out of the cycle of poverty and contribute to our economy and communities. (3)When our young people lack the skills that local industries need and are unable to support themselves, we all bear the financial costs. (4)In the coming years, the combination of public transportation industry growth and an aging workforce will produce sizeable new openings in the transit sector. (5)There is no pipeline of replacements on the horizon, and the transit industry has been limited in its ability to attract, recruit, and retain employees. (6)For the existing workforce, new technology is rapidly changing the way transit agencies function, affecting every sector of the workforce, including executive directors, mid-level managers, bus operators, and mechanics, yet relatively few programs exist to provide training to workers so that they can perform their jobs adequately, move up the career ladder, and help the Nation’s transit agencies operate at maximum efficiency.

Workforce development programs

(a)

Workforce development program

Title 49, United States Code, is amended— (1)by striking section 5322; and (2)by inserting the following:

5322.

Workforce development programs

(a)

Joint Workforce development councils

(1)

Establishment

Not later than 90 days after the date of enactment of the Transportation Job Corps Act of 2008, the Administrator of the Federal Transit Administration shall establish a workforce development council in each of its 10 regions. (2)

Composition

The management of each public transit agency and the labor organization representing the majority of employees at each such transit agency in a region shall select one representative for the council established under paragraph (1). The selected individuals from each transit agency shall elect, by majority vote from among members of such council, a governing board for such region, including a co-chairperson from among the representatives from labor and a co-chairperson from among the representatives from management. (b)

Regional Governing Boards

(1)

Composition of governing boards

The governing board for each region shall be composed of not more than 10 members elected by the Council pursuant to subsection (a)(2). (2)

Duties

The governing board for each region shall— (A)identify skills gaps in transit agency maintenance departments and develop programs to train maintenance employees and fixed route and paratransit operators on a regional basis; (B)develop programs to address the recruitment and retention of managerial and nonmanagerial employees; (C)initiate relationships with nontransportation sector industries, associations, and groups in the public and private sector to develop best practices in training and skills development and determine appropriate ways to collaborate on behalf of disconnected youth; (D)conduct research on transit workforce development issues and develop best practices for recruitment, training, and retention of employees; (E)conduct research on the extent of labor market disconnection among disconnected youth and assess the provision of employment services for such youth; (F)make recommendations to the Secretary and to public transit agencies regarding how to expand current employment training programs, outreach programs to increase minority and female employment in public transportation activities, and apprenticeship programs; and (G)develop programs and make recommendations to public transit agencies to address issues related to workplace quality of life issues, including absenteeism, scheduling, child care, and other issues that may be necessary to improve recruitment and retention of employees. (3)

Ex officio members

(A)

Possible appointments

The Administrator may appoint non-voting ex officio members to each regional governing board from among representatives of nonprofit organizations, research organizations, and any other group or individual the Administrator believes would contribute to the board. (B)

Appointments for international transportation learning center and federal transit administrators

The Administrator shall appoint as a non-voting ex-officio member to the regional governing board of the respective region— (i)one or more representatives of the International Transportation Learning Center which administers the transit career ladder training program authorized by section 3046 of the Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users (Public Law 109–59); (ii)the Federal Transit Administrators of each of the 10 regions; and (iii)an individual who has expertise in youth development programs. (c)

Grant programs

(1)

In general

The Secretary, acting through the Administrator and taking into account the recommendations of the governing boards under subsection (a), shall establish grant programs described in subparagraphs (A) through (C) as follows: (A)

Transit youth opportunity

(i)

Basic skills education and pre-apprenticeship skills

The Administrator shall accept applications for grants from nonprofit organizations and public or privately funded educational institutions providing academic or technical instruction to encourage and introduce disconnected youth who are out of school and not employed for a period of not less than 6 months to a variety of careers in the transit industry by providing such youths with basic skills education, if necessary, and pre-apprenticeship skills. The Administrator shall give priority for such grants to organizations with a proven record of success in providing disconnected youth with basic education and pre-apprenticeship skills. (ii)

Apprenticeships

The Administrator shall accept applications from partnerships of transit agencies and the unions representing non-managerial employees for grants to develop labor-management apprenticeship programs for a variety of transit-related jobs, by giving priority to individuals who have successfully completed a pre-apprenticeship program pursuant to clause (i). (B)

Transit worker education and retention grants

The Administrator shall accept applications from partnerships of transit agencies and the unions representing non-managerial employees for grants— (i)to develop education programs in a variety of training settings for transit employees from diverse population groups to maintain and improve job skills and advance a career; and (ii)assisting individuals to obtain education and training required to enter the transit profession and advance within such profession, such as by providing career counseling and mentoring. (C)

Workforce diversity grants

The Administrator shall accept applications from partnerships of transit agencies and the unions representing non-managerial employees for a grant to develop special projects to increase education opportunities within the transit industry for individuals who are from disadvantaged backgrounds, including racial and ethnic minorities under-represented among transit management, by providing student scholarships or stipends, pre-entry preparation, and retention activities. (2)

Funding

In addition to the amounts set forth in section 5315(d), there are authorized to be appropriated— (A)to carry out subsections (a) and (b) $10,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2010 through 2011; and (B)to carry out subsection (c) $90,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2010 and 2011. (3)

Grant requirements

A grant under this section shall be subject to all requirements of a grant under section 5307. (d)

Certification

The Administrator shall develop a category on Workforce Development on its annual Certifications and Assurances for Federal Transit Administration Assistance Programs in accordance with section 5323(n), and include such category as one of the areas of certification beginning in fiscal year 2010. Such category shall require transit agencies to develop short-range and long-range planning with regard to workforce development matters, with a particular focus on the recruitment, retention, and training of managerial and non-managerial employees. (e)

Definition

For purposes of this section, the term disconnected youth means individuals ages 16 through 24 who are out of school and not employed and composed primarily of youth of color from poor communities and at risk of becoming permanently disengaged from the labor market which threatens their ability to break out of the cycle of poverty and contribute to our economy and communities.