Funding Facts: Using H-1B Grants to Help Workers Succeed

DOL Review and Selection Process
A DOL technical review panel will evaluate grant applications and decisions will be made in consultation with the Department of Commerce. Applications not selected for funding will be eligible for technical assistance.

The applicants will be rated based on the following criteria:

  1. Statement of Need – using all available data sources applicants are to provide a description of local/regional labor market shortages.
  2. Service Delivery Strategy – description of a comprehensive strategy for providing technical skills training, including the range of potential training providers, innovation in training services and community outreach plans.
  3. Target Population – identification of targeted workers, including a description of their characteristics and why they were targeted; outreach to special populations should also be described.
  4. Sustainability – description of the extent of participation by project partners and how it relates to sustainability.
  5. Linkage with Key Partners – identification of all partners, including the roles they will play and the resources they will bring.
  6. Outcomes – identification of the occupations to be trained for and discussion
  7. Cost Effectiveness – applicants must provide a detailed cost proposal, including a description of the expected cost effectiveness as demonstrated by cost per participant/ activity in relation to the services provided. This section must contain a detailed discussion of the non-federal match and provide information on organizational capacity, a staffing pattern, resumes and the name of a project director.

Fact sheet based on material prepared for the Working for America Institute National Conference by the AFL-CIO Public Policy Department.

Northeast H-1B Skills Training Project

CWA Local 1365 and the Massachusetts AFL-CIO could see the direction the Lucent Technologies facility in Andover was headed. Lower-end jobs were being outsourced. Employment security would be through the skills needed to do the higher-end, technician jobs. Career paths had already been negotiated. Resources were needed for the hundreds of members who would need to upgrade their skills to take on the new jobs.

H-1B funding for training for high skill jobs looked like a good fit.
Joined by CWA-IUE Local 201 with a focus on its members at Ametek Aerospace, the unions built a partnership with their employers, Metro North and Lower Merrimack Workforce Investment Boards, and the University of Massachusetts Labor Extension program as the base for the project. Labor-management committees at each workplace were designed to coordinate project implementation. Two local community colleges, Northern Essex and Middlesex, were asked to be training vendors.

The H-1B award for this project was $2,372,522 with a combined employer match of $2,905,629 that includes $2 million in release time. This $5.3 million will fund a 3 level training program for 750 semi-skilled incumbent workers, allowing them to move into high skilled jobs.

Several other components have been designed in to ensure success for both the companies and the workers, on-site training and partially paid release time will reduce barriers that have limited worker participation in training in the past. Two part-time project site coordinators, as well as the project director, will manage the project and ensure successful implementation. Both site coordinators are executive board members of their unions. In addition, both have completed worksite training and understand first hand the challenges adult learners face.    Continued

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