Jun 5 Newsletter — OY Federal Updates
Take Action and Prevent the Elimination of WIOA Youth!
House Released Education and Workforce Appropriations Bill
Yesterday, the House Appropriations Committee released the Fiscal Year 2027 (FY27) Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies (Labor-HHS-Ed) appropriations bill. The proposed bill includes $9.8 billion to the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL), a $3.7 billion or 27% decrease from current enacted levels and $70.7 billion to the U.S. Department of Education (ED), an $8 billion or 10% decrease.
Overall, there or programs that are programs at frozen, decreased, or increased levels that were proposed to be eliminated last fiscal year, and we are grateful for those updates. However, we are concerned to see proposed eliminations once again for pivotal programs that support Opportunity Youth (OY), like WIOA Youth Activities. Especially as the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) Youth Activities program is one of few federal programs that explicitly targets OY (defined as out-of-school youth in WIOA) for education and training.
Key takeaways from the bill include:
Eliminations
WIOA Youth Activities
Reentry Employment Opportunities (REO)
Adult Education State Grants
Decreases
AmeriCorps
WIOA Adult Programs
Job Corps
Level Funding
McKinney-Vento Education for Homeless Children and Youth Program
Runaway and Homeless Youth Act Program
WIOA Dislocated Worker Programs
Increases
Apprenticeships
YouthBuild
You can view the full text here and summary here.
The House Appropriations Labor-HHS-Ed Subcommittee plans to markup their appropriations bill at 8:00AM on June 5th. Watch live here.
Here’s how you should get involved:
Use this action alert to let your members of Congress know how important critical federal programs are to connecting young people to education, training, and workforce programs.
Sign this letter to House and Senate Appropriations Committee leadership stating the impact of funding for programs that support Opportunity Youth, and why such programs cannot be eliminated or minimized.
Workforce Pell Final Rule
ED released the final Workforce Pell Grant rule this week. Implementation can now begin on July 1, 2026. The rule includes:
Programs must be between eight and 15 weeks, and between 150-599 clock hours.
All programs must be approved by both the Governor and Secretary. Governors must develop and publish their criteria and approval process.
Accountability metrics will cover completion (70% of participants must complete within 150% of typical time to completion) and employment (70% of completers must be employed during the second quarter after program exit), as well as value-added earnings (difference between adjusted median earnings of completers and 150% of poverty guidelines for an individual). If a completer continues to on to additional education, they are not included in the value-added earnings.
The time to invest in our young people is now. Hear directly from young leaders who met with their Congressional representatives this summer to explain why Congress must invest in education, training, and workforce programs for young people.
The RYC works under the vision of reconnecting 1 million young people each year to education and employment through increased federal investments. This goal cannot be reached by the traditional federal appropriations process alone. In “Stepping Stones to Reconnecting 1 Million Young People: Ideas from the Reconnecting Youth Campaign” Thomas Showalter discusses ways that our field can work together to reach this goal through annual appropriations, youth-focused apprenticeships, improving access to career-navigation, increasing wages for young people, and more.
Take Action: Email Your Members!
We need YOUR help to urge Congressional members to fortify investments for all education and labor programs to provide more opportunities for young people to engage in economic advancement in FY27. Some of the key programs include:
WIOA Youth Activities
Apprenticeship
Adult Education State Grants
AmeriCorps State and National
AmeriCorps National Civilian Community Corps
McKinney-Vento Education for Homeless Children and Youth Program
Reentry Employment Opportunities (REO)
Runaway and Homeless Youth Act Program
YouthBuild
Job Corps
Federal investments have not kept pace with inflation, let alone demand from workers and employers. Tell your Members of Congress to fund programs that reconnect Opportunity Youth to education and employment.
CLICK HERE TO EMAIL YOUR MEMBERS!
Resource Center
Getting Workforce Pell Right for Young People – What We’ve Learned from Career Technical Education
Advance CTE and the National Skills Coalition (NSC) discuss the movement of Workforce Pell from policy to practice, and how new opportunities for learners and workers can have to high quality education and training programs. This blog explores how policymakers can draw from learnings in Career Technical Education (CTE) to ensure that Workforce Pell is a meaningful bridge to new college and career possibilities for young people – not a detour that constrains their futures.
Opportunity in Action at the Louisiana State Capitol
In this blog, Opportunity Youth Congressional Liaison Samarah Bentley reflects on recently attending Opportunity in Action Day at the Louisiana State Capitol and how that experience is shaping her approach to national advocacy. Read Samarah's Blog Here
Fund the Workforce. Sustain the System.
The Forum for Youth Investment writes about how youth development is essential infrastructure, not an add-on, and sustaining it requires real investment in the systems, intermediaries, and workforce that support young people every day.
The Anne E. Casey Foundation invests in efforts to equip OY with the skills, credentials, and experiences needed to prepare for placement in their first job, gain experience, and grow their careers. This report highlights key strategies that Casey and its partners have implemented to help young people navigate transitions from school to work.
Monthly Opportunity Youth Policy Stakeholders Meeting
For all those with important perspectives to share and a willingness to engage in federal advocacy and implementation, but for whom weekly meetings would be overkill, we will host monthly meetings that cover the content from both meetings above (advocacy and implementation), briefing participants on key developments, soliciting views and priorities, and providing meaningful opportunities to engage. These meetings are designed particularly for organizations whose work is not primarily federal advocacy, but whose voices are critical to ensure federal efforts meet their needs, for example, Aspen Opportunity Youth Forum sites, LEAP sites, and NLC Reengagement Network participants.
Meetings are held on the last Monday of each month at 4pm (EST)
Connect With Us On LinkedIn!
The Reconnecting Youth Campaign is on LinkedIn! Give us a follow to keep up with news and resources, and message us if there's a post you'd like amplified.
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