Aug 14 Newsletter — OY Federal Updates

Written By Caitlin Kawaguchi

Protect WIOA Funding from Elimination

During this time when Congress is not actively moving on a Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) reauthorization, we are working with partners and policymakers to increase Congressional knowledge about WIOA, the challenges and benefits of implementation, and the expanded impacts that are possible with reauthorization.

This week, we hosted multiple listening sessions with key education and workforce Congressional staffers along with current and former Opportunity Youth (OY) and practitioners. These were candid conversations in which staffers heard directly from those involved with OY programs at different ends about what makes an experience successful for a young person, where federal policy offers opportunities and barriers, and what the day to day looks like for OY and practitioners.

Let's Catch Up

House and Senate Pass Differing Continuing Resolutions

The House and Senate are now on August recess, each having passed a different Fiscal Year 2027 (FY27) Continuing Resolution (CR) beforehand. In the past week the Senate moved forward with its iteration of H.R. 6500 (building on the prior House version) in a 90-6 vote. This bill would for the most part continue funding at FY26 levels through December 11, 2026 with some anomalies. The Senate bill also includes language that would prohibit the implementation of the recent Office of Management and Budget's (OMB) recently changed uniform guidance during the CR period.

There are key similarities and differences with the House passed CR. The House version also continues funding for the most part at FY26 levels, but with no anomalies and through December 4, 2026. This CR does not delay the OMB uniform guidance, and that may be one of the biggest differences to reconcile between the two bills.

After recess, the two chambers will need to come to an agreement on the next steps for FY27. While it's become clear that there is agreement on a CR that goes to the beginning of December, the contents of that CR need to be ironed out.

Looking Back on the FY27 Appropriations Process

Before these new CRs, a FY27 Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies (Labor-HHS-Ed) bill has been passed on party lines by the House Appropriations Committee. This bill includes $70.7 billion for education programs (a cut of about $8.1 billion or 10.3%) and $9.8 billion for labor programs (a cut of about $3.7 billion or 27%). Full programmatic eliminations are outlined for WIOA Youth Activities, Reentry Employment Opportunities (REO), Adult Education State Grants, 21st Century Community Learning Centers, and more. Slight increases are proposed for apprenticeships, YouthBuild, and McKinney-Vento Education for Homeless Children and Youth Program. The bill also includes a decrease for AmeriCorps National Civilian Community Corps.

Meet Our New Campaign Manager

Meredith brings rich expertise to her new role at the Forum as Senior Manager, Federal Policy, where she will focus on managing the Reconnecting Youth Campaign, our Opportunity Youth Congressional Liaison Program, and partner with our state policy function to advance readiness through policy.

For almost a year as a consultant, Meredith has led the Reconnecting Youth Campaign's Congressional advocacy for the Forum, worked with two Opportunity Young Congressional Liaison cohorts, and presented at national conferences about the Forum's policy work. Before joining the Forum, Meredith spent nearly four years at Jobs for the Future (JFF) in Washington DC developing their Opportunity Youth (ages 16-24 not in education or the workforce) policy portfolio, working with the Executive Branch and Capitol Hill, and supporting state policy development and implementation. Previous to her role at JFF, Meredith spent time at the Brookings Institution and national state association, Advance CTE, building an expertise in advocacy, technical assistance, and federal policy at the intersection of education and workforce development.

Meredith is a graduate of the University of Maryland and holds her master's degree from Georgetown University in Educational Transformation, Advocacy and Policy. Meredith lives in Washington, D.C., where she enjoys exploring the city, cheering on Boston sports teams, playing tennis, and watching reality TV. She is always up for a virtual coffee and looks forward to getting to know everyone across the Forum!

Important Reading

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.

RYC Congressional Briefing

On July 16th, the Reconnecting Youth Campaign hosted a panel discussion on Capitol Hill about Apprenticeships, WIOA, and Training Programs: How to Leverage Workforce Development Policy for Opportunity Youth. Panelists included:

Speakers provided firsthand accounts to Congressional staffers in the House and Senate of how WIOA funds are essential to the OY programs they operate as workforce boards and intermediaries, as well as how a college student is able to enroll and stay in her college program because of WIOA. We also heard how youth apprenticeship and pre apprenticeship programs can be impactful, strategies for employer engagement, and insight into how AI must be part of the workforce development conversation.

Each panelist was asked about one way that federal policymakers can better support their work and answers included:

  • Maintain flexibility in federal programs that allow for states and localities to best meet their unique needs.

  • Ensure adequate and consistent funding. When federal funding sources are not stable it is extremely difficult for programs to operate effectively.

  • Look at evidence-based practices and move in the direction of what we know works. Understand the moment we're currently in and ensure federal funding can work for modern programs.

For more information, contact Meredith Hills at Meredith@Forumfyi.org

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.

Email Your Member

Support Our Campaign Partners

Join the National Youth Employment Coalition this September 21-23 for their D.C. Summit, the convening that brings the wisdom of community leaders and young people together to learn and collaborate. A key part of this event is connecting directly with policymakers to highlight the successes, challenges, and opportunities in advancing economic mobility and social well-being for young people.

Previously known as Youth Days in Washington, D.C., this reimagined summit expands the scope and impact of that legacy. Attendees are trained and equipped to meet with Congressional and Federal offices, share their stories, participate in workshops led by leaders in the field, and learn about the programs and policies that directly benefit opportunity youth across the country. Join NYEC this September to bridge practice to policy! Early Bird registration is open through July 15th.

From September 9-11, join Young Invincibles and young advocates from around the country in Washington, D.C. for a transformative gathering to energize and inspire. Over three days, hundreds of young leaders will come together to learn from experts and each other through training sessions, speakers, breakout sessions, storytelling forums, and an opportunity to speak with legislators on Capitol Hill. You can get your tickets here!

Current Issues in Out-of-School Time (CIOST) is a book series published by Emerald Publishing, a Wiley company. The series brings together research, theory, and practitioner insights on topics relevant to learning and development in out-of-school-time settings. The team has released a Call for Chapters for Book 10, The Youth Development Workforce: Pathways, Environments, and Equity. The volume welcomes research, evaluation, policy, conceptual, and practice-based chapters addressing workforce pathways, preparation, compensation, retention, professional identity, equity, well-being, and related topics.

Resource Center

Building the Mental Healthcare Apprenticeship Young People Need: Registered Apprenticeship Explainer

The National Collaborative for Transformative Youth Policy (TYP) offers an overview of Registered Apprenticeships and looks in to new opportunities and challenges in the peer support, community health work, and mental healthcare fields. The brief responds directly to questions from professionals in the healthcare industry.

From Bus Stops to Capitol Hill: Finding My Voice Through Advocacy

Hear from Keona Rose, Opportunity Youth Congressional Liaison, about her experience with federal policy advocacy. Keona is a Tucson-based advocate, peer support specialist, and consultant dedicated to breaking generational curses and transforming the systems that impact youth and families. A survivor of the foster care system and a passionate voice for those who have experienced homelessness and the mental health system, she is committed to moving advocacy from performative gestures to actionable, authentic collaboration. As a mixed-race mother of four, she leverages her lived expertise to bridge the gap between youth and adult-led spaces, specifically focusing on youth employment, child welfare, juvenile justice, and economic justice. Read Keona'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.

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.

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). Register Here

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.

Get These Updates in Your Inbox

We send a few emails like this each month with information and resources you need to advocate for Opportunity Youth. Sign up below to get these directly to your inbox!

Caitlin Kawaguchi
Previous

Sep 11 Newsletter — OY Federal Updates
Next

Jul 3 Newsletter — OY Federal Updates