ETA would receive only $35 million for the combined programs. The Young Offenders program alone is funded at nearly $50 million in the FY 2005 budget. The new structure, combined with the sharp budget cut for the coming fiscal year, has raised another concern: HBI’s Project CRAFT/Nashville is funded through Young Offenders.
The President’s 2006 budget proposal would provide $250 million in funding for the Community College Initiative. The program’s Community-Based Job Training Grants “prepare workers in high demand occupations” through strategic partnerships among community colleges, industry and the workforce system. HBI received a grant in 2004 to partner with community colleges to develop a skilled trades workforce, laying the groundwork for this initiative in the residential construction area.
The budget proposal consolidates four Department of Labor programs under the $3.9 billion Workforce Investment Act (WIA) Plus funding stream that will be disbursed through state formula grants. Consolidated under WIA Plus are Adult, Dislocated Worker and Youth activities, as well as the Employment Service, Labor Market Information and the administration of the Work Opportunity and Welfare to Work tax credit programs. Legislation will be proposed to make these structural changes.
Similar WIA legislation will be proposed to transfer the Youthbuild program from the Department of Housing and Urban Development to the Labor Department. This recommendation was first made by the White House Task Force on Disadvantaged Youth as a way to facilitate coordination between Youthbuild and other youth employment and training programs such as Job Corps. In 2004, HBI received its first national grant to give technical assistance to Youthbuild’s local programs. The Administration has requested $58.9 million to fund Youthbuild at the Department of Labor in fiscal 2005.
The Department of Education would also undergo some changes. The Administration’s budget would terminate 48 “ineffective” programs and would redirect these funds, some $4.7 billion, to Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) programs; improving teacher quality; and the new High School Intervention Initiative, which would take the No Child Left Behind Act to the high school level.
The High School Intervention Initiative would provide $1.2 billion to the states to help improve student academic achievement and graduation rates through an intervention strategy of their choosing — including vocational education, mentoring and partnerships between high schools and community colleges. This proposal would consolidate programs such as Vocational Education, Upward Bound, Gear Up, Smaller Learning Communities and others that are not considered effective in improving student outcomes.
For more information, e-mail Maria McIntyre at HBI or call her at 800-795-7955 x8912; or contact Jenna Morgan Hamilton in NAHB Legislative and Political Relations, 800-8368-5242 x8407.
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