Objective

The Pay for Performance Grant Program will support the operational resource needs of workforce training programs offering specialized job training in high-demand industries. This program will provide flexible funds through two distinct tracks: 1.) Operating Grants and 2.) Capacity-Building Awards.

The following is an overview of the Capacity Award program requirements. The full program guidelines can be found here.

Overview

The Capacity-Building Awards track rewards training programs successfully placing individuals who complete their program in a good job, further enabling them to expand the capacity of current programs with high placement rates.

Applicants may receive an award between $1,500 and $4,000 per trainee for successfully placing trainees that complete a workforce training program in a good job utilizing skills from their training. Amount of award determination will be based on the depth and breadth of the organization’s services, including: the extent of wraparound services provided; need of the population served; and good job placement in a high-growth targeted industry.

Eligibility

Eligible Applicants include:

• Community-based organizations
• Not-for-profit organizations
• Chambers of Commerce and Trade Associations
• Certain Governmental Organizations (such as workforce development boards, Boards of Cooperative Educational Services (BOCES), municipalities, etc.)
• Higher educational institutions (public or private four-year colleges/universities, or two-year technical/community colleges)
• Career & technical education providers
• For-profit training providers      

Some Eligibility Requirements:

• Detailed overview of current success metrics for both the current and previous calendar year including number of cohorts per year, number of participants enrolled, number of participants who completed, and number of participants placed in good jobs
• Applicants must have an established track record of effective training and trusted relationships within priority communities. This is demonstrated in the application through a variety of metrics including completion and placement rates, consistent and/or growing enrollment, and providing services that support participant success including wraparound services such as childcare, transportation, career coaching, etc.
• Applicants must demonstrate the organizational and financial management expertise to successfully implement the project through previous experience.
• Applications must demonstrate that the training program will prepare participants for in-demand, good jobs with career advancement. Applicants will be asked to describe how their training leads to “good jobs,” or skilled jobs that pay minimally a living wage for workers to support themselves in the modern economy, allow for career and salary growth, provide economic security, and remove the need for public assistance.
• Applications must be developed in partnership with a business or multiple businesses to maximize industry focused curriculum development and promote direct job placement.
• The required letters of commitment from industry partners should explain the company’s specific role(s) in the project such as financial commitment, involvement in curriculum development, instructional partner, apprenticeship/internship/job placement partner, recruitment of program trainees, projected hiring needs, etc.
• Preference will be given to training programs that provide opportunities for direct job placement and those involving proactive placement approaches, such as job shadowing, internships, partnerships with companies that will hire participants for full-time employment, and programs that provide post-placement support.

Detailed eligibility information can be found in the Pay for Performance program guidelines.

Eligible Uses of Funds

Funding can be used for a variety of programmatic expenses related to a new program or expansion of an existing program. Eligible training program expenses include, but are not limited to:

• Curricula development
• Instruction and instructional materials
• Technology specifically required for training
• Credentialing exam fees
• Marketing expenses or outreach activities to foster participant recruitment of target populations
• Services to foster job placement and retention  
• Participant stipends, wraparound services, and trainee supports, or activities that will be made available to program participants to reduce barriers to training (i.e., childcare, online programming, public transit passes or other transportation supports, career coaching, and professional skills or success skills training)
• Impact data collection and analysis

Evaluation Criteria

Applications for funding through the Capacity-Building Awards track will be evaluated on the extent to which they fulfill the goals of the program and meet the following criteria:

Program Concept

• The training program is in at least one of the statewide and/or regional target industry sectors.
• The training program provides opportunities for entry-level and mid-skill workers in high-demand, good jobs.
• The training program targets disadvantaged populations and/or incumbent workers.

Partnerships and Innovation

• The program was developed in partnership with a business or multiple businesses, is demonstrating its ability to train for in-demand skills and can demonstrate job placement following training.
• The program employs multiple workforce development strategies (such as skills training, wraparound services, mentoring, and professional skills development) to address a range of diverse and complex worker issues.
• The program reaches diverse populations for its program through utilizing effective and innovative outreach and recruitment methods.

Program Impact

• The program has demonstrated an ability to address a specific challenge in both the industry it assists and the population it serves.
• The program demonstrates an ability to train and place participants in in-demand, good jobs.
• The program is demonstrating an ability for high job placement as a result of direct employer partnerships and a high retention rate through ongoing services.
• The applicant can demonstrate effective measuring of existing program impact.

Support Services

• The project includes meaningful trainee supports (“wraparound services”), or activities that will be made available to program participants to reduce barriers to 1) training access or effectiveness, and 2) retaining a job.  These may include childcare, online programming, public transit passes or other transportation supports, career coaching, professional skills or success skills training, free or reduced programming, etc.

Applicant Experience, Qualifications, and Capacity

• The applicant and affiliated partners demonstrate they have the capacity to continue the program and achieve a high-level of results.
• The applicant has demonstrated their established track record of effective training and trusted relationships within the target communities, as evidenced by its existing program performance.
• ESD funding will increase the capacity or efficacy of this organization to enable its future success.

Frequently Asked Questions

Click here to view frequently asked questions.

All questions for the OSWD grant programs can be sent to [email protected].

How to Apply

• Make sure you have thoroughly reviewed the full program guidelines here.
• Review the Pay for Performance Program checklist.
• Complete the OSWD budget template for the Consolidated Funding Application (CFA).
• Begin the CFA here.