§ 543 - Workforce education and training fund; grant programs - Vermont Statutes

§ 543. Workforce education and training fund; grant programs

(a) Creation. There is created a workforce education and training fund in the department of labor to be managed in accordance with subchapter 5 of chapter 7 of Title 32.

(b) Purposes. The fund shall be used exclusively for the following two purposes:

(1) training to improve the skills of Vermont workers, including those who are unemployed, underemployed, or in transition; and

(2) internships to provide work-based learning opportunities with Vermont employers for students from Vermont colleges, public and private high schools, regional technical centers, and the Community High School of Vermont, and for students who are Vermont residents attending college, high school, technical or vocational schools out of state.

(c) Administrative Support. Administrative support for the grant award process shall be provided by the departments of labor and of economic development. Technical, administrative, financial, and other support shall be provided whenever appropriate and reasonable by the workforce development council and all other public entities involved in economic development, workforce development and training, and education.

(d) Eligible Activities. Awards from the fund shall be made to employers and entities that offer programs that require collaboration between employees and businesses, including private, public, and nonprofit entities, institutions of higher education, technical centers, and workforce development programs. Funding shall be for training programs and student internship programs that offer education, training, apprenticeship, mentoring, or work-based learning activities, or any combination; that employ innovative intensive student-oriented competency-based or collaborative approaches to workforce development; and that link workforce education and economic development strategies. Training programs or projects that demonstrate actual increased income and economic opportunity for employees and employers may be funded for more than one year. Student internships and training programs that involve the same employer may be funded multiple times, provided that new students participate.

(e) Award Criteria and Process. The workforce development council, in consultation with the commissioners of labor and of economic development, shall develop criteria consistent with subsection (d) of this section for making awards under this section. The commissioners of labor and of economic development shall develop process for making awards that includes both the following:

(1) applications shall be submitted to and reviewed by the local workforce investment board. Within seven business days, the board shall forward them to the commissioner of labor, unless this time requirement is waived by the applicant; and

(2) if review by the local workforce investment board as required by subdivision (1) of this subsection is not completed within seven business days, the applicant may file the application directly with the commissioner of labor without further review by the local workforce investment board.

(f) Awards. Based on guidelines set by the council, the commissioner of labor shall make awards to the following:

(1) Training Programs. Public, private, and nonprofit entities for existing or new innovative training programs. There shall be a preference for programs that include training for newly created or vacant positions. Awards may be made to programs that retrain incumbent workers. Awards under this subdivision shall be made to programs or projects that do all the following:

(A) offer innovative programs of intensive, student-centric, competency-based education, training, apprenticeship, mentoring, or any combination of these;

(B) address the needs of workers who are unemployed, underemployed, or are at risk of becoming unemployed due to changing workplace demands by increasing productivity and developing new skills for incumbent workers;

(C) lead to jobs paying at least 200 percent of the current minimum wage or at least 150 percent if benefits are included; this requirement may be waived when warranted based on regional or occupational wages or economic reality;

(D) require a measurable investment from involved employers;

(E) do not duplicate, supplant, or replace other available programs funded with public money;

(F) articulate clear goals and demonstrate readily accountable, reportable, and measurable results;

(G) demonstrate an integrated connection between training and specific employment opportunities, including an effort and consideration by participating employers to hire those who successfully complete a training program.

(2) Internship Program. Public and private entities for internship programs that match Vermont employers with students from public and private secondary schools, regional technical centers, the Community High School of Vermont, and colleges. For the purposes of this section, "internship" means a learning experience working with an employer where the intern may, but does not necessarily receive academic credit, financial remuneration, a stipend, or any combination of these. Awards under this subdivision may be used to fund the cost of administering an internship program and to provide students with a stipend during the internship, based on need. Awards may be made only to programs or projects that do all the following:

(A) do not replace or supplant existing positions;

(B) create real workplace expectations and consequences;

(C) provide a process that measures progress toward mastery of skills, attitude, behavior, and sense of responsibility required for success in that workplace;

(D) are designed to motivate and educate secondary and postsecondary students through work-based learning opportunities with Vermont employers that are likely to lead to real employment;

(E) include mechanisms that promote employer involvement with secondary and postsecondary students and curriculum and the delivery of education at the participating schools;

(F) involve Vermont employers or interns who are Vermont residents; and

(G) offer students a continuum of learning, experience, and relationships with employers that will make it financially possible and attractive for graduates to continue to work and live in Vermont.

(g) [Repealed.] (Added 2007, No. 46, § 4, eff. May 23, 2007; amended 2007, No. 182 (Adj. Sess.), § 7, eff. June 2, 2008; 2009, No. 33, § 23; No. 54, § 9, eff. June 1, 2009;; No. 1 (Sp. Sess.), § E.401.1.)