USDOLETA announced the availability of Workforce Innovation Grant Funds late in December.
The Workforce Innovation Fund ("the Fund") is one of several new Federal grant programs in which grantor agencies support projects that seek to use evidence to design program strategies. The Fund will provide grants to states, local workforce areas, and entities eligible for Section 166 Indian and Native American Program grants to:
- Re-tool service delivery strategies and/or policy and administrative systems and processes to improve outcomes for workforce system customers and;
- Evaluate the effectiveness of such activities.
Why are we interested in both service delivery innovation and system reform? While employment and training outcomes rest on the effectiveness of service delivery strategies, the policy and administrative frameworks in which these strategies are developed and implemented also have an enormous effect. We believe that innovation at the systems level - where policies, organizational structures, planning processes, performance measurement, procurement, investment priorities, and information management systems reside - is necessary to support service delivery strategies that result in better outcomes and lower costs.
In support of such goals, the Administration is seeking new ways to remove administrative, statutory, and regulatory barriers to support greater coordination in the delivery of services, particularly among agencies and programs with overlapping missions and clients. Through the Workforce Innovation Fund, we seek to support changes in structures and policies that enable a closer alignment and integration of workforce development, education, human and social services, social insurance, and economic development programs.
Applications are due March 22 and all materials and information can be accessed here.
Comments