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ETA News Release: [10/12/2007]
Contact Name: Jennifer Kaplan or Jennifer Coxe
Phone Number: (202) 693-5052 or x4676
Release Number: 07-1522-NAT

96 groups receive U.S. Labor Department’s first YouthBuild awards

$47 million will improve communities in 36 states and District of Columbia

DAYTON, Ohio — U.S. Secretary of Labor Elaine L. Chao today announced the award of $47 million to 96 groups that will provide education in construction as well as leadership training to at-risk young people across the United States, who will take part in building affordable housing in their own communities. Dayton's Improved Solutions for Urban Systems, one of the award-winning organizations, hosted the department's announcement of its first YouthBuild grant selections from hundreds of competitively screened proposals.

"These $47 million in YouthBuild awards will help at-risk youths get the education, training and opportunity they need to achieve a better life," said Secretary Chao.

YouthBuild will include individuals who have been in the juvenile justice system, young people aging out of foster care, high school dropouts and others.

"Young people in YouthBuild can take pride in the fact that they are not only improving their own lives, but also making a positive difference for their families, friends and neighbors," said Assistant Secretary of Labor for Employment and Training Emily Stover DeRocco. "Their participation in this creative program will help them take the first steps toward a variety of rewarding educational opportunities and careers."

Today's awards are the result of a competition begun in April, during which 322 qualified applications were received. Organizations chosen for YouthBuild funding include workforce investment boards, faith-based and community groups, and local and nonprofit housing development agencies.

With broad support, Congress transferred YouthBuild from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to the U.S. Department of Labor in 2006. The program's original goals remain — to educate, provide construction training and employ at-risk youth in their communities — while a greater emphasis is being placed on offering postsecondary education and forging stronger links with the One-Stop Career Center system and the nation's community colleges.

For more information on YouthBuild grants and other Department of Labor youth employment programs, visit www.doleta.gov/youth_services.

• View the list of grantees.