Narrative: b. 2.

2. Registered Apprenticeship

Describe how the State will incorporate Registered Apprenticeship into its strategy for service design and delivery (e.g., job center staff taking applications and conducting assessments).

The Governor, with support of the Iowa Legislature, increased the state’s capacity to meet the rapidly evolving needs of employers through increased support to Registered Apprenticeship programs.  In 2014, funding to support Registered Apprenticeship Programs was tripled to $3 million.  In 2019, the Governor further supported this program with the creation of the Future Ready Iowa Registered Apprenticeship Development Fund with additional $1 million investment.  IWD received additional funds from the Apprenticeship State Expansion Grant to advance the state's work on growing RA programs and hiring additional job seekers into programs.  IWD created two RA Career Planner positions to assist in this referral process.  IWD is working in conjunction with the US Department of Labor's Office of Apprenticeship to increase the number of High School RA Programs throughout the state.  IWD and IVRS are currently implementing a pilot program to recruit Individuals, who are blind, into RA and Quality Pre-Apprenticeship Programs.  IWD has actively recruited RA Sponsors to apply for inclusion on the Eligible Training Provider List and hopes to have at least 25 percent of all sponsors on the list by 2022. 

IWD is also promoting the co-enrollment of RA into every Workforce Services program by communicating and training with AJC staff.  RA Program Coordinator also discusses with Trade Program Coordinators when Trade petitions are certified to encourage RA when possible.  IWD is also using WIOA set-aside funding to enhance participation of Title I participants with a funding opportunity for local workforce development boards.

In 2020, IWD was awarded the State Apprenticeship Expansion 2020(SAE2020) grant that runs July 2020 through June 2023. The SAE2020 is $3.4 million to support further expansion of RA programs. With the growing demand for RA program development in Iowa, these funds will focus on expansion within the healthcare, agricultural, and industries affected by COVID-19.  These funds also support modernization of RA data tracking and reporting to allow for the ability to more easily capture performance. IWD also added additional RA-focused staff to support Iowa employers and job seekers to develop and staff expanded RA programs in throughout the state. Through targets business outreach and continued collaboration with IWD partners, IWD looks to continue to grow RA in Iowa.