DAS Announces $16 Million in Available Funding to Expand Youth Apprenticeships Across California

Earlier this week, California Labor & Workforce Development Agency Labor Secretary Stewart Knox joined Governor Gavin Newsom during a fireside chat and press conference to unveil the California Jobs First economic blueprint. Part of the Jobs First economic blueprint includes $16 million in available funding for pre-apprenticeship and apprenticeship programs for young people ages 16-24 through the second round of the California Opportunity Youth Apprenticeship (COYA) grant. The COYA grant is transformative funding designed to uplift young people – particularly those who are at risk of disconnection or are disconnected from the education system or employment, unhoused, in the child welfare, juvenile justice, or criminal legal systems, living in concentrated poverty, or are facing barriers to labor market participation. The COYA grant invests in Interagency Advisory Committee on Apprenticeship (IACA) and fire trades connected apprenticeship and pre-apprenticeship programs that offer young people a direct onramp and access to high-paying careers in industries like: 🔷 Healthcare 🔷 Education 🔷 Advanced Manufacturing 🔷 Information technology 🔷 Public Sector 🔷 Fire Trades 🔷 Transportation, and more