6 States Selected To Participate In NGA Youth Apprenticeship Policy Academy
In The News Piece in National Governor Association
July 5, 2023
National Governors Association to Work with Alabama, Colorado, Indiana, Kansas, North Carolina, and Utah to help them develop and implement policy agendas that advance high-quality youth apprenticeship opportunities. Additional states have been welcomed into a Community of Practice for peer learning and technical assistance opportunities.
Alabama, Colorado, Indiana, Kansas, North Carolina, and Utah will participate in the National Governors Association Center for Best Practices (NGA Center) Policy Academy to Advance Youth Apprenticeship. The Policy Academy offers participating states a yearlong opportunity designed to support them as they develop policy agendas that advance high-quality youth apprenticeship opportunities. Participating states will also receive a $50,000 grant award to execute their project activities.
The Partnership to Advance Youth Apprenticeship (PAYA) – a collaborative initiative led by New America for which the NGA Center has served as national partner since its inception in 2018 – defines youth apprenticeship as a structured, work-based learning program designed to start when apprentices are in high school. PAYA’s definition of youth apprenticeship also includes the following four elements that support high-quality programs and outcomes for students and employers:
- Paid, on-the-job learning under the supervision of skilled employee mentors
- Related classroom-based instruction
- Ongoing assessment against established skills and competency standards
- Culmination in a portable, industry-recognized credential and postsecondary credit
Governors’ efforts to establish and strengthen high-quality youth apprenticeship programs are especially critical given today’s historically tight labor market and the opportunity to engage more young people in the labor force. To ensure that students who have been historically underserved are successful in their programs, participating states will carry out several recommendations offered in NGA’s State Policy Playbook to Advance Youth Apprenticeship – a publication issued in July of 2022 that outlines actions Governors can take to support and scale youth apprenticeships.
Through their participation in the one-year Policy Academy, state teams from Alabama, Colorado, Indiana, Kansas, North Carolina, and Utah will enact policy changes that advance high-quality youth apprenticeship, develop and implement an action plan for advancing youth apprenticeship, and engage with state peers through NGA Center facilitated opportunities. Project activities will officially kick off in Washington, D.C. on August 16 when state teams convene for a day of learning and action planning with state peers, federal leaders, and national subject matter experts.