California Youth Apprenticeship Program.

Existing law establishes within the Department of Industrial Relations the Division of Apprenticeship Standards, under the direction of the Chief of the Division of Apprenticeship Standards, to administer and enforce laws relating to apprenticeships, including evaluating and approving apprenticeship programs. This bill would establish the California Youth Apprenticeship Program for the purpose of awarding grant funds to eligible applicants to provide funding for existing apprenticeship and preapprenticeship programs or to develop new apprenticeship programs to serve a specified target population. The bill would define "target population" as individuals from 16 to 24 years of age who are at risk of disconnection or are disconnected from the education system or employment, unhoused, in the child welfare, juvenile justice, or criminal justice system, live in concentrated poverty, or face barriers to labor market participation, among other criteria. The bill would establish the Office of the California Youth Apprenticeship Program within the Division of Apprenticeship Standards to administer the program. This bill would require the office, among other things, to coordinate with, complement, and enhance existing preapprenticeship and apprenticeship programs and to solicit proposals and select grant recipients from eligible applicants, including, among others, county offices of education, regional consortia of community college districts, and local intermediaries. The bill would specify information required to be included in a grant proposal and would specify eligible purposes for use of grant funds. The bill would require the office to complete planning to implement the program by October 31, 2023, and would require the office to begin soliciting grant proposals by March 31, 2024. This bill would require the office to monitor grant recipients for compliance and would require grant recipients to provide necessary data to the office for purposes of evaluating achievement of the goals and objectives of the program. The bill would provide that the program shall be implemented only if funds are appropriated by the Legislature for purposes of the program. The bill would state various findings and declarations of the Legislature relating to apprenticeships.