S.F. No. 3146 codifies the Youth-at-Work grant program administered by the Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED).

Section 1, [Youth-at-work grant program], subdivision 1 [Establishment] establishes a grant program within DEED to award grants to eligible organizations to provide workforce development and training to economically disadvantaged or at-risk youth.

Subdivision 2 [Definitions] provides definitions for terms used in the section, including “eligible organization” or “eligible applicant,” “at-risk youth,” and “economically disadvantaged.”

Subdivision 3 [Competitive grant awards] prioritizes distribution of grants to programs that provide students with information about education and training requirements for careers in high-growth, in-demand occupations; serve youth from communities of color; or serve youth with disabilities. Specifies that eligible organizations must be youth-serving organizations with demonstrated effectiveness in administering youth workforce development programs.

Subdivision 4 [Stability funding] specifies that stability funds be allocated through a formula with 70 percent allocated based on a service area or city’s share of youth from communities of color and 30 percent based on a service area or city’s share of economically disadvantaged youth. Specifies that 32.5 percent of the stability funding allocated to Minneapolis be allocated to the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board.

Subdivision 5 [Report] requires each grant recipient to report to the commissioner of DEED in a format to be determined by the commissioner.

Section 2 [Appropriation], paragraph (a) appropriates $10,000,000 in fiscal year 2017 from the general fund to DEED for the youth-at-risk competitive grant program for increases to existing applicants and for new applicants. Adds the additional amount to the base funding for the program.

Paragraph (b) appropriates $2,000,000 in fiscal year 2017 from the general fund to DEED for the youth-at-work stability funding. Makes the base amount the same per year for fiscal years 2018 and later.

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