The United States is experiencing a widening skills gap between what potential employees have and what employers are looking for. FHI 360’s National Institute for Work and Learning (NIWL) believes apprenticeships are a solution to this skills gap, providing a pathway to fulfilling careers that benefits employers, employees, and the entire workforce system.
Through the PLACE Hub, NIWL seeks to expand awareness of and access to apprenticeships, building this valuable pathway to career attainment.
FHI 360’s Promising Leaders Apprenticing in the Care Economy (PLACE) Hub brings together experts in workforce development to expand existing nationally registered apprenticeship programs (RAPs) and develop new opportunities within the Care Economy. PLACE apprentices will enter care economy roles, such as youth services, peer support, substance-use counseling, and mental health counseling. This national hub is funded by the U.S. Department of Labor’s (DOL) Apprenticeship Builds America grant (ABA2), and is part of a broad, bipartisan commitment to expand apprenticeship as a workforce solution.
FHI 360’s PLACE Hub provides workers an opportunity to build their skillsets in a rewarding career path while also meeting the critically growing need for care economy professionals.
The PLACE Hub is supported by the Employment Training Administration of the U.S. Department of Labor as part of an ABA2 grant award totaling $8 million with 0% financed from non-governmental sources.
What is Apprenticeship?
An apprenticeship is a structured earn-while-you-learn employment model that combines related training instruction with on-the-job learning under the guidance of an experienced mentor.
Registered Apprenticeships Programs (RAPs) are registered with the U.S. Department of Labor. Upon completion of an RA program, an apprentice earns a nationally recognized credential from the U.S. Department of Labor certifying occupational proficiency.
To learn more about registered apprenticeship, visit: www.apprenticeship.gov
A Talent Pipeline for the Care Economy
The Care Economy is a rapidly growing field in which trained professionals support individuals faced with physical, mental, and societal challenges. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics expects an average of 16% growth across the youth development, peer support, and substance use disorder mental health counseling from 2023 to 2033. The PLACE Hub apprenticeships create alternative pathways to entry, incorporate the voices of lived experiences, and provide inclusive opportunities to earn while learning in Care Economy professions. The PLACE Hub includes a pre-apprenticeship and three apprenticeship pathways:
Learn more about the YDPA and how you can become an employer partner:
From the World Economic Forum: Apprenticeships could change the way Americans work and learn, by NIWL Director Lisa Johnson
FHI 360’s NIWL is part of the Apprenticeship Ambassador Initiative, which seeks to create a national network of employers, labor organizations, industry associations, program sponsors, educators, workforce intermediaries, minority serving organizations, community-based organizations, and other stakeholders to serve as champions for expanding and diversifying Registered Apprenticeship.
