|  | | |  | DOL Announces NFJP Grant Awards After 10-Week Delay; AFOP Community Grapples with ChangesKendra Moesle, AFOP Director of Workforce Development Sept 16, 2024
On Friday, September 6, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) posted the results of the 2024 National Farmworker Jobs Program (NFJP) Career Services & Training (CST) grant competition, breaking its silence and putting an end to everyone’s agonizing wait. For some AFOP members, the announcement confirmed the good news they had received in an award letter from DOL earlier that week. For others, the announcement spelled the end of, or at least very painful changes to, their farmworker programs.
The Numbers
Overall, 75 percent of existing grantees were awarded new four-year grants, bringing relief to those organizations and needed funds to the farmworkers who had been waiting for months to resume or start receiving services. Four multi-state grantees, including PathStone, MET, UMOS, and OHDC, won back all their grants, while MET extended its reach eastward by winning a new grant in Kentucky. Additionally, 14 grantees won back their full grants: PPEP, Inc. (Arizona), AHDC (Arkansas), CHD (California), CVOC (California), Rocky Mountain SER (Colorado), Florida Department of Education, CC of Idaho, SER Corp (Kansas), MDCFWO (Mississippi), REO, Inc. (Montana), BHSSC (South Dakota), TOPS (Tennessee), FTT (Utah), and OIC of Washington.
The flip side, of course, is that 25 percent of existing grantees were not selected for a new award, including several that have operated farmworker programs for decades: Telamon Corporation (Michigan, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, and Alabama), ORO Development Corporation (Oklahoma), and Employers Training Resource (California). West Hills Community College District (California) and National SER (California), grantees who were new to NFJP in 2020, were also not selected. Two other California grantees – Proteus and CET – saw budget cuts. Kern County, one of the highest agriculture-producing states in the nation, appears to have received no NFJP dollars at all.
Two multi-state grantees – New England Farm Workers Council (NEFWC) and Proteus, Inc. – did not receive an award in one or more of their existing states, though the path forward in Iowa remains unclear. Five states received no funding at all: Hawaii, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Oklahoma. Those five state allocations were distributed proportionally to the rest of the grantees, resulting in higher award amounts than the allocations that were listed this past June in the Federal Register. |
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| New Grant Cycle, New NFJP
This year’s competition yielded eight new grantees: Alabama Non-Profit Housing – Alabama Alabama Non-Profit Housing – Georgia Alabama Non-Profit Housing – North Carolina County of San Joaquin - California County of Santa Barbara - California Ventura County Human Services Agency - California Michigan Department of Labor and Economic Opportunity - Michigan Northeastern Technical College – South Carolina
But that’s not all that’s new. The NFJP itself is changing for returning grantees.
In this year’s solicitation, DOL encouraged applicants to focus on agriculture as one of its “sector strategies” – meaning, the industry in which a grantee will focus on providing training and job placements for NFJP participants. AFOP members have always led the charge in serving agricultural employers, providing agricultural upgrades for farmworkers who needed higher skills and higher pay. In this round of grants, however, more organizations proposed to focus on agriculture than any other industry (35), which is a first for NFJP. Other industries include Healthcare (33), Transportation (27), and Manufacturing (22).
This new emphasis on serving the agricultural industry will require both innovative ideas as well as intensive partnerships at the state and county levels. That may be why DOL will be monitoring and tracking implementation of NFJP grantees’ Memoranda of Understanding (MOUs) with both the Local Workforce Development Boards (LWDB) and the State Monitor Advocates. DOL is also fast-tracking a webinar on how to employ the Agricultural Recruitment System (ARS).
Not all changes portended by the FOA became reality. Though DOL proposed to award potentially more programs than in prior years (up to 75), the grantee community in fact shrank, from 54 down to 51 awardees. And even though DOL laid out a plan for splitting the highest-allocated states into two grants, that ultimately did not occur. All grants in MSFW-significant states (besides California) were awarded to a single grantee.
Keeping Farmworkers at the Center
Throughout the long wait for the 2024 grant announcement, members lost sleep over many things: the departures of staff or colleagues who chose to leave or were furloughed; their own job security; the future of their organizations; etc. Their overriding concern, however, was for the farmworkers who, for ten weeks and counting, had to go without much-needed services from NFJP.
Now that the competition has been announced, awarded grantees can finally do that again. Programs can open back up. Farmworkers can enroll in NFJP, receive services, and take the training that will open new doors to a better life.
And that alone is something to celebrate. |
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| | | |  | See You in Vegas!AFOP September 22, 2024 |
| We look forward to welcoming all 300+ registered attendees, guests, and speakers to our 2024 National Conference this week at The Flamingo Hotel in Las Vegas.
We’ve worked hard on the agenda and expect that you will get a lot out of the sessions we’ve arranged. Did you miss DOL’s virtual onboarding for NFJP? We have training for that! Did you hear about the court case for H-2A that’s been in the news? We have a presentation for that, too. You wanted more workforce development training? We’ve got lots of that. We also have exciting plenaries and training on A.I., anti-racism, and more!
If that wasn’t enough, we recently added something new to the itinerary: individual grantee one-on-one meetings with the NFJP team from USDOL (2024 awardees only). To claim an in-person meeting with Laura, Dawn, and Ashley, simply add your name to the sign-up sheet when you check in for the conference this week. Spots are limited and they are offered on a first-come, first-served basis.
To save themselves time at registration, all attendees should sign into the conference app in advance by following these instructions: Download the AFOP 2024 National Conference official event app in your preferred app store: After the app is installed, please enter your email and setup your profile. Once you register, you will be able to access the conference agenda, view speakers’ info, create your own track, read our tips on what to do in Las Vegas, and more!!!
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| | |  | AFOP Announces Winners of the 2024 AFOP Excellence AwardsAFOP September 17, 2024 |
| AFOP is proud to announce the winners of the 2024 AFOP Excellence Awards. The AFOP Excellence Awards recognize individuals and organizations who have gone above and beyond in their efforts to better their own lives or the lives of other farmworkers. It is a nationwide, competitive contest.
AFOP will recognize these award winners at the 2024 AFOP National Conference in Las Vegas, during the AFOP Excellence Awards ceremony on Thursday, September 26.
Congratulations to all! |
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|  | Art & Essay Contest Winners AnnouncedAFOP August 30, 2024 |
| We are thrilled to announce this year's CIFC Art & Contest winners. Their powerful artwork and essays have beautifully captured the spirit, resilience, and dreams of children in the fields.
1st place, Art 10-13: Ingrid Joanna Mendoza (13) 2nd place, Art 10-13: Kimberly Francisco-Casillo (13) 3rd place, Art 10-13: Ayslin Jimenez (11)
1st place, Essay 10-13: Lourdes Lopez (13) 2nd place, Essay 10-13: Camila Alvarez (13) 3rd place, Essay 10-13: Angelique Figueroa (13)
1st place, Art 14-18: Cielo J.R. Ortiez (15) 2nd place, Art 14-18: Klariza Delila Sanchez (18) 3rd place, Art 14-18: Tamara Elisa Dominguez (16)
1st place, Essay 14-18: Berenice Yanez (16) 2nd place, Essay 14-18: Julio Tovar Romero (17) 3rd place, Essay 14-18: Victoria Ascencio (15)
You can view all the winners’ entries on our Facebook page or this week at the AFOP Conference CIFC Luncheon. |
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| |  | Professional Development Training with Workforce180 to Launch at the National ConferenceAFOP September 22, 2024 |
| After a thorough and competitive search, AFOP has selected Mike Fazio as the new lead trainer for the AFOP Training Institute, to launch at the national conference. Mike Fazio is a well-known keynote speaker at state, regional and national conferences, as well as trainer in all 50 states + DC, Puerto Rico, US Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands and Guam. Mike believes that consistent, enthusiastic coaching and leadership development provides individuals and organizations with the tools they need to reach higher levels of performance.
Come to ATI 2024’s opening session at the National Conference, held on Wednesday morning at 10:30am, to meet Mike Fazio and preview the training he’s lined up for AFOP. The Business Services and Leadership Development Certification courses start later that same day. Sign up here - we know you’re going to love it! |
| | |  | AFOP Successfully Applies for Susan Harwood Training Grant RenewalUSDOL September 19, 2024 |
| AFOP has won renewal of its Susan B. Harwood grant from the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). AFOP’s grant is one of $12.7 million in one-year federal safety and health training grants OSHA has made to 102 nonprofit organizations across the nation for targeted topic training, training and educational materials development, and capacity building.
AFOP will use this $160,000 to provide agricultural safety training and 15-hour train-the-trainer training to peer trainers in the agricultural industry. Target audience includes low-literacy and non-English speaking seasonal and migrant farmworkers and their employers. Training topics will include heat stress and pesticide safety. |
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| | PPEP Honored in Mexico CityAFOP September 5, 2024 |
| This summer, PPEP and its founder and chief executive officer, Dr. John Arnold, were honored at the Castle Chapultepec in Mexico City, Mexico as one of the eight most impactful organizations on human needs. Congratulations Dr. Arnold and PPEP! |
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| | | |  | Federal Judge Blocks Implementation of New DOL H-2A Rule; DOL Suspends Implementation NationwideReuters August 27, 2024 |
| The rule that would have expanded labor protections to H-2A workers was blocked by a federal judge in Georgia, who argued that Congress explicitly excluded farmworkers from such protections when it granted them to other private-sector workers in the National Labor Relations Act. The Republican-led states filing suit had argued that, if the Final Rule were enacted, alien agricultural workers would receive rights that American citizens working agricultural jobs do not enjoy.
Though the future of this rule is uncertain, anyone attending the AFOP conference next week can learn more about next steps at the session, “New Monitor Advocate Regulations NFJPs Should Know,” led by DOL’s National Monitor Advocate Team. |
| | |  | Comments Open for DOL’s New Heat Stress StandardAFOP September 5, 2024 |
| Impassioned advocates’ decades of hard work finally came to fruition this summer with the publication of a newly proposed federal heat stress standard in the Federal Register on August 30. The announcement triggered a four-month public comment period that will close on December 30.
AFOP commends the federal government for putting in place this commonsense rule that will help protect some of our society’s most vulnerable workers: the people who toil in back-breaking work in the terrible heat to provide the nation with the food it needs to survive: the migrant and seasonal farmworkers. AFOP looks forward to its implementation without delay. |
| | |  | DOL Releases 2024 Sector Strategies Framework, to Speak on Topic at ConferenceWorkforceGPS September 9, 2024 |
| In September 2024, ETA released an updated Sector Strategies Framework to guide national, state, and local practitioners in their efforts to launch and implement effective sector strategies. The Framework is intended to advance knowledge and support the development, scaling, and sustainability of sector strategies. It provides workforce system practitioners with a clear picture of the concepts and elements essential to the successful implementation of sector partnerships and sector strategies.
The Sector Strategies Framework was developed by ETA to harness lessons learned from the field, provide support to overcome common barriers, and help practitioners build knowledge in new areas.
Since Sector-Based Training Strategies featured prominently in this year’s NFJP Funding Opportunity Announcement, AFOP invited USDOL to the conference to speak on the subject. Attend the session on Tuesday morning with Steve Rietzke to learn more about ETA’s vision for sector strategies vis-á-vis NFJP. |
| | |  | New Phase of the Good Jobs ChallengeUSDOL August 22, 2024 |
| The Biden-Harris Administration, through the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Economic Development Administration (EDA), has launched a new phase of funding for the Good Jobs Challenge. This funding opportunity builds on the success of the first round of the Good Jobs Challenge awards, funded by the American Rescue Plan, and this round will invest $25 million into high-quality, locally led workforce training programs that lead to good jobs.
EDA anticipates making 5-8 awards ranging from $1 million to $8 million. Awards are expected to be announced in winter 2024. |
| | | $45M Available to Improve Employment Opportunities for Young People USDOL July 31, 2024 |
| DOL is making $45 million available in funding to support programs to provide skills training through work-based learning, employment services, educational support and mentorship to young adults in communities affected by violence, crime and poverty.
This is the second of two “Growth Opportunities” competitions the department announced in 2024 with the intention of awarding approximately 16 grants with funding authorized by the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act.
This funding opportunity closes October 15. |
| | | | |  | How Migrant and Seasonal Head Start Finally Succeeded in Expanding Reach to Farmworker FamiliesUnidos-US July 26, 2024 |
| Here’s a fascinating inside-look at how, after several false starts, fellow farmworker services organization National Migrant and Seasonal Head Start Association brought about increased access to Head Start services for children from migrant families. |
| | |  | Rep. Cuellar Introduces Bill to Require Information in Spanish on Hazardous Chemicals in the WorkplaceCongressman Henry Cuellar July 11, 2024 |
| On July 11, U.S. Congressman Henry Cuellar, Ph.D. (TX-28) introduced the Hazardous Workplace Accountability Act of 2024. This legislation directs the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) to require that safety data sheets for hazardous materials be provided in both English and Spanish. This bill will increase access to important safety information for our nation’s Spanish-speaking workforce by requiring chemical manufacturers to provide this critical information to employers and workers exposed to hazardous chemicals.
“Farmworkers across the nation will benefit tremendously from the Cuellar bill. This is the kind of common-sense legislation our country needs. AFOP applauds its introduction and supports its swift enactment,” said Daniel Sheehan, Executive Director of the Association of Farmworkers Opportunity Programs. |
| | |  | House Bill Would Increase Monetary Penalties for Employers Who Violate Farmworker Safety LawsAFOP July 26, 2024 |
| House Education and Workforce Committee Democratic leader Bobby Scott (D-Virginia) has introduced, with the support of several of his colleagues, legislation that would hit employers who violate farmworker safety laws with stiff new fines. The measure is titled “Labor Enforcement to Securely (LET’S) Protect Workers Act” (H.R. 9137).
Said Representative Scott of the measure: “Every American should be fairly compensated and be able to return home safely at the end of the day. Unfortunately, shortcomings in our labor laws enable unethical employers to exploit workers, endanger children, and suppress the right to organize—with little accountability. That’s why I'm proud to introduce the LET’S Protect Workers Act, which will hold bad actors accountable and strengthen penalties for labor law violations. This bill will help level the playing field and, once again, restore the balance of power between workers and their employers.”
While the current House of Representatives is unlikely to consider this bill before the body’s official adjournment at year’s end, AFOP is excited that Representative Scott plans to reintroduce this proposal next year when, depending on the results of November’s federal elections, he could chair the committee. |
| | | | |  | An American Dream: Skilled Trades Can Provide a Dignified Path to the Middle ClassBy Darnell Epps, Opinion Article, The Hill September 2, 2024 |
| America’s first Labor Day was in 1894. That year, workers fought not just for recognition but for the right to a dignified life — a fight that continues today. The solution to workers’ challenges in 2024, however, looks different than it did 130 years ago. It lies partly in raising the federal minimum wage and partly in upskilling our workforce. We must prepare our youth to fill the growing number of prosperous careers that demand specialized skills but don’t require four years of college.
The skilled trades and advanced manufacturing industries are not vestiges of the past — they are thriving sectors offering stability, growth and a pathway to the middle class. By investing in education and vocational training that aligns with these opportunities, we can empower millions of Americans to secure meaningful careers that offer lifelong learning and advancement. |
| | |  | Navy Warship Production in Worst State in 25 Years. What’s Behind It?Associated Press August 11, 2024 |
| Navy shipbuilding is currently in “a terrible state” — the worst in a quarter century, says Eric Labs, a longtime naval analyst at the Congressional Budget Office.
One of the industry’s chief problems is the struggle to hire and retain laborers for the challenging work of building new ships as graying veterans retire, taking decades of experience with them.
However, much of the blame lies with the Navy, which frequently changes requirements, requests upgrades and tweaks designs after shipbuilders have begun construction. |
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