February 21, 2024
JFF helps schools, employers, and other organizations develop youth apprenticeship programs, with the goal of expanding the apprenticeship model throughout the economy and strengthening the supply of skilled labor.
Youth apprenticeship is a workforce development model through which young people ages 16-21 can build industry-specific knowledge and skills and earn job-related credentials. Offering a combination of paid on-the-job learning and formal classroom or online instruction, youth apprenticeship puts participants on pathways to quality jobs.
It’s a promising option for young people seeking alternatives to an expensive college education. And expanding youth apprenticeship and other forms of work-based learning (WBL) is a priority for the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL), which sees a need to build the supply of skilled labor at a time when employers are having difficulty finding talent.
JFF helps schools, colleges, employers, and other organizations launch Registered Apprenticeship programs for in-school youth. The goal is to increase awareness of apprenticeship and accelerate adoption of this proven earn-and-learn model in industries throughout the economy that offer well-paid jobs and opportunities for economic advancement. This work is part of the DOL’s Youth Apprenticeship Intermediaries program.
As an intermediary, JFF does the following:
JFF’s initial goal was to register 900 new youth apprentices between 2019 and 2023. By early 2024, JFF had registered more than 1,400 youth apprentices and developed 47 programs. JFF is a member of the Partnership to Advance Youth Apprenticeship, a coalition of organizations that support promising youth apprenticeship programs across the country, and is active in the Advisory Committee on Apprenticeship, which provides advice and recommendations to the U.S. secretary of labor on matters related to apprenticeship. In addition, JFF facilitates a robust community of practice of youth apprenticeship stakeholders and intermediaries.
