Youth Workforce Readiness Act of 2025

Key Points

• The bill creates a new competitive federal grant program to fund after-school, weekend, and summer programs that teach young people job skills, career exploration, and workplace readiness.
• Congress would authorize $100 million per year from 2026 through 2030, for a total of up to $500 million over five years, to fund these programs.
• Only large national youth-serving nonprofits with chapters or affiliates in at least 35 states can apply directly for the grants, which they can then use to fund local partnerships and subgrants.
• For teens 15 and older, funded programs must offer hands-on work experience like paid or unpaid internships, apprenticeships, job shadowing, and on-the-job training to help them transition into careers.
• The bill also revives local Youth Councils under existing workforce law, bringing together parents, employers, educators, and representatives of vulnerable youth populations to advise local workforce boards.
• Grant recipients must track outcomes like school attendance, grades, and program completion, and the Secretary of Labor will evaluate programs periodically to decide whether grants get renewed.