Workforce Education Implementation Grants (Phase 2) are grants designed for partnerships among education providers, business partners, and unions (where the workforce is unionized) to implement an instructional program for adult incumbent workers.
Priorities are to support applicants that demonstrate:
A need for ABE and/or ESOL services
A commitment from each stakeholder in the partnership
Readiness of the partnership to develop, implement and evaluate a multi-year workplace education program through oversight and guidance from a Planning and Evaluation Team (PET)
Strategies for student class participation and retention, e.g., release time, paid stipends, remote and/or asynchronous learning, or additional measures to support student participation for attendance and retention
Evidence of alignment with the WIOA plan in the local workforce area(s) in which the business partner is located (where the instruction is to take place)
Eligible applicants are those that were awarded a Phase 2 grant in FY2024.
Federal CFDA: 84.002
Federal grant funds must adhere to:
Approximately $60,000 is available.
This RFP is the governing document for these grant funds.
Funding is contingent upon availability. All dollar amounts listed are estimated/approximate and are subject to change. If more funding becomes available it will be distributed under the same guidelines that appear in this RFP document.
Funding must be used to:
For Phase 2, not less than 95 percent of funds must be spent on adult education direct services and literacy activities; as a result, not more than five percent of the funds may be spent on administrative costs. AEFLA defines administrative costs as allowable costs related to planning, administration (including carrying out performance accountability requirements), professional development, providing AE and literacy services in alignment with local workforce plans, carrying out one-stop partner responsibilities, and state approved IDC charged to the grant. (Note: Approved IDC is part of the grantee's administrative cost.)
AEFLA Sec. 233 states that professional development expenses are administrative expenses and part of the five percent limit. DESE has further defined administrative professional development expenses to include non-SABES registration fees and travel expenses including out of state travel. SABES trainings and the annual MCAE Network conference are defined by DESE as instructional expenses.
Grantees may negotiate with DESE on an individual basis to determine an adequate level of funds for non-instructional purposes by submitting a written request and rationale with their annual continuation applications. DESE will not grant administrative cost requests that exceed 25 percent of grant funds. Grantees must keep in mind that charges for IDC are included in the program's administrative costs.
When preparing budgets, grantees must keep in mind the specific line item costs that are included in the calculation of administrative costs are Lines 1, 3, 4 (as it relates to Lines 1 and 3), 9, and 10.
Programs may negotiate a higher administrative cost percentage by submitting a written request and rationale with the application.
Adult Education Services are restricted rate programs that are subject to a statutory "supplement, not supplant" restriction. Grantees are required to use a restricted indirect cost rate of 8% unless your calculated indirect cost rate is less than 8%. If the calculated indirect cost rate is less than 8%, you must use the lower rate for your budget. If you have an approved negotiated federal indirect cost rate, it must be submitted to ESE. If you do not have an approved indirect cost rate agreement, you must apply annually to ESE for an approved indirect cost rate. The indirect cost rate is calculated using costs specified in the grantee's indirect cost plan. Those specified costs may not be charged as direct costs to the grant or to any other grant under any circumstances.
Applicants are required to provide an auditable matching share of 20% of the total amount of the requested grant award.
Upon Approval (No earlier than 7/1/2024) – 6/30/2025
Funds cannot exceed the project duration end date.
Adult and Community Learning Services (ACLS)
Wayne Yee
(781) 338-3838
Monday, June 7, 2024
Proposals must be received at the Department by 5:00 p.m. Eastern on the date due.
GEM$ submission at the LEA Fiscal Representative Approved level must be done by July 1, 2024 for a July 1, 2024 start date.
All sections in GEM$ must be completed, including:
Massachusetts Guidelines for Effective Workplace Education Partnerships
Massachusetts Professional Standards for Teachers of Adult English Speakers of Other Languages
Massachusetts English Language Proficiency Standards for Adult Education
College and Career Readiness Standards for Adult Education
Massachusetts Indicators of Program Quality for Workplace Education
Workplace Education Recommended Readings
The FY25 FC 0495 Workplace Education Phase II Continuation grant will be submitted in our new GEM$ system. GEM$ is a cloud-based fiscal and program management grant system that will eventually phase out the use of EdGrants.
Grants for Education Management System (GEM$)
Please Note: Grant Submission at the LEA level requires roles to be established for Grant writer for the specific fund code, LEA fiscal for financial review/approval, and Superintendent/Chief Executive sign off. All these roles should be established prior to the grant due date and all appropriate forms should be either uploaded to GEM$, maintained at the LEA level or sent in to the DESE RFP contact as described on the individual forms. The user guidance documents and forms are found on the GEM$ homepage under DESE Resources. These form can be accessed without logging in to the system.
Last Updated: May 28, 2024
Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education 135 Santilli Highway, Everett, MA 02149
Voice: (781) 338-3000 TTY: (800) 439-2370
Disclaimer: A reference in this website to any specific commercial products, processes, or services, or the use of any trade, firm, or corporation name is for the information and convenience of the public and does not constitute endorsement or recommendation by the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education.