Building the Youth Apprenticeship Landscape: Enabling Conditions of Youth Apprenticeship Intermediaries

The Partnership to Advance Youth Apprenticeship (PAYA) is a multi-year initiative to support efforts in states and cities to expand access to high-quality apprenticeship opportunities for high school age youth. Through the PAYA Network, the initiative connects place-based practitioners to surface best practices and co-develop solutions to a range of policy and programmatic challenges. Education Strategy Group, a PAYA National Partner, interviewed six different intermediaries about the opportunities and the challenges they face in meeting student and employer needs and advancing youth apprenticeship in their state. This report shares their findings and recommendations for policymakers, employers, and state leaders.

Youth apprenticeship programs offer a powerful means to integrate work-based and academic learning, providing a critical pathway to in-demand careers, particularly for historically marginalized populations. Collaboration across sectors and stakeholders is crucial for successful youth apprenticeship programs, but achieving alignment and coordination can be challenging. Youth apprenticeship intermediaries play a vital role in bridging the gaps between education and workforce systems, facilitating cohesive collaboration, setting high standards for career pathways, and advocating for systemic changes that ensure equitable opportunities and long-term success for all youth. These organizations serve as the connective tissue, uniting diverse stakeholders to design and implement effective programs while also working toward a future where youth apprenticeships are more accessible to a broader range of young people. However, different environments at the state and local levels impact intermediaries' ability to advance and scale youth apprenticeship.

To learn more about conditions that allow youth apprenticeship intermediaries to thrive, we sought to learn from six intermediary organizations across the country. After speaking with leaders of these organizations, five enabling conditions emerged.

1. A supportive policy environment;

2. Partner engagement and collaboration;

3. Existing data systems;

4. Funding availability and flexibility; and

5. The accessibility and connectivity of supportive services.

These conditions impact the strength of the youth apprenticeship movement, the collaboration between stakeholders across sectors, and the financial support that intermediaries and their partners receive to design, implement, and expand access to youth apprenticeship programs. If leaders in government, education, and industry want to support the advancement of youth apprenticeship, they must recognize these conditions and actively build a landscape that supports the work of youth apprenticeship intermediaries, which are well positioned to carry this work forward. In the meantime, effective intermediaries are strategically maximizing their impact, navigating current challenges, and advocating for more supportive conditions.