Many of the students that I-TAP helps to train into the next generation of commercial electricians receive financial assistance from a variety of ongoing government programs. However, for a very limited time, I-TAP has access to special funding from the Workforce Investment Opportunity Act.

If you are between 18 and 24 years of age, you have until the end of April to take advantage of a unique opportunity to get financial assistance from the Workforce Investment Opportunity Act (WIOA).

What’s WIOA?

Back in 2014, President Obama signed into law a program called the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act, better known by its acronym, WIOA. WIOA was designed to specifically help people who struggle to better their lives because they can’t afford the education necessary to qualify for well-paying jobs.

The reality is that people who grew up in foster care, been incarcerated, or dropped out of school for one reason or another don’t have the means to go to a vocation school or college. The goal of WIOA is to find those individuals who have the capacity to be successful workers, and get them the funding they need to get their educations.

For those who are interested in becoming commercial electricians, but who need help with tuition, I-TAP is qualified for WIOA financial grants.

If WIOA always makes funds available to Central California residents, what makes this opportunity different?

WIOA provides each county in California with funding allotments. There are strict requirements for how this money can be spent. A certain amount of money is allotted for anyone with certain issues, another amount of money is allotted for youth, and so on.

In this case, a local WIOA office has funding for young people that must only be spent on young people between 18 and 24 years old. Typically, this funding has very strict restrictions on who this money can be spent on. In short, someone must meet the age requirement, while also having two “enhancements” which provide a special barrier to employment., such as being disabled, homeless, an ex-offender, a migrant farmworker, etc.

Usually, this allotment is exhausted long before the deadline. But right now, WIOA has money that it has to spend by May 1^st of 2018. To ensure that the money is spent, they are temporarily lifting the enhancement requirement. For young people who would not usually qualify for financial assistance from WIOA, this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

If you would like to learn more about how WIOA can help pay for your electrical education at I-TAP, and to find out if you qualify for this and other sources of financial assistance, contact us today to learn more by calling 916-332-3332, or sending us a message using our contact form.

Don’t be afraid to contact us. We have helped many people find the money they need to help fund their electrical education, and we would love to have the opportunity to assist you. Don’t waste this opportunity, give us a call!