New Act Mandates Diversity Plans for All Apprenticeships, Targeting African American Enrollment by 2026

The “Jobs, On-the-Job Earn-While-You-Learn Training, and Apprenticeships for Young African-Americans Act” is a targeted effort to address long-standing economic disparities by boosting the participation of young African Americans in registered apprenticeship programs. The bill starts from the premise that African American unemployment rates have historically been two to three times higher than their white counterparts, even during economic booms, calling this disparity a “national crisis” (Sec. 2). Its central mechanism is to use the Department of Labor’s apprenticeship system to mandate and fund greater inclusion, with an effective date set for April 22, 2026 (Sec. 7).

The New Gatekeeper: Diversity and Inclusion Administrator

To make sure this actually happens, the bill creates a new role: the Diversity and Inclusion Administrator within the Office of Apprenticeship at the Department of Labor (Sec. 3). This Administrator is tasked with promoting greater diversity across the national apprenticeship system, specifically focusing on increasing participation from African American, Hispanic, Asian American or Pacific Islander, and Native American individuals. Crucially, this new Administrator will engage with higher education institutions and employers in “nontraditional” apprenticeship fields, like IT and healthcare, not just the usual construction trades. This is the office that will be signing off on whether programs are meeting the new diversity requirements.

Mandatory Diversity Plans for Every Program

Here’s the part that impacts every existing apprenticeship program: Under Section 4, any program seeking to register or renew its registration with the Department of Labor must now submit a specific “plan to increase participation of African American individuals.” This isn’t optional; it’s a required part of the application process. For a program sponsor—say, a local plumbers union or a large manufacturing company—this means they can’t just keep doing what they’ve been doing. They have to formalize a strategy for outreach and inclusion. While the bill doesn’t define what makes a plan ‘acceptable,’ the new Administrator holds the power to approve or deny registration based on this submission, giving them significant leverage over the entire national system.

Funding the Outreach: New Grant Opportunities

To help programs meet these new requirements, Section 5 authorizes a competitive grant program to create or expand diversity efforts. This is where the money comes in to turn those mandatory plans into action. Eligible recipients are broad—ranging from State apprenticeship agencies and labor organizations to community groups and industry partnerships. Grant funds can be used for things like establishing partnerships that provide financial planning and mentoring services for African American participants, or for outreach and recruitment in communities with high numbers of African Americans. The grants are aimed at both traditional fields (like construction and welding) and nontraditional ones (like cybersecurity and green jobs).

What This Means for Everyday People

If you’re a young African American looking for a high-wage career path, this bill creates new incentives for training programs to actively recruit and support you. The grant money is specifically meant to fund the “supportive services” needed for participants to join and complete a program, helping to remove barriers like lack of financial planning or mentorship (Sec. 5). If you’re running a registered apprenticeship program, you need to start thinking about your diversity strategy now. If you don’t have a solid plan to increase African American enrollment, your registration renewal could be at risk. Finally, the bill authorizes $2 million in 2026, scaling up to $5 million by 2029 (Sec. 8), to fund these administrative and grant activities, showing a commitment to putting resources behind the new rules.