CLOSED to new applications: Los Angeles County HRTP Cycle 3 AB338 wildfire recovery and rebuilding workforce deadline passed Friday, October 30, 2026, at 12:00 p.m. Pacific Time. The Los Angeles County Department of Economic Opportunity (DEO), with administrator Dalberg, is offering competitive High Road Training Partnership (HRTP) Cycle 3 grants for training Los Angeles County residents into unsubsidized high-quality jobs related to recovery from the 2025 wildfires.
Funding and award amounts
AB338 provides a $3,350,000 track funding pool across up to three grants within the more than $7.7 million overall Cycle 3 program pool spanning six distinct tracks. The RFA says exact award amounts will be established during contracting; no guaranteed individual applicant award maximum is published. Do not interpret the $3,350,000 aggregate as a per-applicant award. The reviewed RFA does not establish a mandatory cash match percentage.
Eligible applicants and required partnerships
The applicant must organize a High Road Training Partnership with five core roles: one lead applicant and fiscal agent, sector intermediary, employer, labor or worker representative, and training provider. A nonprofit can lead, as can a for-profit organization principally providing workforce development; government agencies cannot serve as lead applicants. Core partners must have qualifying Los Angeles County locations or provide the evidence required for a location by the grant execution date and must be in good standing. The intermediary, employer, and labor or worker representative must be separate legal organizations. Letters of commitment or memoranda of understanding are required for all five roles. A partnership may submit only one application and must choose one Cycle 3 track.
AB338 wildfire workforce priorities
Eligible proposals must train and place participants in at least one of three wildfire-related areas: rebuilding damaged homes, business premises and infrastructure in construction or trades; recovery of fire-impacted sectors such as early care and education, healthcare, creative work, tourism, and hospitality; or resilience occupations such as fire prevention, forestry, and wildfire mitigation. Projects need not cover all three areas. Applicants must show how activities benefit 2025-wildfire-impacted Los Angeles County geographies or neighboring communities.
More than 50% of employment placements must be located in affected geographies or neighboring communities, or must demonstrably benefit those areas. Employer partners must be located in or work in affected communities and show credible graduate hiring commitments in their signed partnership documents. Serving workers who lost employment, income or housing because of the fires is an expressed priority in scoring, not a universal eligibility requirement.
Training, payment and reporting
Program design begins January 2027. All training must start no later than May 1, 2027, and implementation must conclude by December 31, 2027. Placement support, reporting and closeout continue through March 31, 2028. Applicants must present a viable training, worker support, job placement and systems-change strategy, employer coordination, budget, staffing, and performance plan. Grant expenditures must comply with the RFA allowable-expenses addendum. Payments are by monthly reimbursement, generally within 30 to 45 days after a complete supported invoice; indirect costs normally cannot exceed 10% without an approved negotiated federal indirect-cost rate. Up to 10% of payment depends on verified job-placement outcomes.
Submission checklist
Send the completed application form as a PDF, signed MoUs/LoCs for all five core partner roles as PDFs, an itemized Excel budget, and a PDF logic model to HRTP@dalberg.com by October 30, 2026 at noon Pacific Time. Use the email subject specified in the official RFA, and include the lead applicant’s name and attachment list. Late or incomplete applications will not be considered. The official portal hosts the mandatory templates.
Official documents: LA County DEO application portal; controlling RFA, 45 pages; Round 2 FAQ, October 23, 2026. Official source research verified October 24, 2026. Review any newer addenda before applying.