Washington, U.S.A. — The states of Georgia, Illinois, North Carolina and Texas will receive grants totaling $3 million to develop strategies aimed at helping returning Army veterans find employment more quickly through the public workforce system, Secretary of Labor Hilda L. Solis announced on July 24. This funding represents an initiative of the U.S. Department of Labor and the U.S. Army under the Unemployment Compensation for Ex-service Members program.

“The Labor Department is deeply committed to providing employment services and benefits that best support the men and women who have served our country, and the grants announced today are an example of that commitment,” said Secretary Solis. “Ensuring Army veterans have expedited access to job training and job placement services is one way our nation honors their sacrifices.”

This initiative will provide each of the four states with $750,000 to develop new strategies to enhance outreach and re-employment services for Army unemployment compensation claimants. Examples of strategies include improved tracking of claimants across federal programs to better link unemployed veterans to potential job opportunities; increasing staff capacity to help claimants understand which military skills can be transferred to civilian careers; expanding service delivery through agency partnerships, such as opening employment service satellite offices in U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs locations; and expanding outreach activities to better connect these veterans to American Job Centers, job fairs and other services that can expedite their return to work.

“These grants are an important step toward ensuring that the soldiers who so valiantly and selflessly served our nation get the help they need transitioning back to civilian life,” said Secretary of the Army John McHugh. “By sharing information, improving access to re-employment services and increasing outreach opportunities, we can help Army veterans get better access to and information about job opportunities. I’m grateful to Secretary Solis and the Department of Labor for their support. This is great news for the Army and its veterans.”

The four states selected have large populations of Army veterans who are unemployment compensation claimants and have been actively collaborating with both the Labor Department and the Army to improve veterans’ access to the public workforce system. These grants will be implemented over the next two years, and the promising practices developed with these investments will be shared with other states and expanded to include other branches of the military.

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Secretary of Labor Hilda L. Solis issued the following statement on the March 2012 Employment Situation report released April 6th:

“Our nation’s labor market added 121,000 private sector jobs in the month of March, while the unemployment rate fell to 8.2 percent.

“For 25 consecutive months, we’ve registered private sector job growth. Some months we are seeing tremendous job gains, while other months we are seeing more modest gains. But the trend line is clear: Our economy is growing, and our recovery is durable.

“Since this president took office, we’ve added more than 4 million jobs to an economy that was bleeding 800,000 a month under the last administration. That’s a noteworthy achievement.

“We’ve added nearly half a million manufacturing jobs since February 2010. This week, major U.S. carmakers announced that their U.S. sales rose last month to the highest level in at least four years.  When President Obama took office, the U.S. auto industry was on the verge of collapse. Since he bet big on the American autoworker, the industry has seen a complete turnaround, adding more than 230,000 jobs since the summer of 2009.

“However, the fact that some Americans are still leaving the labor force shows that we cannot rest on our laurels and expect to coast our way back to prosperity. This administration continues to fight for programs that will support and train our youth and displaced workers. Our recovery will only be as lasting as our commitment to the American worker. Now that the country is on a steady path toward recovery, we need to invest in community colleges and job training programs that prepare our workers for 21st century jobs.”

U.S. Department of Labor news materials are accessible at http://www.dol.gov. The information above is available in large print, Braille or CD from the COAST office upon request by calling 202-693-7828 or TTY 202-693-7755.

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The U.S. Department of Labor announced the availability of approximately $1.8 million for up to six grants through the Women in Apprenticeship and Nontraditional Occupations program.

“These grants offer women the opportunity to gain skills in industries that will continue to grow and offer long-term career opportunities,” said Secretary of Labor Hilda L. Solis. “Partnerships that include Registered Apprenticeship programs, local workforce investment areas and community-based organizations create a powerful support system to recruit and train women for careers in nontraditional occupations.”

The grants will support innovative projects that improve the recruitment, hiring, training, employment and retention of women in apprenticeships within industries such as advanced manufacturing, transportation and construction. Within these industries, the grants will fund activities focused on three occupational areas: existing occupations expected to experience primarily an increase in employment demand, existing occupations with significant change to the work and worker requirements, and new and emerging green occupations.

Eligible applicants include consortia that comprise a community-based organization, a local workforce investment area and a Registered Apprenticeship program sponsor. Applicants must place at least 50 participants annually ‒ and at least 100 over the life of the grant ‒ into a Registered Apprenticeship program. The grants are jointly administered by the Labor Department’s Women’s Bureau and its Employment and Training Administration’s Office of Apprenticeship.

The solicitation for grant applications will be published in the April 10 issue of the Federal Register and is available at http://www.doleta.gov/grants/find_grants.cfm. For information on the Department of Labor’s range of employment and training programs, visit http://www.doleta.gov.

U.S. Department of Labor news materials are accessible at http://www.dol.gov. The information above is available in large print, Braille or CD from the COAST office upon request by calling 202-693-7828 or TTY 202-693-7755.

Connect with DOL at
http://social.dol.gov
http://twitter.com/usdol
http://www.facebook.com/departmentoflabor
http://www.youtube.com/usdepartmentoflabor
http://social.dol.gov/blog/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/52862363@N07/

Image Courtesy of    http://www.flickr.com/photos/usdol/

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