Four states get grants to help Army vets find jobs

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, according to a recent announcement by Secretary of Labor, Hilda L. Solis.  The 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 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. According to the Labor Department, these grants will be implemented over the next two years. Promising practices developed with these investments will be shared with other states and expanded to include other branches of the military.

 The new program 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. These might include, increasing staff capacity to help claimants understand which military skills can be transferred to civilian careers; expanding service delivery through agency partnerships; and expanding outreach activities to better connect veterans to American Job Centers, job fairs and other services that can expedite their return to work.