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ETA Press Release: Labor Secretary Herman Announces Over $700 Million in Welfare-To-Work Competitive Grants for Local Communities Over Next Two Years [12/30/1997]

For more information call: 202-219-6050

U.S. Labor Secretary Alexis M. Herman today unveiled a $711.5 million, two-year grant competition aimed at encouraging communities to develop new, results-oriented ways to help long-term welfare recipients get jobs and acquire the skills, work experience and resources they need to find and keep unsubsidized employment.

The competitively awarded grants are part of a $3 billion national effort to combat dependency among welfare recipients who face the most difficult obstacles to employment. Under the Budget Reconciliation Act of 1997, $2.2 billion will be allocated non-competitively over two years to states based on their population of poor people and adult recipients of Temporary Assistance to Needy Families.

"We are committed to helping people gain the skills and information they need to get and keep private-sector jobs," said Herman. "Through this competitive grants program, the Labor Department will find and fund innovative, coordinated projects that help the least job-ready welfare recipients overcome the many challenges they face to make the transition to unsubsidized jobs and self-sufficiency."

Grants will be awarded to projects in areas with the greatest need for assistance, operated by units of government and organizations with a successful track record. Projects must emphasize innovative, collaborative and sustainable strategies designed to attain quality employment, earnings and other successful outcomes. Community partnerships will be a vital component of successful proposals.

The funding will underwrite such activities and services as short-term public- and private-sector wage subsidies; on-the-job training; job readiness preparation, job placement and post-employment services; community service and work experience; and job retention or support services, including child care and transportation assistance.

"We want to see communities working in partnership with social service organizations, area employers and local leaders to create answers for the difficult problems found in their neighborhoods," Herman said. "We believe the best solutions for ending welfare as we know it can be found in hometown America."

A total of $368.25 million is available for competitive grant awards in Fiscal Year 1998 and $343.25 million in Fiscal Year 1999. Approximately $184 million (50 percent of the FY 98 competitive grant funding) is made available in a "Solicitation for Grant Applications," which appeared in the Federal Register Tuesday, Dec. 30, 1997. The closing date for receipt of applications is March 10, 1998. A second solicitation for the balance of the funds for Fiscal Year 1998 will be issued in the spring.

The Labor Department plans to distribute approximately 70 percent of the funds for Fiscal Year 1998 to projects in cities with high concentrations of poverty (including any county with an urban center of more than 50,000 people with a poverty rate greater than 7.5 percent) and 30 percent for projects in rural areas.

Private Industry Councils (PICs); political subdivisions of states (cities and counties); and both non-profit and for-profit private entities, such as community development corporations, community action agencies, community-based and faith-based organizations, disability community organizations, and public and private colleges and universities, are among those eligible to apply for the funds. Private entities must apply in conjunction with PICs or the local political subdivision.

Welfare-to-Work Competitive Grant Applications can be obtained from the U.S. Department of Labor on the Internet at: http://wtw.doleta.gov, or by contacting:

Mr. Willie Harris, Grant Management Specialist
Division of Acquisition Assistance
SGA/DAA 98-004
200 Constitution Avenue, N.W., Room S4203
Washington, D.C. 20210
Telephone: (202) 219-8694.

Archived News Release--Caution: information may be out of date.