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Archived News Release--Caution:
information may be out of date.
For more information call: (202) 219-6871
President Clinton and U.S. Labor Secretary Alexis M. Herman today
approved up to $600,000 in emergency funding to assist workers who have
temporarily lost their jobs because of the wildfires that have affected five
counties in Central Florida. The Florida Department of Labor and Employment
Security will use the money to pay for temporary clean-up and restoration jobs
following the wildfires which started May 25. An initial amount of $200,000 is
being awarded for immediate use. Workers who have temporarily lost their jobs
because of this disaster, the long-term unemployed and other eligible
dislocated workers can participate in the program.
"I want to express my concern for the people of Florida during this
difficult time," said President Clinton, who visited the affected areas today.
"I also want to thank all of the men and women who came from fire stations
around the nation to help their colleagues in Florida. I hope that this
assistance will allow workers to return to their jobs as soon as possible, and
help communities affected by the fires achieve a speedy recovery."
"It is my hope that this emergency grant will help workers and their
families get their lives back to normal," said Herman. "These kinds of fires
are devastating. Fortunately no lives were lost, but people have lost homes and
jobs. Material things and jobs can be replaced. This emergency grant can help
those affected begin to rebuild."
These new funds will supplement $400,000 remaining from a grant awarded
to the State to create temporary jobs for the disaster-related clean up and
restoration following the severe weather and flooding resulting from the El
¥ino storms earlier this year. The total amount of $1,000,000 in National
Reserve Account (NRA) funds will be used to create approximately 200 temporary
jobs for individuals to assist in the disaster relief activities in 34 counties
in the State which have been affected by the devastating wildfires. The fires,
which began on May 25, have burned more than 200,000 acres to date, as reported
by the State's Division of Forestry and reports obtained from the affected
counties. An estimated 700 individuals have been dislocated as a result of the
wildfires. Individuals eligible to participate in the project will be those who
have lost their jobs as a result of the disaster, the long-term unemployed and
other eligible dislocated workers.
The grant is authorized under emergency provisions of Title III of the
Job Training Partnership Act (JTPA) to fund special temporary jobs to benefit
the public and help dislocated workers resume regular employment. The program
will assist workers in counties declared eligible for Public Assistance by the
Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). If FEMA declares additional
counties, they can be included in the project. Participants will work for up to
six months with public or private non-profit agencies to help with clean-up,
repair and restoration efforts.
The dislocated worker program is a comprehensive retraining approach to
assist workers who have been, or are about to be, laid off for reasons such as
technological change, foreign competition or government actions. Generally such
workers are eligible if they are unlikely to return to their previous industry
or occupation.
Archived News Release--Caution:
information may be out of date.
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