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Archived News Release--Caution:
information may be out of date.
For more information call: (202) 219-9116
Homeless veterans in cold-weather areas will now be able
to find employment and training for jobs through emergency grants made
available today by the U.S. Departments of Labor and Housing and Urban
Development.
The Labor Department's Veterans' Employment and Training
Service (VETS) is using $1.3 million of discretionary funds from the Job
Training Partnership Act (JTPA) to fund services to 21 organizations in
cold-weather areas across the country. These funds can be used for up to nine
months to provide homeless veterans with training and placement in productive
jobs.
"Before any of us can pay our own way in the world, we
must have the skills to earn a decent living. This program gives veterans the
training they need to get good jobs and support themselves," said Labor
Secretary Robert B. Reich.
"Unemployment, not the lack of affordable housing, is the
chief cause of homelessness among veterans. These grants will help eliminate
the major problems homeless veterans face," said Preston M. Taylor, Jr.,
assistant secretary of labor for veterans' employment and training.
Those problems include the lack of transitional housing,
inadequate job skills, resistance of employers to hire homeless veterans, too
few drug and alcohol treatment programs and no transportation to and from
jobs.
Andrew Cuomo, assistant secretary for community planning
and development at the Department of Housing and Urban Development, will soon
make available another $1.3 million to help veterans find transitional
housing.
"This program is consistent with President Clinton's
continuum of care' philosophy which encourages communities to attack the root
causes of homelessness," Cuomo said.
Last year, the Homeless Veterans Reintegration Project had
7,432 participants and placed 4,017 veterans in jobs. The program expired
October 1, 1995. The cold winter and continued problem of homeless veterans
made the emergency grants necessary.
Since 1987, programs for homeless veterans have served
more than 30,000 people and placed more than 13,000 in jobs at an average cost
of less than $1,500 per veteran.
Archived News Release--Caution:
information may be out of date.
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