The Dislocated Worker program is designed to help workers get back to work as quickly as possible and overcome barriers to employment. When individuals become dislocated workers as a result of job loss, mass layoffs, global trade dynamics, or transitions in economic sectors, the Dislocated Worker program provides services to assist them in re-entering the workforce. Services for dislocated workers are integrated and provided through a national network of American Job Centers (AJCs). The AJCs provide significant resources to states to implement workforce education, training, and employment programs and help displaced workers.
Rapid Response
One service funded under the Dislocated Worker Program is Rapid Response. The Rapid Response program is a pro-active, business-focused, and flexible strategy designed to respond to layoffs and plant closings by quickly coordinating services and providing immediate aid to companies and their affected workers. Rapid Response teams will work with employers and any employee representative(s) to quickly maximize public and private resources to minimize disruptions associated with job loss. Rapid Response can provide customized services on-site at an affected company, accommodate any work schedules, and assist companies and workers through the painful transitions associated with job loss. Rapid Response is carried out by states and local workforce development agencies in partnership with local American Job Center. Many services are available through American Job Centers, from resume and interview workshops, career counseling, and job search.
Trade Adjustment Assistance Program
The TAA Program seeks to provide adversely affected workers with opportunities to obtain the skills, credentials, resources, and support necessary to (re)build skills for future jobs. Any member of a worker group certified by the Department may be eligible to receive the following benefits and services at a local American Job Center: training, employment and case management services, job search allowances, relocation allowances, and income support in the form of Trade Readjustment Allowances (TRA). Reemployment TAA (RTAA) and Alternative TAA (ATAA), which provide wage supplements for reemployed older workers whose reemployment resulted in lower wages than those earned in their trade-affected employment, may also be available.
For information on this program, including how to access them locally through an AJC, please visit the Career One-Stop site at https://www.careeronestop.org/LocalHelp/service-locator.aspx, or call ETA's toll-free help line at (877) US-2JOBS (TTY: 1-877-872-5627).