US Labor Department awards $4.1M in incremental funding to aid recovery effort after Flint water contamination

State: Michigan

Type of Award: National Dislocated Worker Grant

Initial Amount Approved: $15 million

Incremental Amount Awarded: $4.1 million

Funding Awarded to: Michigan Strategic Fund

Number of Workers Served: Approximately 650

Use of Funds: On March 23, 2016, the U.S. Department of Labor approved a National Dislocated Worker Grant award for up to $15 million – with $7.5 million released initially – to create temporary disaster relief jobs to assist with recovery efforts resulting from the water contamination crisis in Flint. On March 24, 2017, an additional $3.4 million in incremental funding was awarded to continue these efforts.

With this incremental award, the Michigan Strategic Fund will receive $4.1 million to continue this effort, bringing the total funds awarded to date for this project to the fully approved amount of $15 million.

The temporary jobs funded through this grant focus on humanitarian assistance, such as delivering water, water filters, replacement cartridges and lead-testing kits to Flint residents affected by the water contamination. The funding also provides career and training services to participants to assist them in finding permanent work.

Background: Supported by the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act of 2014, Dislocated Worker Grants temporarily expand the service capacity of dislocated worker training and employment programs at the state and local levels by providing funding assistance in response to large, unexpected economic events which cause significant job losses. The grants generally provide resources to states and local workforce investment boards to reemploy laid-off workers quickly by offering training to increase occupational skills.