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Welfare-to-Work Grants Available Through the Department of Labor

The Department of Labor (DOL) will award $3 billion over the next 2 years in Welfare-to-Work (WtW) grants specifically to help long-term welfare recipients make the transition from public assistance to unsubsidized employment. The grant funds, authorized under the Balanced Budget Act of 1997, must be spent on the hard-est-to-employ individuals who face significant barriers to employment, such as substance abuse, poor work history, lack of a high school diploma or GED, and low reading or math abilities.

The WtW grant program is of particular interest to the substance abuse treatment community because it encourages interagency collaboration to assist shared clients and provides funds for the wraparound services so crucial to successful substance abuse treatment—and to job retention. According to the Employment and Training Administration, 90 percent of long-term welfare recipients experience one or more of five barriers to getting and keeping a job:

  • 14 percent report substance abuse problems

  • 22 percent report symptoms of depression

  • 10 percent have physical health problems

  • 21 percent have children with chronic medical problems

  • 33 percent score in the bottom 10 percent of the Armed Forces Qualifying Test.

    DOL will distribute the WtW grants in two ways. About 75 percent of the funds will be awarded as formula grants to the States, which will be passed through to local communities based on poverty populations and the number of welfare recipients in each State. The States are required to match every $2 of the Federal investment with $1 of State money. Most of the formula funding will be allocated to local communities through Private Industry Councils (PICs) or Workforce Development Boards, business-led organizations that guide and oversee federally funded job training programs.

    About 25 percent of the $3 billion will fund competitive grants awarded directly by DOL to local governments, PICs, or private entities such as community development corporations, community-based organizations, community action agencies, and other qualified organizations. The competitive grants will be applied to programs to help the least job-ready welfare recipients, and may be used for intake, assessment, and case management; job readiness; employment activities; job placement; post employment services; and job retention and support services. The funds can be used to support wraparound services, including developing responsive transportation and child care service systems, creating jobs with maximum flexibility to meet work, family, and treatment needs, and addressing disabilities. Nonmedical substance abuse treatment services can be brokered or funded through grant money. In making the grant awards, DOL will emphasize coordinated approaches to the constellation of challenges that confront the hardest to employ. Substance abuse treatment professionals are urged to contact their local PICs to initiate such collaborative efforts.

    For more information about DOL's

    Welfare-to-Work grant program, in-cluding solicitations for grant applications and interim regulations, visit the WtW home page at http://www.doleta. gov.

    CSAT's Treatment Improvement Exchange

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