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Last Updated: Jul 11, 2008 - 11:26:39 AM

Governor Announces $6 Million in Grants to Help California's Veterans Find New Jobs

2/12/2008 - Continuing his commitment to California's brave servicemen and women, Governor Schwarzenegger today announced more than $6 million in grants to help military veterans as they return to the civilian workforce. The Governor made the announcement in Los Angeles at Managed Career Solutions, Inc. which will receive $500,000 in grant funds to assist 300 county residents obtain and retain well-paid jobs in high-growth industries. The $6 million in Workforce Investment Act (WIA) funds will help more than 1,500 newly discharged veterans find jobs. Additionally, the 12 agencies and organizations across California receiving the grants have committed matching funds of almost $4 million to further expand their job training programs, for a total investment of nearly $10 million. 

These funds will help our veterans get jobs in high-growth industries and ease their transition back to civilian life. A recent U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs study found that 18 percent of the veterans who sought jobs within one to three years of discharge were unemployed, while one out of four who did find jobs earned less than $21,840 a year.  The Governor believes this is unacceptable and that our veterans deserve better. So, California is taking action. 

• The $6 million in grants will focus on identifying military transferable skills and determining career paths to industries that offer livable wages, benefits and career advancement opportunities. 
  • Veterans can expect to receive a variety of training in high-growth fields such as health care, emergency medical technology, construction, security, law enforcement and computer services.
  • The grants will also be used to target those veterans with service-connected disabilities or other significant barriers to employment.
• The projects funded will also provide supportive services, placement, and follow-up through a case management approach and these programs are expected to run through December 2009.
• The 12 agencies and organizations across California receiving these grants include:

Awardee	County	Total Award
Able-Disabled Advocacy, Inc.	San Diego	$500,000
Fresno County	Fresno	$500,000
Imperial Valley Regional Occupation	Imperial	$500,000
Lutheran Social Services	Los Angeles	$500,000
Managed Career Solutions, Inc.	Los Angeles	$500,000
Northern Santa Clara Valley Job Training Consortium	Santa Clara	$500,000
Orange County	Orange	$500,000
San Diego Imperial Counties Labor Council Training	San Diego	$500,000
SELACO Workforce Investment Board	Los Angeles	$500,000
State Center Community College District	Fresno	$500,000
Swords to Plowshares	San Francisco	$500,000
Vietnam Veterans of San Diego	San Diego	$500,000

In further actions to stimulate California's economy, in the past month the Governor has:

• Announced $69.5 million in permanent low-interest loans from the Proposition 1C housing bonds and expedited implementation of $211 million in Proposition 1E funds to four critical levee improvement projects.
• Committed to working with the legislature, labor and environmental leaders, builders, engineers and cabinet officials to find ways to overcome statutory and regulatory barriers to fast track the $29 billion in unallocated 2006 infrastructure bond funding .
• Joined Pennsylvania Governor Rendell and New York City Mayor Bloomberg to reinvigorate federal investment in the nation's infrastructure by creating the " Building America's Future " coalition.
• Proposed as part of his State of the State speech that California pursue the broad use of Performance Based Infrastructure (PBI), establish the Strategic Growth Council to promote economic, sustainable growth and development and meet the state's skilled workforce demands with 20,000 new engineers over the next decade. 

Today's action builds on the Governor's strong commitment to California's military personnel and veterans. Over the past year, the Governor has:

• Proposed expanding employment and education opportunities for California's National Guard and veterans. As part of his State of the State proposals the Governor introduced a plan that will give veterans greater access to civil service jobs and establish an education benefit for California National Guard (CNG) members.
• Opened employment and education avenues for veterans through statewide job fairs. In response to the Governor's initiative to open employment and education avenues for veterans, California's Department of Veterans Affairs, Employment Development Department and Labor and Workforce Development Agency partnered with several service organizations to provide 10 "Hire a Hero, Hire a Vet" regional job and resource fairs to match veterans with employers.
• Advanced funding for five new veterans' homes in California. Under the Governor's leadership the state has broken ground on three new veterans' homes, which is the largest such investment in state history. And two additional homes are in the works.
• Supported the families of active duty personnel. The Governor signed legislation that requires employers to allow the spouse of a soldier serving to take up to 10 days of unpaid leave to spend time with their husband or wife while they are home on leave.
• Protected military personnel from predatory lenders.  The Governor signed legislation to protect service members and their families from predatory and deceptive lending practices and unlawful financial and investment schemes.