US Department of Labor awards $816K incremental funding to continue employment, training services to combat Massachusetts’ opioid crisis

WASHINGTON, DC – The U.S. Department of Labor today announced the award of $816,675 in incremental funding to the Commonwealth of Massachusetts to support job creation and workforce training services in eight areas affected significantly by widespread opioid use, addiction and overdose.

Administered by the department’s Employment and Training Administration, the funding is part of a $2.4 million National Health Emergency Dislocated Worker Grant awarded in March 2019 to the commonwealth’s Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development. The grant supports disaster-relief employment and retraining in skilled professions that address the causes and treatment of the opioid crisis. It will serve eligible individuals in the Billerica, Chelmsford, Dracut, Dunstable, Lowell, Tewksbury, Tyngsboro and Westford areas.

Supported by the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act of 2014, Dislocated Worker Grants temporarily expand the service capacity of dislocated workers programs at the state and local levels by providing funding assistance in response to large, unexpected economic events that cause significant job losses.