US Labor Department announces nearly $900,000 for VETS National Technical Assistance Center

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor today announced two grants totaling $849,890 to fund the Veterans Employment and Training Service National Technical Assistance Center. The grants are being awarded under the Labor Department s Homeless Veterans Reintegration Program.

As our grantees forge ahead in the effort to help the nation s homeless veterans, it is important the work be done in the most efficient and effective manner, said Secretary of Labor Hilda L. Solis. These grants will help provide invaluable tools and resources to our local partners under the Homeless Veterans Reintegration Program. These organizations are providing essential services to women and men who have served in America s armed forces, and we are committed to ensuring their success. These HVRP grants include two cooperative agreements that will maintain and develop the HVRP National Technical Assistance Center. The center provides technical assistance to current grantees, potential applicants and the public; gathers grantee best practices; conducts employment-related research on homeless veterans; conducts regional grantee training sessions and self-employment boot camps; and performs outreach to the employer community to increase job opportunities for veterans.

The National Coalition of Homeless Veterans in Washington, D.C., and the Burton Blatt Institute at the University of Syracuse in New York each received grants aimed at stimulating and improving the delivery system of services provided under existing HVRP grants, including grants to serve women veterans, veterans with families and incarcerated veterans.

Grantees under the HVRP program network coordinate their efforts with various local, state and federal social service providers. More information on the Department of Labor s unemployment and re-employment programs for veterans can be found at http://www.dol.gov/vets.