State Grant To Prepare
Laid Off Farm Workers For New Careers
A
$6.4 million grant from the California Employment Development Department (EDD)
will retrain 1,187 jobless migrant and seasonal farm workers statewide for
promising new careers in the allied health field, industrial maintenance,
retail trade/service, and the green and renewable energy sector.
“The
recession dealt a heavy blow to farm workers statewide, a population already
struggling with high unemployment,” said EDD Chief Deputy Director Sharon
Hilliard. “This grant will help them move from jobs with few opportunities for
advancement into new careers with bright futures. They will receive the
training needed for a broad array of jobs, including positions in green and
renewable energy.”
The
grant was awarded to La Cooperativa Campesina de California, the statewide association of service providers implementing Workforce
Investment Act Title I (a framework for the nation’s workforce development
system) and the Community Services Block Grant (which provides
funds to alleviate the causes and conditions of poverty in communities, particularly farmworker
service programs.
La Cooperativa provides services that focus on
self-sufficiency through training and employment for farm workers throughout
California, but especially in rural areas where farm workers live and work.
Funding
for the program is drawn from the Governor’s 25 percent portion of Dislocated
Worker Funds, Title I of the Workforce Investment Act, and is under the administrative
authority of the Labor and Workforce Development Agency’s EDD.
For
more information about this project, please contact Marco Lizarraga, La
Cooperativa Campesina de California, at (916) 388-2220.
Labels: California Employment Development Department (EDD), California State Grant to retrain Farm Workers, La Cooperativa Campesina de California, Prepare laid off farm workers, Retraining Jobless Farm Workers
