New Grants for Those Who Lost Job Due to COVID
Published on March 01, 2021
In response to the economic shock and employment impact of the pandemic, Employment Services of Weld County has received funding through two new state grants to provide employment opportunities to individuals who lost their jobs due to COVID-19.
In cooperation with the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment, Employment Services of Weld County is one of the statewide workforce recipients of the newly-created RecoverCO and COResponds grants. Both of these National Emergency Grants were created to address the workforce-related impacts of COVID-19 on local job seekers.
The RecoverCO grant provides career, training and employment services to dislocated workers (job seekers who have lost their jobs through no fault of their own and do not have the skills to compete for current job openings) with the goal of minimizing the employment and economic disruption on individuals whose jobs have been impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Services provided can include career services to assess job seeker needs and develop an individual employment plan, training services and skill upgrading, work-based learning services including apprenticeships and on-the-job training, and supportive services to help job seekers obtain and retain employment such as work attire, dependent care, transportation assistance and more. Statewide, the $4,995,000 RecoverCO grant projects to serve 600 job seekers.
The COResponds grant provides subsidized wages and fringe benefits for temporary jobs that help Colorado recover from the immediate impact of COVID-19. This grant creates disaster-relief jobs that help stem the rise of COVID-19 and provide clean-up and humanitarian assistance including actions to save lives, alleviate suffering and maintain human dignity. Positions include contact tracers, temperature screeners, sanitation workers at schools and homeless shelters, food bank delivery drivers, child care providers for first responders and other positions as identified. Statewide, the $4,995,000 COResponds grant projects to serve 332 participants and provide up to $15,000 for wages and benefits per participant.
As always, veterans and their eligible spouses are entitled to priority of service for this and other Department of Labor funded programs.
Learn more about the RecoverCO and COResponds grants by visiting https://www.weldgov.com/departments/human_services/employment_services/adult_employment_and_training_programs, under the Discretionary Grants tab.