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Highlands Today

Florida receives grant to help jobless find work

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Special to Highlands Today

Published: August 9, 2009

TALLAHASSEE - The U.S. Department of Labor has announced Florida as one of 25 states to receive a share of $26.5 million in American Recovery and Reinvestment Act grants for the Re-employment and Eligibility Assessment Initiative.

Florida will receive $3,078,796 to provide unemployment compensation beneficiaries with additional assistance in finding jobs.

The REA Initiative funds will provide for increased staffing at local One-Stop Career Centers to conduct in-person assessments of unemployed Floridians. These assessments will be used to determine which services and/or training are most beneficial for each customer, thus providing a more focused job search. Florida's share of the grant expands the number of Regional Workforce Boards offering these specialized services from six to 19 of the state's 24 regions.

Region 19, which includes Highlands, Hardee and DeSoto counties, will receive some of that money. The region participated in the REA program in 2007 before the funding stopped, according to Roger Hood, president/CEO of Heartland Workforce.

For more information on unemployment insurance and Department of Labor training and employment programs, visit http://www.doleta.gov. For more information on Florida's Regional Workforce Boards, visit http://www.workforceflorida.com/boards/index.htm or www.floridajobs.org.

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