Grant to help opioid-impacted residents find employment
CARMICHAELS – Washington Greene County Job Training Agency Inc. is getting a $411,400 grant to help people who’ve received treatment for opioid use return to the workforce, state Rep. Pam Snyder announced today.
Snyder, D-Greene/Fayette/Washington, said Pennsylvania was one of six states awarded the National Health Emergency Dislocated Worker Demonstration Grant, which will be administered by the state Department of Labor and Industry to provide job training and employment support.
“In addition to helping people receive the treatment they need to overcome addiction, a much-needed second step of the recovery process should be assisting them in finding employment,” Snyder said. “The ultimate goal should be helping people become productive members of society, and there’s no better way to fuel one’s self-esteem than by having a job.”
Snyder said the funds will be used to:
Connect Pennsylvania CareerLink employment services to Pennsylvania Centers of Excellence.
Develop a mobile app to link people to workforce and support resources.
Increase the number of certified recovery specialists and provide additional training to retain existing specialists.
Engage employers in recovery friendly workplace initiatives.
Snyder said these efforts will include such things as encouraging employers to hire and work with people who are in recovery, helping guide those individuals to support or employment services they need, and providing transferable skills analysis and targeted training opportunities.
Aware of how acutely the opioid crisis has impacted southwestern Pennsylvania, Snyder previously catalogued legislative efforts in recent years to combat the epidemic, in a flyer available on her state website.