Jobs and Job Training

Last week, Secretary of Labor Hilda L. Solis announced seven new grant awards totaling $39.7 million, an investment focused on helping non-custodial parents become better fathers by connecting them to job opportunities and teaching them the skills they need to keep these jobs and support their families financially. In my role within the Department of Labor and as a participant in the White House's Interagency Working Group on Fatherhood, I help promote strategies just like this that encourage support for fathers and families. Through research, discussions and planning, the Department determined that a model known as the transitional jobs model is especially useful for non-custodial parents struggling to enter the workforce and earn a living wage paycheck. These transitional jobs programs place dads with open child support orders on a career pathway that will enable them to financially provide for their children. The new Enhanced Transitional Jobs Demonstration will test the effectiveness of the transitional jobs model when mixed with activities such as occupational skills training, counseling and mentoring, and extended internship and work experience opportunities. Grantees are located in Atlanta, Ft. Worth, Indianapolis, Milwaukee, New York, San Francisco, and Syracuse. The seven grant awards will fund partnerships between nonprofit organizations, employers, the public workforce investment system and local child support and criminal justice agencies.