The Employment Development Department (EDD) on Friday announced in a press release it received a federal grant award of $7.5 million.
This funding will go to create new cleanup and recovery jobs in response to winter storms in Dec. 2022 and Jan. 2023 that caused widespread flooding and extensive waterway damage.
Awarded to California through the U.S. Department of Labor’s Employment and Training Administration, the National Dislocated Worker Grant, of up to $22 million allows the EDD to provide impacted workers with temporary jobs focused on debris removal on public lands, along with water damage cleanup and the delivery of humanitarian assistance to those affected by the storm.
The $7.5 million is the first allocation of this grant received.
Between Dec. 27, 2022, and Jan. 31, 2023, a series of severe storms and atmospheric rivers swept through California. The storms caused local and regional flooding and mudslides, knocked down trees, triggered sinkhole formation, and ultimately damaged public and private lands in 51 of the state’s 58 counties.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency issued a major disaster declaration on Jan. 14, 2023, enabling California to request this funding.
Disaster Recovery Dislocated Worker Grants – supported by the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act of 2014– expand the service capacity of programs at the state and local levels.
Individuals eligible for the temporary employment opportunities include those who meet any of the following four conditions: 1) individuals laid off, permanently or temporarily, because of the storms between Dec. 27, 2022, and Jan. 31, 2023; 2) individuals that qualify as Dislocated Workers; 3) long-term unemployed individuals; or 4) self-employed individuals who became unemployed or significantly underemployed because of the storms between Dec. 27, 2022, and Jan. 31, 2023.
For more information about how the funds are specifically being used in various storm-damaged areas of the state or to see if you qualify as a grant participant, contact the project operators listed below.
