Now that the “American Recovery and Reinvestment Act” has been signed into law by President Obama, what has happened through much trial and tribulation is tantamount to what Cuba Gooding said in one of his movies – “show me the money.&rd
Now that the “American Recovery and Reinvestment Act” has been signed into law by President Obama, what has happened through much trial and tribulation is tantamount to what Cuba Gooding said in one of his movies – “show me the money.” We have been shown the money, $787 billion, and now it is up to us to get down to business and follow the money and then access it for the good of our communities. The stakes are enormous. This is one of the rare moments in history when a cruise-ship size load of funds docks in our states in a few weeks, but if we are not savvy enough to know enough how to access the funds, that ship could come in and leave us with substantial needs unmet.
The Act is a big one with lots of sections, and you can Google the title of the Act above and look at them all. But I will provide a quick glimpse of a few things in Title 9 on “Labor, Health, and Human Services and Education.”
- $4 billion is added to the Workforce Investment program
- $500 million of that amount goes to states for adult employment and training activities
- $1.2 billion will go to states for youth under 24 years old for summer jobs
- $1 billion will go to states to assist dislocated workers employment and training
- Another $500 million will be put in the dislocated worker reserve to assist through June 30 2010
- $50 million will go to YouthBuild programs through June 30, 2010
- $750 million will provide grants for training and placement of workers for careers in energy efficiency and renewable energy employment
- $120 million will be allotted to fund Community Service jobs for senior citizens
- $500 million will be given to states to augment their Unemployment Insurance funds
- $300 million will go to Job Corp
This is the time for Black leaders in the various communities to come together and work out a system of communicating information to many people who have been laid off, who are disabled, who are youth, who have been unemployed, who are elderly but want to work and generally everyone who wants to participate in the program funded by this Act. Citizens themselves who want to participate in these programs should contact the office of their elected officials at the local, county, state and national level to find the entry point into these activities.
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