CONNECTICUT, USA — On Friday, Governor Ned Lamont announced the allocation of funds from the Coronavirus Relief Fund towards multiple programs to help those in need during the pandemic.
Lamont said he will be allocating $15 million from the relief fund towards workforce programs which will provide job training to more than 1,000 displaced workers. It will connect the workers to "High-growth, in-demand jobs.
“This pandemic has drastically impacted the lives and livelihood of so many people in our state, and these workforce development programs are being expanded so that we can provide displaced workers with the skills needed to match them with in-demand jobs,” Governor Lamont said. “Our administration is committed to offering meaningful and lasting support to the workers of Connecticut so that our state and our economy emerge from this crisis stronger than ever.”
With the support of the Workforce Development Unit in the Connecticut Department of Economic and Community Development (DECD) the Governor's Workforce council will use the funding on 19 programs.
The programs mentioned offer access to supportive services, like childcare and transportation. Lamont says about 1,100 participants will receive training and employment opportunities from the initiative.
The funding will be split between the programs below:
- Workforce Alliance
- Capital Workforce Partners,
- The Eastern Workforce Investment Board
- The WorkPlace,
- The Northwest Regional Workforce Investment Board
- The Connecticut Center for Advanced Technology (CCAT)
- Connecticut State Colleges and Universities
- The Connecticut Office of Early Childhood
- the five Regional Workforce Development Boards
Lamont also said he will be allocating $1 million from the relief fund to help foster parents with the "extraordinary costs" that go with caring for more than 3,600 children in state care during the pandemic.
“We ask so much of our foster families as they love, nurture and care for our children during such a critical time in their lives,” said Connecticut Department of Children and Families (DCF) Commissioner Vannessa Dorantes. “This support also extends to the connections foster parents make with the families of the children placed into their homes – leading towards quicker and successful reunification. During the last calendar year, over 782 children were successfully reunified with their parents. But during the pandemic, foster parents did even more – increased virtual visits with the children's families, supporting remote learning, which could include children placed from multiple districts with varying schedules and bringing children into their home without knowing their health status. Foster families are heroes just like other essential workers we cannot do without.”
The efforts will also go to therapeutic foster care providers who often have children with complex behavioral needs placed in their families.
