The Ohio Department of Job and Family Services (ODJFS) has announced that federal stimulus funds for Workforce Investment Act (WIA) programs are now available for Ohio’s local workforce investment areas to use to provide training and services for more unemployed workers and to jumpstart their local economies.

“These funds could not have come at a better time,” ODJFS Director Douglas Lumpkin said. “This is just what our communities need to get back on their feet and start on the road to economic recovery.”

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, signed by President Obama on Feb. 17, provides $138 million for Ohio to offer an estimated additional 20,000 adults, youth and dislocated workers job training, job search assistance, youth employment programs and other services through the WIA program.

This includes $20.7 million for state-funded programs, $14.6 million for Rapid Response efforts and $102.7 million to be distributed to the state’s 20 workforce investment boards (WIBs). Of the funds being distributed to the WIBs, $19.8 million will support services for adults, $35.7 million will support services for dislocated workers, and $47.7 million will support programs for youth.

The stimulus amounts will supplement existing WIA allocations. They were determined by formulas that incorporated such things as local unemployment statistics and the relative number of unemployed and disadvantaged, low-income youth and adults.

“This is significant because it will allow our local workforce investment areas to begin enrolling new customers in their employment and training programs immediately,” Director Lumpkin said. “They can begin serving more of Ohio’s unemployed workers.”

The state is working with local WIBs to maximize the WIA funds and state resources for the greatest impact on Ohio’s economy and workforce.