Boost Your Future: DEO Invests $32M in Workforce Programs for 2,300+ Workers Through 2026

LOS ANGELES — The Los Angeles County Department of Economic Opportunity or DEO April 14 announced a $32 million investment that will support 2,300 workers across the  county by 2026. This investment includes the launch of two new workforce initiatives: the Fire Recovery and Resilience Workforce Program and the High Road Training Partnership or HRTP fund. Together, these programs address long-term workforce needs, offering rapid reemployment for workers displaced by the January windstorms and wildfires, ensuring a skilled workforce for the rebuild, and pathways to quality jobs and high-growth industries for all Angelenos.

The Fire Recovery and Resilience Workforce Program is a direct $14.2 million investment in the impacted and dislocated workers from the windstorms and wildfires. These funds enable DEO and the county’s network of workforce development boards and America’s job centers of California or AJCCs to offer 3-to-5 month paid work with county departments like Beaches and Harbors, Parks and Recreation, and Public Works and other partners supporting recovery efforts, job training, transitional work, supportive services and stipends, and connection to jobs in impacted and growing sectors like hospitality and construction. Participants in the 174 temporary subsidized employment opportunities will receive $20 to $27 per hour, benefits, and access to supportive services valued at up to $34,000. The program will support 1,000 total workers to start, who can visit the East San Gabriel AJCC or the West LA AJCC to sign up and access programs and services that meet their needs. 

The HRTP fund provides $17.8 million in grants for training models that inspire equity, job quality, and climate resilience in the region, targeting participants from historically disinvested communities and those impacted by COVID-19 and the recent windstorms and wildfires. The HRTP fund, implemented in partnership with Dalberg LLC and the UCLA Labor Center, will support an estimated 20 HRTPs and 1,300 workers through those programs. HRTPs are an approach to workforce development that elevate partnerships with employers and industry, workers and worker organizations, educational institutions and training providers, and the AJCCs and public workforce system for design and delivery of programs. All of these program entities may serve as lead applicants for the HRTP fund. HRTPs and their participants will not only access no-cost training, program stipends, and wages for work-based experiences, which may vary by program, all participants have access to also apply to a worker equity fund, as needed, which offers flexible cash assistance that support retention in training and job search.

Both of these programs are open as of April 14.

For the Fire Recovery and Resilience Workforce Program, interested workers, hiring employers, and training and community partners may go to opportunity.lacounty.gov/FireWorkforce/ to learn more and sign an interest form and/or visit an AJCC to sign-up and get started. Temporary work, job training, and supportive services area available now and on a rolling basis as new hiring and training opportunities as part of the program come online.

For the HRTP Fund, interested partnerships can apply now at: opportunity.lacounty.gov/hrtp/. DEO is hosting a series of informational sessions—both virtual and in-person—throughout the county, starting April 14 through April 17 in each Supervisorial District. 

Details: For more information visit: LA Region Small Business and Worker Relief Fund Press Release.

For more information about DEO, visit opportunity.lacounty.gov.