Among its many activities, the Suffolk County Department of Labor administers Federal and State-funded employment & training programs for the benefit of area residents. The following are some of those programs.
Workforce Investment Act (WIA).
The Workforce Investment Act of 1998 (Public Law 105-220) was passed by Congress and signed into law on August 7, 1998, and is the successor to the Job Training Partnership Act (JTPA). WIA represents the first major restructuring of job training programs at the national level in 15 years. The intent of the legislation is to reform and standardize workforce programs by providing a unified training system. The goal of this revamped system is to increase the employment opportunities, job retention, and earning potential of "customers", which will ultimately reduce welfare dependency, improve workforce quality, and position the nation to compete in a global economic environment.
Partnership is the watchword of the cooperation between the Suffolk County Workforce Investment Board and the Suffolk County Department of Labor One-Stop Center, and the WIA One-Stop Partners. Keeping businesses growing and productive and area residents employed is the partnership’s most basic mission.
Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) Program.
The Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 (PRWORA) (Pub.L. 104-193), as amended, is welfare reform law that established the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program. TANF is a block grant program designed to make dramatic reforms to the nation's welfare system by moving recipients into work and turning welfare into a program of temporary assistance. The Suffolk Works Employment Program (SWEP) is the local welfare program operated according to the TANF final regulations.
SCDOL'S Public Assistance Unit works cooperatively with the Suffolk County Department of Social Services (SCDSS) to administer several programs designed to serve employable public assistance recipients. Through these programs, SCDOL is committed to educate, train, and place public assistance and food stamp recipients in jobs that will enable them to become self-sufficient, thereby lessening the financial burden on Suffolk County.
Project School. The Suffolk County Healthcare Occupational Opportunity for Learning project can assist low-income workers and Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) recipients with vocational training and guidance to develop the skills and competencies needed to for a career in the health care field. Areas of study could include information technology, allied health professions, and long-term care and nursing.
Summer TANF
This grant is funded by surplus funds from the Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) program, for the express purpose of providing a full wage subsidy paid summer youth employment program. The allowable activities under this TANF Grant included work subsidies to employers; education and training; supportive services; transportation for employed persons for the purpose of attending work or training; counseling and employment related services; and the purchase of tools, uniforms, or clothing necessary to look for/accept work.