Free Training and Other Services

If you have been – or are about to be – laid off or otherwise separated from your usual income, you may qualify for counseling, testing, training and other services available free to dislocated workers. If your layoff resulted from international trade, you may also be eligible for Trade Adjustment Assistance, including health insurance subsidies.

Thanks to $6 million in federal economic stimulus funds, those dislocated worker services will be much more readily available to Oklahomans during the first part of 2009.

Who is Eligible?

Anyone 18 or older is eligible for job search assistance and other basic services at local Workforce Oklahoma centers across the state.

Counseling, career planning, training and other services are available to those in the following categories:

Dislocated workers,
Workers displaced due to international trade
Other adults based on need.

Dislocated Workers

Dislocated workers include those who have been laid off or otherwise dislocated based on the following categories:

General Dislocated Workers. These are workers who have been laid off or received a termination notice and are unlikely to return to their previous industry or occupation. They also must be eligible for Unemployment Insurance, have used up their Unemployment Insurance, or otherwise demonstrate "attachment to the workforce."
Plant Closure. This applies to workers who have lost or have been notified they will lose their jobs due to a permanent closure or substantial layoff at a plant or other facility.
Self-employed or Unemployed. This covers people who were self-employed but became unemployed because of economic conditions in the community or because of a natural disaster. Farmers and ranchers can be included in this category.
Displaced Homemaker. People who have been supported by another family member and lose that support may qualify as a Displaced Homemaker if they are unemployed or underemployed and having difficulty finding or upgrading their employment. They also must have been providing unpaid services in the home.

In addition, low-income individuals and others who need help to obtain or retain employment may also qualify for free training and other services. An additional $3.7 million in federal economic stimulus funds is available for these adult services.

Services Available

Free training for dislocated workers and other qualifying adults can include:

Classroom training at colleges, universities, technology centers and private school. Tuition, books and supplies are included.
On the job training with cooperating employers, who can be subsidized for up to six months of training.

Other assistance can include aptitude testing, counseling, needs-related payments, partial reimbursement for out-of-state job interview costs, and a relocation allowance if you get a job beyond normal commuting distance from your home.

More Information

For more information, see this Adult and Dislocated Worker page at the Oklahoma Employment Security Commission website and this Workforce Investment Act page at the U.S. Department of Labor website.

To inquire about training and other services, visit your local Workforce Oklahoma center.

Trade Adjustment Assistance

Another source of free training – as well as health insurance aid and other services – is Trade Adjustment Assistance, a program to help reemploy people who lose their jobs either to specific types of import competition or to their jobs moving out of the country. A large proportion of job losses qualify for Trade Adjustment Assistance.

To participate, workers must be qualified in groups of at least three, a move that is normally made by the employer. Trade assistance used to be available only to employees of manufacturing companies, but beginning May 18, 2009, it becomes available to service workers under a provision of the federal economic stimulus package.

Training is available if you don’t already have the skills to secure suitable employment in the existing labor market. Training can include:

classroom training
on-the-job training
customized training for a specific employer
remedial education, including literacy or English as a second language training.

Training can last up to two years and sometimes an additional six months for those needing remedial education.

Other services include:

Reemployment services, including counseling, resume and interviewing workshops, job referrals and similar services.
Job search allowances for up to 90 percent of the cost of seeking a job outside your home area (up to $1,250).
Relocation allowances if you get a job outside your home area.
Income support after Unemployment Insurance runs out (See above section on Unemployment Insurance).
Health Coverage Tax Credit (HCTC) for up to 65 percent of the cost of health insurance.