Local advocates for veterans see a new retraining stipend being offered by the Veterans Administration as a promising pathway for former military members to go from the ranks of the unemployed to those with promising careers.
The Veterans Training Assistance Program is seeking to provide a boost to an initial group of 45,000 unemployed veterans between the ages of 35 and 60 who do not qualify for other federal assistance programs.
Beginning in July, the program will pay veterans accepted into it $1,473 a month for a full year for enrolling in training courses for what the U.S. Department of Labor describes as "high demand occupations."
Federal and state Department of Labor workers have also signaled that they will assist the veterans in finding employment once they are trained.
Jack Henson, Otsego County's veterans services director, said he was delighted to see the federal government step up the effort to put veterans back to work.
"There is not a day that goes by that I don't see a veteran who needs help getting a job," he said.
Applications can be sent to the Veterans Administration online by going to the following web address: www.ebenefits.va.gov.
Information about the program can also be obtained by contacting state Department of Labor offices.
Tony Moore of Davenport, president of the Oneonta Veterans Club, said unemployment among veterans remains stubbornly high.
"I know a guy in his 50s who is an excellent construction worker but says he is having a hard time finding a job," Moore said. "This sounds like it would be right up his alley. I think this is a marvelous idea. The veterans could use a break."
To be eligible for the monthly stipends, veterans must be enrolled in a VA-approved program of education offered by a community college or technical school.
The program must lead to an associate degree, non-college degree or a certificate, and train the veteran for a high-demand occupation.
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