Additional Information
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Workforce Resources
Typically, workers comprise the first constituency that is affected by a BRAC action. For the affected communities, creating new jobs and finding new positions for the impacted employees is a primary concern. Worker assistance will generally be one of the first forms of Federal assistance made available as a community responds to a BRAC action. To be successful, this assistance is coordinated with efforts to reuse the former military base as well as other local job-creation efforts.
Impacted DoD employees are assisted by DoD’s transition and placement programs and by the Department of Labor’s (DoL) re-employment and retraining programs. DoD and DoL work collaboratively in advance of a BRAC action to ensure a coordinated menu of worker assistance is provided.
DoD has a long and successful history assisting its civilian workers impacted by base closure using a number of programs that facilitate placement, training, retraining, and transition. Since 1989, the Department has reduced its civilian workforce by 428,400 with less than 10% involuntary separations1. Through DoD’s Priority Placement Program (PPP), the centerpiece of DoD’s Civilian Assistance Re-employment (C.A.R.E.) programs, DoD employees are given priority placement at other DoD facilities.
DoL programs are also available to assist non-DoD personnel dislocated by BRAC as well. For some of the larger BRAC civilian worker dislocation actions, DoD and DoL have historically co-located programs at a closing installation to assist workers. DoL offers two levels of assistance through the Employment and Training Administration (ETA): state and local resources, and Federal resources.
At the state and local level, ETA offers Rapid Response, unemployment insurance, and dislocated worker services through the One-Stop system. They work with personnel to minimize their time out of work, providing information and training before the actual closure of the installation. For those workers who lose their jobs, there is temporary income support and training available. The ETA has in place nearly 1,900 career centers across America through their Workforce Investment System which provides services such as job search and placement assistance, occupational skills training, skills upgrading, and support services such as child care and transportation allowance. At the Federal level, ETA offers National Emergency Grants. These grants fund the temporary expansion of employment services at the state and local levels when existing resources are determined to be insufficient to cope with a major worker dislocation, including BRAC.
For additional information on Federal Resources for Workers, click here. Please note: while OEA attempts to provide current information, these programs and their availability are subject to change without notice. Please contact the appropriate agency for the most up-to-date information on current programs.
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