On-The-Job Training Grants to Put Native Americans Back to Work

Late last month, the Department of Labor awarded $75 million in American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 funds for On-the-Job Training, National Emergency Grants, and three federally recognized tribes were among more than 40 states that received awards.

The Cherokee Nation in Oklahoma received $850,357; the Orutsararmiut Native Council in Alaska received $286,387; and the Seminole Nation in Oklahoma received $236,668.

The funding is to be used for getting people back to work, particularly in areas disproportionately impacted by the recession. Specifically, they will fund on-the-job training projects, ones that offer participants the chance to develop new occupational skills while earning a paycheck and provide participating employers partial reimbursement to offset the cost of training workers.

In a press release announcing the awards, the DOL said the projects will help workers become proficient in needed skills more quickly, which will encourage employers to hire workers sooner than planned. They will spur private sector hiring of well-qualified individuals and, ultimately, economic recovery.

Kim Carroll, Cherokee Nation Career Services’ director of Grants & Compliance, could not say to what degree exactly Cherokee Nation citizens have been impacted by the recession, but she knows that counties with larger Indian populations usually have higher unemployment rates.

Cherokee Nation jurisdiction spans 14 counties in rural northeastern Oklahoma. “We do know that these counties have seen as much as a five point increase in their unemployment rates since 2008, compared to the state of Oklahoma, which has had a 2.5 point increase,” she said.

The Cherokee Nation’s on-the-job training project will allow more Cherokee citizens to go back to work. Carroll said it will reimburse employers of an on-the-job trainee during the worker’s training period, that period when the employee learns the company’s policies and procedures and specific duties.

“During this time, productivity is low, mistakes are made, and it’s a gamble on the employer’s part,” Carroll said.

By reimbursing employees for a percentage of the trainee’s wages during the training period, Carroll believes employers will be more willing to take a chance.

“We will be working with both employers and employees to match individuals with these opportunities. It will allow employers to expand their businesses and allow potential workers to learn new job skills,” she said.