Homeless female vets to get federal aid

The Department of Labor's Veterans' Employment and Training Service has announced more than $5 million in grants to aid homeless female veterans and veterans with families. Twenty-six grants in 14 states and the District of Columbia will provide job training, counseling and placement services (including job readiness, literacy and skills training) to expedite the reintegration of homeless female veterans and veterans with families into the labor force through the Homeless Veterans Reintegration Program.

"The Department of Labor is committed to ensuring that these remarkable men and women successfully transition back into the working world," said Secretary of Labor Hilda L. Solis. "The members of our armed forces make enormous sacrifices for the nation. The least we owe them when they return to civilian life is a chance to earn a living, support their families and have a stable place to rest their heads each night."

In addition to providing reintegration services, the Homeless Veterans Reintegration Program Grants will stimulate the development of effective service delivery systems that will address the unique problems faced by this population of homeless veterans.

Successful applicants were able to express their understanding of the challenges faced by homeless female veterans and/or homeless veterans with families and demonstrated via their grant applications that they had begun developing a network of service providers that were already addressing the needs of this population.