April 29, 2023 - SACRAMENTO – The Employment Development Department (EDD) on Friday announced it received a federal grant award of $7.5 million to create new cleanup and recovery jobs in response to winter storms in December 2022 and January 2023 that caused widespread flooding and extensive waterway damage.

Awarded to California through the U.S. Department of Labor’s Employment and Training Administration, the National Dislocated Worker Grant of up to $22 million allows the EDD to provide impacted workers with temporary jobs focused on debris removal on public lands, along with water damage cleanup and the delivery of humanitarian assistance to those affected by the storm. The $7.5 million is the first allocation of this grant received.

Between December 27, 2022, and January 31, 2023, a series of severe storms and atmospheric rivers swept through California. The storms caused local and regional flooding and mudslides, knocked down trees, triggered sinkhole formation and ultimately damaged public and private lands in 51 of the state’s 58 counties. The Federal Emergency Management Agency issued a major disaster declaration on Jan. 14, 2023, enabling California to request this funding.

Disaster Recovery Dislocated Worker Grants – supported by the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act of 2014 – expand the service capacity of programs at the state and local levels by providing funding to create temporary employment opportunities to assist with clean-up and recovery efforts, when an area impacted by disaster is declared eligible for public assistance by the Federal Emergency Management Agency or otherwise recognized by a federal agency with authority or jurisdiction over federal response to the emergency or disaster.

Individuals eligible for the temporary employment opportunities include those who meet any of the following four conditions: 1) individuals laid off, permanently or temporarily, because of the storms between December 27, 2022 and January 31, 2023; 2) individuals that qualify as Dislocated Workers; 3) long-term unemployed individuals; or 4) self-employed individuals who became unemployed or significantly underemployed because of the storms between December 27, 2022 and January 31, 2023.

For more information about how the funds are specifically being used in various storm-damaged areas of the state or to see if you qualify as a grant participant, contact the project operators listed below.

National Dislocated Worker Grant – Project Operators