Low-income Atlanta youth will have greater access to work and training opportunities thanks to a $1.2 million federal grant awarded to the city.
WorkSource Atlanta, the city’s workforce training center, must use the money to help Atlantans between ages 14 and 24 who face educational and economic barriers, such as a disability, language difficulties or an incarcerated parent.
The Technical College System of Georgia’s Office of Workforce Development awarded the grant. The office oversees the WorkSource Georgia program, the state’s federally funded employment training system.
The grant must be used by June 30, 2021, and will be administered by WorkSource Atlanta and its board of directors.
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The city has had difficulty in the past administering grants intended to develop employees.
Last year, WorkSource Atlanta had to return $1.3 million in federal grant money to the state after it failed to spend it on job training as required, over a two year period, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution previously reported. The funds were meant to help unemployed and underemployed Atlanta residents get training so they could find new jobs.
In 2016, the AJC reported the city had to pay a $1.86 million settlement to the U.S. Departments of Justice and Labor after a 2014 investigation showed the Atlanta Workforce Development Agency gave grants to businesses with workers who did not exist and conducted minimal training or none at all.
— Reporter Arielle Kass contributed to this report.
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