Grant money available to jobless for training in high-demand fields

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Grant money available to jobless for training in high-demand fields

Bruce R. Bennett/The Post Kirk LaRock photographed in his surgical technology lab at PBCC in Lake Worth. He is pursuing certification as a surgical technician, he says; he will finish the 13.5 month program in June. "We start our clinicals in hospitals next week," he said, "so we are practicing our routines today."

For Kirk LaRock, the bad news is that his 30-year career in the printing industry has ended, a victim of changing technology and the deepest recession in decades.

But there's a bit of good news, too: The 51-year-old is preparing for a new line of work as a surgical technician, and a grant from the Workforce Alliance is covering LaRock's $4,000 tuition bill at Palm Beach Community College.

With Florida unemployment at its highest rate since 1975, college enrollments have soared. For intrepid students like LaRock, federal money is available to cover the costs of schooling for a new career.

LaRock is one of hundreds of Palm Beach County job seekers who have received cash through the federal Workforce Investment Act. The nonprofit Workforce Alliance said it has given about $2.4 million in tuition to about 460 students in the past six months.

Most spend the money at PBCC, but the grants can be used at any of three dozen schools in Palm Beach County, including Florida Atlantic University, PC Professor, Everest University, MedVance Institute and South University. For Treasure Coast students, the federal grants can be spent at Indian River State College and a number of other schools.

The cash comes with some limits. Students must be out of work and unlikely to find a job with their current skills. They must apply for federal Pell Grants, which requires filling out the Free Application for Federal Student Aid.

If the job seekers don't land Pell Grants, they can apply for the Workforce Investment Act money. The maximum grant is $10,000. And the money can be used only to prepare students for in-demand jobs such as accountant, paralegal, police officer, registered nurse, respiratory therapist, surgical technologist and teacher assistant.

Workforce Solutions, the nonprofit organization that distributes federal training money in the Treasure Coast, has stopped providing the grants for students who want to learn to be truck drivers.

"At our last count, we had over 600 laid-off truck drivers in our database," said Gwenda Thompson, president of Workforce Solutions.

Nurses, on the other hand, are hot commodities in the Treasure Coast job market.

Thompson urges job seekers to apply for the Workforce Investment Act money before they take out student loans. After all, the federal grants don't need to be repaid.

"It is free money," Thompson said.

For LaRock, the federal grant removes some of the sting of losing his livelihood.

LaRock worked in the printing industry until a recent run of bad luck, when he was laid off three times in the past two years. For decades, he didn't need a college degree to earn a comfortable living.

"I was out-earning people with associate's degrees and bachelor's degrees," he said.

Looking for a recession-resistant career, LaRock enrolled in PBCC's surgical technology program.

He has been volunteering at Bethesda Memorial Hospital, and he hopes to land a job after he finishes his courses this year.

KEY STAT:

Workforce Alliance has given about

$2.4 million in tuition to about 460 students in the past six months.