Earlier this month, Senators Tim Kaine (D-VA), Todd Young (R-IN) and Doug Jones (D-AL) introduced the Jobs Plus Recovery Act (S. 2642). The bill, a first-of-its-kind pilot program, allows WIOA-funded training programs to provide support services to people challenged by substance use disorders and integrates addiction treatment and recovery with workforce training. The bill also aims to support individuals in work-based learning by providing pre-employment, early employment and continuing employment services. Senators Kaine and Young are co-chairs of the Senate CTE Caucus, and Sen. Jones is a member of the caucus
In a press release, Sen. Kaine pitched the bill by highlighting workforce training as an important way to invest in the community to combat the opioid epidemic. Similarly, Sen. Jones asserted job training to be an integral part of supporting individuals throughout their recovery. Sen. Young told a story about an individual in Indiana who beat addiction and continues to be a successful employee at a manufacturing firm.
ACTE has endorsed the Jobs Plus Recovery Act as an innovative approach to support student success and ensure program participants are equipped with the services they need to succeed in the workforce.
Less than a week after the introduction of the Jobs Plus Recovery Act, Sens. Lamar Alexander (R-TN) and Patty Murray (D-WA), the chairman and ranking member, respectively, of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee, introduced a full, comprehensive bill to address the opioid crisis that incorporates some of the elements of the Jobs Plus Recovery Act. The bipartisan bill, the Opioid Crisis Response Act of 2018 (S. 2680), is co-sponsored by Sens. Kaine and Jones, along with another Senate CTE Caucus co-chair, Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-WI). The bill would make regulatory changes impacting drug manufacturers, boost opioid grants for states facing the most severe epidemics, and improve treatment options and access to them. There are also several provisions related to CTE.
The Alexander-Murray opioid bill would provide grants to address the economic and workforce impacts of the opioid crisis, using WIOA as the infrastructure through which training and employment services would be offered to individuals challenged by the opioid epidemic. That training would include, among other things, using the career pathways framework to lead individuals to "high-demand, high-wage jobs." To improve job retention rates during the first few months of employment, the bill specifies that services may include "a continuation of skills training and career and technical education." Additionally, the bill includes grants to establish or operate "comprehensive opioid recovery centers" that would serve as resources, providing "job training, job placement assistance, and continuing education assistance to support reintegration into the workforce." The bill also provides loan forgiveness to "masters level, licensed substance use disorder treatment counselors."
In addition to the full text of the bill, a summary can be found here. The HELP Committee held a hearing on the bill earlier this month and is expected to mark it up soon.
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