MILITARY FAMILY SUPPORT Pilot PROGRAM
DISCUSSION PAPER
Background
Texas has 8 active duty military installations and 1 joint reserve base. There are over 116,887 military sponsors with 166,482 military dependents. Military spouses are vital members of their communities. The financial well-being of military families has a direct impact on the service members and their ability to focus on the mission at hand. Employment, education and training opportunities for military spouses are limited due to the constant relocation of military families. The unemployment rates for military spouses have been over 12% for the past couple of years. The Texas Workforce Commission (TWC) is interested in developing a pilot program that provides employment assistance to military spouses who are experiencing challenges in in obtaining employment, obtaining the appropriate licensure or certifications or obtaining new skills to compete in the job market.
There are six categories of military spouses:
- Spouses who have been recently married and are new to the military
- Spouses who have recently arrived at the installation
- Spouses who have been on the installation for 8 months or longer
- Spouses of service members who are deployed or geographically separated by military orders
- Spouses whose service member is on orders for a Permanent Change of Station
- Spouses whose service member is transitioning out of the military
Issue
The Military Family Support Pilot Program is a program designed to better meet the needs of military spouses entering the job market at military installations in Texas, which, with the9corresponding Local Workforce Development Boards (Boards), are as follows:
- Joint Base San Antonio—Workforce Solutions Alamo
- U.S. Army, Fort Hood—Workforce Solutions of Central Texas
- U.S. Army, Fort Bliss—Workforce Solutions Borderplex
- Dyess Air Force Base—Workforce Solutions of West Central Texas
- Goodfellow Air Force Base—Workforce Solutions Concho Valley
- Sheppard Air Force Base—Workforce Solutions North Texas
- Laughlin Air Force Base—Workforce Solutions Middle Rio Grande
- Joint Reserve Base Fort Worth—Workforce Solutions for Tarrant County
- Kingsville andCorpus Christi Naval Air Stations—Workforce Solutions of the Coastal Bend
Recommendations
Staff recommends that TWCdevelops a program focusing on employment assistance to military spouses. Staff recommends allocating $1,000,000 in Workforce Investment and Opportunity act state level funds. These funds will be distributed to the 9 Boards with corresponding military installations listed above. The Military Family Support Pilot Program will provide the 9 Boardsthe opportunity to focus efforts on this underserved population in providing enhanced job search assistance, assessment of skills, labor market information, resume writing and interview skills, and if funding is available, to support training in Targeted Occupations.
Workforce Boards would develop, build or maintain relationships with the military installations, military spouses programs and other community partners in their Board areas.
Staff recommends a base distribution of $ 40,000 to all 9 Workforce Boards. Further distribution will be determined by the number of sponsors on each military installation.
Military Installation / County / Board / TotalFort Hood / Bell / Central Texas / $267,022
Fort Sam Houston* / Bexar / Alamo / $216,298
Lackland AFB / Bexar / Alamo
Randolph AFB / Bexar / Alamo
Fort Bliss / El Paso / Upper Rio Grande / $189,498
NAS Kingsville / Kleberg / Coastal Bend / $49,631
Corpus Christi Army Depot / Nueces / Coastal Bend
NAS Corpus Christi / Nueces / Coastal Bend
NAS Fort Worth Joint Reserve Base / Tarrant / Tarrant / $44,835
Dyess AFB / Taylor / West Central / $64,014
Goodfellow AFB / Tom Green / Concho Valley / $57,010
Laughlin AFB / Val Verde / Middle Rio Grande / $47,802
Sheppard AFB / Wichita / North Texas / $63,890
$1,000,000
Staff also recommends program strategies and program deliverables be tailored to meet local needs.
Military Family Support Pilot Program Notebook 09 13 161