# Veterans' Employment and Training; Veterans Workforce Investment Program
**AGENCY:**
Veterans' Employment and Training Service, Department of Labor.
*Announcement Type:* New Notice of Availability of Funds and Solicitation for Grant Applications. The full announcement is posted on *www.grants.gov* .
*Funding Opportunity Number:* SGA 12-02.
**DATES:**
*Key Dates:* The closing date for receipt of applications is June 15, 2012.
**Funding Opportunity Description**
The U.S. Department of Labor (USDOL), Veterans' Employment and Training Service (VETS), announces a grant competition under the Veterans' Workforce Investment Program (VWIP) for Program Year (PY) 2012, as authorized under Section 168 of the Workforce Investment Act (WIA) of 1998. WIA section 168 amended the training programs made available to veterans (see 29 U.S.C. 2913). WIA section 168 authorizes the Department of Labor to make grants to meet the needs for workforce investment activities of veterans with service-connected disabilities, veterans who have significant barriers to employment, veterans who served on active duty in the armed forces during a war or in a campaign or expedition for which a campaign badge has been authorized, and recently separated veterans within 48 months of discharge (under conditions other than dishonorable). Veterans who received a “dishonorable” discharge are ineligible for VWIP services. Priority of service for veterans in all Department of Labor funded training programs is established in 38 U.S.C. 4215.
• VWIP grants are intended to address three objectives: (a) To provide services to assist in reintegrating eligible veterans into meaningful employment within the labor force; and (b) to stimulate the development of effective service delivery systems that will address the complex employability problems facing eligible veterans; and (c) to increase the skills and competency level of veteran participants through longer-term training that results, whenever feasible, in industry-recognized credentials for jobs, occupations, and industries that are in demand within a targeted service area.
The full Solicitation for Grant Application is posted on *www.grants.gov* under U.S. Department of Labor/VETS. Applications submitted through *www.grants.gov* or hard copy will be accepted. If you need to speak to a person concerning these grants, you may telephone Cassandra Mitchell at 202-693-4570 (not a toll-free number). If you have issues regarding access to the *www.grants.gov* Web site, you may telephone the Contact Center Phone at 1-800-518-4726.
Signed at Washington, DC, this 2nd day of May 2012.
Cassandra R. Mitchell,
Grant Officer.