A new piece of legislation aims to address the workforce shortage created by the opioid epidemic.
The Collectively Achieving Recovery and Employment (CARE) Act, introduced Wednesday by U.S. Sens. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., and Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, would combine existing grant programs at the Department of Labor (DOL) and the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to create a six-year pilot project to combine job training and addiction recovery services.
“For individuals on the road to recovery, re-entering the workforce can be a real challenge,” Capito said. “At the same time, many employers are having difficulty filling open positions in industries that are critical to growing our economy.”
She said this bipartisan legislation will help those who have struggled with addiction get good-paying jobs as they work to turn their lives around and also will fill important workforce needs.
“I look forward to continuing to work together with Sen. Brown to help these men and women get back on their feet and build a brighter future for themselves,” Capito added.
Brown said he hears from mayors across Ohio that employers can’t fill job openings because workers can’t pass drug tests.
“We know addiction treatment and workforce training programs can be successful separately, but this crisis requires them to work together.”
The CARE Act would allow counties and Tribes to apply for competitive grants directly, as long as they have a qualified local workforce organization and nonprofit addiction treatment organization willing to participate. The bill also directs DOL and HHS to establish certain reporting criteria that grantees would have to meet.
The CARE Act builds on the National Health Emergency Dislocated Worker Demonstration Grant pilot program, which will help workers impacted by the opioid crisis acquire new skills and help train drug addiction treatment providers and other professions that address problems related to opioids.
