Eight states have volunteered to test the Bush administration's Career Advancement Accounts, which can be used by displaced or current workers to pay for expenses related to improving their job skills via education and training, according to the Department of Labor.
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Download Now Under the Career Advancement Account (CAA) demonstration project, three states (Indiana, Pennsylvania, and Wyoming) will conduct pilot tests for statewide use. Another five states (Georgia, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, and Ohio) will use the accounts to help workers impacted by layoffs in the automobile industry.
Under the program, individual workers will be eligible for accounts worth $3,000, renewable for one year, for a total of $6,000. The department says that between 2,500 and 4,000 automotive workers could potentially take advantage of the accounts. States will be eligible for grants of $1.5 million from the U.S. Department of Labor, provided they come up with $1.5 million in matching funds.
Critics argue that the program is inadequate and that the administration should focus its resources on other training programs.
"In terms of dollars, numbers of workers potentially helped, and states selected for the CAA demonstration, this proposal seriously misses the mark," said Bruce G. Herman, executive director for National Employment Law Project, in a July statement. "Our main concern is that the Bush administration's proposal is more about advancing its own agenda, and less about helping dislocated automotive workers or affected communities."