Florida Back to Work program offers help to job seekers

Job seekers may be able to find employment through the Florida Back to Work program being administered locally by Heartland Workforce.

The federally funded program is open to Florida residents with a household income of less than 200 percent of the poverty level, and who have a dependent, age 18 years or under, living in the household.

Income levels are determined using only the past 30 days of total family income.

"That provides for a broader window of opportunity for a number of job seekers." said Roger Hood, president and CEO of Heartland Workforce, "No matter what a person's wages were in a previous job, if an individual has been unemployed for at least 30 days, they should come into one of the local One-Stop Career Centers to allow staff to determine their eligibility to compete for one of these newly created positions."

During the initial phase of the program, several employers from the tri-county area of DeSoto, Hardee, and Highlands, contacted Heartland Workforce and were interested in hiring workers to fill approximately 50 new jobs they would be creating. These positions are tentatively scheduled to be filled with a starting date of March 1, 2010. The program will run through Sept. 30, 2010.

According to Hood, the local One-Stop Career Center staff will determine a person's eligibility to participate in the program and the employers will make the final hiring decision based on the skill requirements of the subsidized job. The intent of the program is to help businesses in their efforts to recover and expand and not to subsidize an employer's existing workforce. The jobs to be filled are with employers from a variety of both public and private-sector industries, and positions range from entry level to those requiring specialized skills.

Those who think they might be qualified for this program, or if you are an employer interested in obtaining more information, contact the local Heartland Workforce One-Stop Career Center in DeSoto at 863-993-1008, Ext 227; Hardee at 863-773-3474, Ext 228; or Highlands at 863-385-3672, Ext 292.