The 1997 session of the Legislature appropriated nearly $126.5 million for purposes of employment and economic opportunity through the Departments of Economic Security (DES) and Labor and Industry (DLI).

Appropriations totaling nearly $76.2 million went to DES for workforce preparation, rehabilitation services, and state services for the blind.

Appropriations of more than $26 million went for workforce preparation programs, including nearly $12.9 million for the statewide summer youth employment program.

Several appropriations dealt, all or in part, with the welfare-to-work issue generated by the federal welfare reform legislation. More than $2 million was added to a federal Job Training Partnership Act Title II designed to prepare adults facing serious barriers to employment for participation in the labor force. Federal funding for this program is at about $8 million. Another $3 million was allocated to match federal funds to finish the workforce center initiative which is designed to integrate local employment training and related social services.

Other appropriations for employment programs included:

• More than $3.6 million for displaced homemaker programs;
• More than $1.5 million for Opportunities Industrialization centers, with $500,000 of that allocated for pre-vocational and intensive English as a second language programs;
• $500,000 for a learn-to-earn program for at-risk youths;
• $1.4 million for the Youthbuild program that employs at-risk youths in housing renovation projects;
• $500,000 for a pilot program for welfare-to-work clients to achieve self-sufficiency through empowerment programs that use peer group leaders and experienced mentors for group self-empowerment meetings;
• $250,000 for a Ramsey County grant to expand the sister-to-sister mentoring, support, and training network program;
• $500,000 to provide special help to persons impaired for employment by lack of work history, emotional characteristics, and limited education; and
• $500,000 to allow the center for victims of torture to design and develop programs and networks to allow torture victims to reintegrate into society.

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