Finding jobs for veterans

James Carafano:

She had an honorable discharge ... and an eviction notice.

She also had marketable skills. In the Army, she had been a personnel management specialist. She could do event planning and outreach. She had all the makings of a top-notch employee. All she lacked was a job.

Luckily for her, America Works knows talent when they see it. When she went to them for help, they saw that she was a natural for working with others who had served in the armed forces. They gave her a job: helping put other people to work.

America Works is an American success story. Dedicated to the proposition that veterans don't need a handout, just a hand up, it stands as a groundbreaking model for moving people from welfare to work.

It began in 1984, when Peter Cove, a businessman and social entrepreneur, got tired of watching America spend billions of dollars on the war on poverty without making any discernible progress.

Cove believed that people working in communities could solve problems better than government handouts. He decided to start a for-profit company that would bring private-sector initiative to welfare reform.

Cove started with a simple proposition: Rather than pay people to live on welfare, pay America Works find them jobs. If Cove succeeded, he would get paid. If he didn't, he'd go broke. Nearly 40 years later, the organization is thriving ... and needed more than ever.

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One initiative, conducted in concert with the U.S. Department of Labor, primarily serves veterans in the Washington area. America Works assesses their needs, gives them any training necessary, and collaborates with local organizations and employers to overcome any obstacles standing between a veteran and a job. If the job requires a uniform and work boots, for example, a check gets cut to make sure the vet is fitted out and ready to hit the work site.

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There is more.

Veterans of the war on terror are victims of the Obama economy which has been a job killer for everyone.  The Texas Workforce Commission has directed vets toward the Eagle Ford and other oil and gas related jobs which pay well.  Other states may not have the same opportunities and programs like this one may help to redirect the efforts of the vets.