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State Displaced Homemaker Program

Description & Purpose

The State Displaced Homemakers Program is intended to provide employment and training services to individuals who have been dependent upon someone else for support and who through death, disability of a spouse or divorce no longer have such support. Services for Displaced Homemakers include vocational counseling, job training and job search assistance. The purpose of the program is to intervene in an individual's life prior to their depletion of financial reserves. Intervening shortly after displacement prevents welfare dependence and helps attach them as quickly as possible to the labor market.

Economic Development

This program is one of the many programs administered by Workforce Services Division that is designed to provide a qualified labor force for business and industry. The services are designed to prepare an individual for the workplace and to have skills that business and industry need.

Eligibility

Montana residents, 18 years of age or older, may be considered for the State Displaced Homemaker program if they meet any of the requirements listed below:

Has worked as an adult, primarily without remuneration, to care for the home and family for a minimum of 3 years within the last 5 years. For that reason, the individual has diminished, marketable skills and has been dependent on public assistance or on the income of a relative but is no longer supported by that income; or
A parent whose youngest child will become ineligible to receive Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) within 2 years of application to the State Displaced Homemaker program; or
Is unemployed or underemployed and is experiencing difficulty in obtaining any employment or suitable employment; or
Is a criminal offender that meets residency, age, and any of the requirements above.

Administration

Montana Department of Labor & Industry's Workforce Services Division (WSD) administers the State Displaced Homemaker program. The bulk of the funding goes in direct grants to two private, non-profit organizations to serve individuals in local communities. WSD retains ten percent of the funding for administrative functions such as fiscal oversight, maintenance of the participant data tracking system, etc. WSD monitors review participant files annually and provide technical assistance.