CLEVELAND, OH – With limited spots remaining nationwide, U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) and Cuyahoga County Executive Ed FitzGerald highlighted a newly-available jobs retraining assistance program made possible through the VOW to Hire Heroes Act. Brown and FitzGerald encouraged northeast Ohio veterans to apply for the program which has already accepted more than 2,200 Ohio veterans into the program.

The VRAP program provides retraining assistance for high-demand careers for veterans ages 35 to 60. County Executive FitzGerald also provided an update on the Army PAYS program, which seeks to match younger veterans with Cuyahoga County jobs. Brown and FitzGerald were joined by an unemployed veteran from the Cleveland area who is using VRAP funds to get retrained for a new, high-demand career.

Brown was an original cosponsor of the VOW to Hire Heroes Act, a key provision of which is VRAP, which offers job retraining assistance to veterans between 35 and 60 years of age. According to the VA—which is administering the program along with the U.S. Department of Labor—VRAP offers up to 12 months of training assistance to unemployed veterans.

Although the first round of funding for VRAP has maxed out at 45,000 veterans for retraining assistance, VRAP is still accepting applications and veterans are encouraged to apply.

The second round of funding began October 1st, and an additional 54,000 veterans can receive assistance until March 31, 2014. Participants must be enrolled in a VA-approved education program offered by a community college or technical school. The program must lead to an Associate Degree, Non-College Degree, or a Certificate, and train the Veteran for a high-demand occupation. A list of VRAP high-demand occupations is available here.