US Department of Labor awards $2.5M in incremental funding to continue disaster-relief jobs, training services for people affected by Maui wildfires

Grant supports cleanup, recovery activities, employment services after 2023 disaster

News Release from US DoL, March 25, 2025

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor today announced an incremental award of $2.5 million to Hawaii to continue employment and training services, and support disaster-relief jobs for people in communities harmed by severe wildfires that swept across the island of Maui on Aug. 8, 2023. 

In the late summer of 2023, the department’s Employment and Training Administration responded by announcing the award of Disaster Recovery Grant funding of up to $21 million, with an initial award of $10.5 million, to assist with cleanup and recovery activities. With this incremental funding, the total awarded for the project is $13 million. 

This Disaster Recovery National Dislocated Worker Grant allows the Hawaii Department of Labor and Industrial Relations to provide people with temporary jobs focused on cleaning up debris and repairing damage caused by the fires, as well as providing employment and training services to wildfire survivors. 

Supported by the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act of 2014, National Dislocated Worker Grants provide a state or local board with funding for direct services and assistance in areas experiencing a major economic dislocation event that leads to workforce needs exceeding available resources. 

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CB: Shuttered Maui Fire Victims Jobs Effort Gets Funds, But Fate Still Unclear - Honolulu Civil Beat “…the state Department of Labor and Industrial Relations, or DLIR, which received the National Dislocated Worker Grant award, said the new funds will actually be used to reimburse a Maui nonprofit for expenses it incurred managing the program before it closed the program down.”