Eligibility for Priority Services

Priority of Service for Covered Persons

The Jobs for Veterans Act provides priority of service to covered veterans and eligible spouses over non-covered persons for employment, training, and placement services under job training programs funded, fully or partially, by the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL).

Am I Eligible?

To be eligible for priority of service, you must be considered a Covered Person.

A Covered Person includes:

• Veterans: Individuals who served in active military, naval, or air service and were discharged or released under conditions other than dishonorable.
• Eligible Spouses: Spouses of any of the following individuals:
  • Any veteran who died of a service-connected disability.
  • Any veteran who has a total disability resulting from a service-connected disability.
  • Any veteran who died while a disability was in existence.
  • Any member of the Armed Forces serving on active duty who, at the time of application for assistance, is listed under section 556 of title 37 and regulations issued by the Secretary concerned, in one or more of the following categories and has been so listed for more than 90 days:
    • Missing in action.
    • Captured in the line of duty by a hostile force.
    • Forcibly detained or interned in the line of duty by a foreign government or power.

What Does Priority Mean?

Priority of Service means the right of eligible, covered persons to take precedence over eligible, non-covered persons in obtaining services. For example, this could mean:

• The covered person receives access to the service or resource earlier than the non-covered person; or
• If the service or resource is limited, the covered person receives access to the service or resource before the non-covered person. 

What are Eligible Programs?

Below is a list of programs affected by the passage of the Priority of Service for Covered Persons law. This list is not all inclusive, but provides a good idea of the type of programs in which Priority of Service for Covered Persons exists. Before priority of service can be extended to any covered person in these programs, the covered person MUST be qualified to participate in the program.

• WIOA Adult and Dislocated Worker
• Wagner-Peyser Employment Service
• Trade Act Programs
• National Emergency Grants
• Senior Community Service Employment Programs (SCSEP)
• Migrant and Seasonal Farm Worker Program
• Indian and Native American Program
• Job Corps
• WIOA Demonstration Projects
• Labor Market Information Grants
• Career One-Stop Electronic Tools
• Other Internet-based self-service tools operated by DOL programs

More information
Additional information concerning Priority of Service for Covered Person can also be obtained at the U. S. Department of Labor website.

And at the U.S. Federal Register (20 CFR 1010)​.