Narrative: III. b. 5. A. i.

USDOL requests states to provide a description of how core program funds will be distributed to local Workforce Development Areas. In accordance with WIOA Sections 128 and 133, New Jersey will allocate Title I funds by the formulas outlined in Sections 128 (for Youth funding) and Section 133 (for Adult and Dislocated Worker funding), utilizing the Discretionary Allocation formula as outlined in those Sections.

New Jersey distributes the entire available amount of the local allocation for the WIOA Adult and Youth programs to the local areas. Following the formulas in the WIOA Act and detailed in subsections below, New Jersey utilizes five percent of the funds for state administration. The remaining amount is distributed by formula to the local areas. New Jersey does not use the 30% discretionary formula for these programs.

The hold harmless provisions prescribed by the WIOA Act will be used. Funding will be allocated such that no eligible agency (local Workforce Development Area, for these purposes) shall receive an allotment that is less than 90 percent of the allotment (share of the distributable funding under Youth, Adult and Dislocated Worker categories) the eligible agency received for the preceding fiscal year and will not exceed 130% of the percentage share from the preceding fiscal year. The use of this formula prevents any major shift of funding year-to-year to the local areas.

As the State Plan focuses more on targeted sectors and Talent Networks, it will expand both the participation of businesses and employees, maximizing whenever possible their particular resources. Acknowledging that businesses and employees can be partners and not merely consumers is a shift in vision that should benefit all partners in the service delivery system.

State Workforce Development Program (WDP) funds and partnerships with the Talent Networks will be leveraged to train jobseekers in a manner that ensures readily available employment opportunities by greater use of On-the-Job Training (OJT) instead of traditional Individual Training Accounts (ITA). OJT requires employers’ selection and employment of those jobseekers approved for such training, thus providing employers a workforce with the exact skills and training desired. Both jobseekers and employers positively participate in New Jersey’s talent development system exchange through the use of OJT. This is a more effective strategy to align ITA with economic or labor market needs.

The State will also engage in employer-focused training developed in partnership with the Talent Networks to address specific industry demand. Through broader partnerships with community colleges and other accredited training providers, these customized training programs are steadily becoming feeder programs to skilled trades’ employment in New Jersey. Closer ties with the New Jersey Business & Industry Association recently led to the development of a training program for fabricated metal manufacturing employers. Unlike the traditional ITA-based training where participants enter a labor demand occupational training program in the hopes of finding a job upon completion, the model used with the fabricated metal manufacturing training brought together employers, education, and the State’s talent development system in an innovative program that offers a promise of employment to participants who successfully complete the training program.

Employers participating in this training model prescreened and approved participants and helped develop the training content with a local community college. New Jersey plans to expand on the successful model by partnering with the Talent Networks for similarly designed training programs in other key industries. To better facilitate this leveraging of resources and partnerships, the Demand Occupations List will be reduced to more accurately align the talent development system with specific economic and labor market needs.

Further, Title I funds will be leveraged through the local WDBs to facilitate the consolidation of One-Stop Career Center staff performing the business outreach function under central leadership. LWD Business Services Representatives, Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF)/General Assistance (GA) On-the-Job Training Contract Writers, and Local Veterans Employment Representatives (LVERs) will work in a coordinated fashion that avoids duplication of effort and that benefits employers and jobseekers by more effectively and efficiently addressing the needs of both for the ultimate matching of appropriate jobseeker skills with existing employment opportunities.

(A) For Title I programs, provide a description of the written policies that establish the State’s methods and factors used to distribute funds to local areas for—

(i) Youth activities in accordance with WIOA section 128(b)(2) or (b)(3),

In accordance with WIOA Section 128(b)(3), New Jersey will use the Youth Discretionary Allocation, using the following formula in accordance with the Training and Employment Guidance Letter (TEGL) 27-16 to allocate Youth activities.

• 33.3% based on the relative number of Disadvantaged Youth in each local area, compared to the total number of disadvantaged youth in the state;
• 33.3% based on relative number of unemployed individuals in Areas of Substantial Unemployment in each local area, compared to the total number of unemployed individuals in areas of substantial unemployment in the state;
• 33.3% based on relative Excess Number of Unemployed Individuals in each local area, compared to the total excess number of unemployed individuals in the state.

No local area shall receive an allocation percentage for a fiscal year that is less than 90 percent of the average allocation percentage of the local area for the 2 preceding fiscal years. Amounts necessary for increasing such allocations to local areas to comply with the preceding sentence shall be obtained by ratably reducing the allocations to be made to other local areas.

Disadvantaged youth is defined as an individual age 16 through 21 who received an income, or is a member of a family that received a total family income that, in relation to family size, does not exceed the higher of - the poverty line, or 70 percent of the Lower Living Standard Income Level (LLSIL).

Excess unemployment is defined as the greater of either 1) the total number of unemployed individuals in the Local Area minus 4.5% of the total Local Area labor force, or 2) is equal to zero.

Substantial unemployment is defined as any Local Area where the unemployment rate is above 6.5% for the most recent 12 months.