34:15D-6 Training grants.

6. a. The Workforce Development Partnership Program shall, to the extent that resources available in the fund permit, provide, for each qualified displaced or disadvantaged worker who undergoes counseling pursuant to section 7 of this act, a training grant to pay for employment and training services which are identified in the Employability Development Plan developed pursuant to that section for that worker. No training grant made pursuant to this subsection during the first 12 months following July 1, 1992 shall exceed the amount deemed reasonable by the commissioner for the particular training, which amount shall not exceed $4,000, except that the commissioner may permit an additional amount, if he deems it necessary to provide remedial education identified in the Employability Development Plan.

b. The Workforce Development Partnership Program may provide, for any individual who is selected to receive a self-employment assistance allowance pursuant to section 4 of P.L.1995, c.394 (C.43:21-70), a training grant to pay for entrepreneurial training and technical assistance deemed necessary and appropriate by the commissioner to help the individual to become self-employed. A training grant made pursuant to this subsection shall be in an amount deemed reasonable by the commissioner for the particular training, but, during the first 12 months following January 1, 1996, shall not be in an amount which exceeds $400, or, if the grant is for training provided by any public institution of higher education indicated in N.J.S.18A:62-1, shall not be in an amount which exceeds $1,500.

c. The maximum amounts permitted for training grants made pursuant to subsection a. or b. of this section may be adjusted annually thereafter by the commissioner, taking into consideration changes in the prevailing costs of services and the availability of alternative sources of funding for the services. Any cost for employment and training services which exceeds the amount of a training grant shall be the responsibility of the worker receiving the grant. The cost of counseling provided pursuant to section 7 of this act shall not be charged against the training grant. No portion of a training grant may be expended on wage subsidies.

d. If the requirements of this section and sections 4 and 7 of this act are met, a qualified displaced, disadvantaged or employed worker shall not be denied a training grant for any of the following reasons: the training includes remedial education needed by the worker to advance in his current employment or occupation or to succeed in the vocational component of the training; the qualified displaced worker or other individual has identifiable vocational skills but the training services are needed to enable the individual to develop skills necessary to attain at least the level of self-sufficiency; the training is part of a program under which the worker may obtain any college degree enhancing the worker's marketable skills and earning power; the worker has previously received a training grant; the length of the training period under the program; or the lack of a prior guarantee of employment upon completion of the training.

L.1992,c.43,s.6; amended 1995, c.394, s.11; 2001, c.152, s.10.