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8.6.5 Needs-Related Payments

Effective date: October 10, 2018 - January 9, 2020

Needs-related payments can be made to participants to help them cover non-training expenses while participating in a training program.¹ Without the help of needs-related payments, participants may be unable to successfully participate in training.²

The local WDBs may elect to provide needs-related payments. The state WDB may elect to provide needs-related payments as part of allowable statewide employment and training activities.³

8.6.5.1 Eligibility Criteria

To receive needs-related payments, participants must, at minimum, be:

unemployed;
AND
not receiving unemployment insurance (UI) benefits or trade readjustment allowances (TRA) because the individual does not qualify or is an exhaustee;
AND
enrolled in a training program that has already begun or will begin within 30 calendar days.⁴

Dislocated Worker Program participants must meet the criteria above and must also be enrolled in a training program by the later of:

the end of the 13th week after the most recent layoff that qualified them as a dislocated worker
OR
the end of the 8th week after they were informed by their employer that a short-term layoff would last longer than 6 months.⁵

Examples: Participant A was permanently laid off on January 3, 2018. Thirteen weeks from this date is April 4, 2018 and the end of that week is April 7, 2018. Therefore, Participant A must be enrolled in training by April 7, 2018.
Participant B was put on temporary layoff on January 3, 2018. Participant B was notified on March 15, 2018 that the layoff would be permanent. May 10, 2018 is 8 weeks from the day Participant B was notified that the layoff would be permanent and the end of that week is May 12, 2018. Therefore, Participant B must be enrolled in training by May 12, 2018.
Tip: Use a free online date calculator to help calculate dates.

Note: The state and local WDBs may add additional eligibility criteria (e.g., household or family income) to help identify those participants who are most in need of additional support during training.

8.6.5.2 Payment Levels

The local WDBs have the discretion to determine payment levels for Adult and Dislocated Worker Program participants. However, payment levels for Dislocated Worker Program participants cannot exceed the greater of:

the weekly UI benefit rate resulting from the qualifying dislocation
OR
the federal poverty line at the time of the qualifying dislocation.⁶

The state WDB has the discretion to determine payment levels if needs-related payments are used as part of allowable statewide employment and training activities.⁷