Frequently Asked Questions For Customized Training and Apprenticeship Programs
- What is the Customized Training program?
- Who can apply for a Customized Training grant?
- Who is considered an eligible trainee and what is considered eligible training to receive under the Customized Training grant?
- What is the Literacy/Basic Skills program?
- How can I apply for a Customized Training grant or a Literacy Basic Skills
- When will I know if my business will receive a grant?
- What is the maximum reimbursement per hour for training courses?
- What records should I maintain for reimbursement?
- What do I do if I can not find the job title on the drop down list?
- How do I add a job title after I have entered in courses?
- How can I print the entire document? One must go into each page print each page/section separately – this is very time consuming.
- When printing the pages for Course information, you are not able to print the entire course description and course outcome.
- My course is very specific to my company. Can I add my own course title?
- How do I save my work?
- I am not able to save my Company Descriptions and my HR plan.
- I do not see my training provider on the drop down list?
- Is the grant award considered income for my business?
- What is the definition of a "front-line" worker?
- How has the stimulus package affected Customized Training Grants?
- I’m interested in the School Construction program (CTTP-WM), can you give me any information?
- I’m interested in the Youth Transitions to Work (YTTW) program; can you give me any information?
- I’m interested in applying for an apprenticeship grant, how do I begin the process?
- I’m interested in becoming an apprentice, how do I apply?
What is the Customized Training program?
The Customized Training program was established in 1992 as an economic tool to help businesses in New Jersey create, retain high skills, high wage jobs in New Jersey. The Customized Training grants are available to upgrade the skills of New Jersey workers to make them marketable and their employers more competitive in the global economy. These competitive grants are made possible under the New Jersey Workforce Development Partnership Program and are administered by the Office of Grants Operations (Customized Training Unit).
Who can apply for a Customized Training grant?
- Individual employers
- An employer organization, labor organization or community based organization
- An employer organization, labor organization, or a consortium made up of one or more educational or training institutions seeking to provide customized training to upgrade the job-related skills of workers employed in New Jersey.
Who is considered an eligible trainee and what is considered eligible training to receive under the Customized Training grant?
Applicants must propose occupational skills training for persons employed at a New Jersey facility. All trainees must be employed or hired into permanent full-time employment by the participating business(es). Training is to be conducted with an employer’s commitment to continue to employ all trained individuals for a period of at least six months following the successful completion of training.
Type of training eligible under a Customized Training grant includes:
- Training provided by qualified in-house instructors in an on-the-job or classroom based setting for industry-specific skills sets;
- Training provided in a classroom setting in partnership with a New Jersey based training provider, which includes New Jersey’s two-year or four-year colleges and universities, vocational-technical schools, and other qualified training providers.
What is the Literacy/Basic Skills program?
This competitive grant program provides funding for basic skills training to promote and improve adult literacy in the workplace for incumbent workers in low wage, lower-skilled occupations. Examples of basic skills courses are English as a Second Language, basic computer literacy, basic math, and basic communication skills (reading and writing). The funding for this program is made possible under the New Jersey Supplemental Workforce Fund for Basic Skills, and is administered by the Office of Grants Operations.
How can I apply for a Customized Training grant or a Literacy Basic Skills
Notice of Grant Opportunities for both the Customized Training grant and the Literacy/Basic Skills grant were announced on May 30, 2008 on the Department of Labor and Workforce Development website (Important Announcements) at:
http://lwd.dol.state.nj.us/labor/employer/training/incentives_training_index.html
As stated in both Notices of Grant Opportunities, to apply for either training grant, all applicants must express a notice of intent to apply by completing a prequalification form portion of the application at:
https://www6.state.nj.us/DOL_CTTS/prequal/prequal2.jsp
When will I know if my business will receive a grant?
For fiscal year 2011, applications will be considered for a grant on a rolling basis; however, the final submittal date for a pre-qualification will be May 4, 2011. Applicants receiving final approval from the Commissioner will receive an award letter via email. To view all grant awards, please go to our website: http://lwd.state.nj.us/labor/employer/training/incentives_training_index.htmlTechnical Assistance Workshop |
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What is the maximum reimbursement per hour for training courses?
Classification of Instructional Programs (CIP Code List) is a reference available on our document library for allowable costs of training. The NGO addresses allowable costs for training as well. Your Business Representative is also a resource for training costs and reimbursements.
What records should I maintain for reimbursement?
Sign-in sheets need to be maintained for three years after the contract date. Sign-sheets are a useful reference when requesting reimbursement. CTTS reimbursement is paid on a per trainee basis up to the amount contracted in each course budget.
What do I do if I can not find the job title on the drop down list?
The drop down menu of available titles is in alphabetical order and is based on the ONet Table. We realize even though there may be 1095 job titles listed; you may have a unique job title in your company that is not listed. Don’t worry. Select a title that matches or is closely related to your needs. Your Business Representative can assist in your selection as well.
How do I add a job title after I have entered in courses?
The job titles are the foundation of the applicant’s contribution to the grant. As a result of the budget calculations relying on the job titles, all job titles need to be entered prior to entering courses. Any courses entered prior to the new job title will have to be deleted in the system. Once you have deleted the courses, go to the job title section and add all new job titles.
How can I print the entire document? One must go into each page print each page/section separately – this is very time consuming.
Yes, applicants must print each section separately; however, Section 11 of the application (signing page) provides a quick summary of the application which could be used instead of printing out the entire document. A future version of CTTS will have a View “App Summary” Button. This feature will give a summary of entire application including the budget summary.
When printing the pages for Course information, you are not able to print the entire course description and course outcome.
That is correct. To print this information in its entirety, an applicant can copy and paste the course information into a Word document. This will enable the course descriptions and outcomes to be printed. Our IT department is correcting this issue by allowing all the text to be displayed and this new feature will be in production shortly.
My course is very specific to my company. Can I add my own course title?
Applicants can choose from a dropdown menu of courses that offers a multitude of titles. The dropdown menu allows the applicant to locate a course title that matches or closely resembles their needs. The “Course Description box” helps our office better understand the training request. Please utilize the “Course Description box” to customize your training needs. For example, one grantee selected “Manufacturing/Materials Resource Planning (MRP) from the course dropdown. In the “Course Description box”, the training was for “Understanding the coffee process from selecting to brewing”.
How do I save my work?
To ensure your work is saved in CTTS, please select “Update & Next” for the course selection page. Once you move forward to the next page, the previous page is saved. If you close the window prior to selecting “Update & Next”, the prior data will not be saved. Selecting “Next without Update” is for reviewing the application. It does not save your changes.
I am not able to save my Company Descriptions and my HR plan.
More than likely your description is exceeding the character limit of the text box provided. The amount allowed for the Company description is 500 characters and the HR plan is 2000 characters. The supplemental narrative can be used to provide more detail for both the Company Description and the HR plan. However, if the applicant chooses he/she can submit a separate document to their Business Representative.
I do not see my training provider on the drop down list?
The menu on CTTS is provided for convenience and includes a listing of the training providers that OGO has had a prior or current relationship with (many of whom are on the ETPL). The applicant can gain an additional 5 points in scoring by using the services of an ETPL provider. If your training provider is not on our current drop down list, then please select Unlisted Training provider which is located from the select option when choosing classroom training.
Is the grant award considered income for my business?
As a best practice, it is recommended to notify your financial officer of the grant award.
What is the definition of a "front-line" worker?
Front-line workers vary based on the industry. Front-line workers are involved in the daily operations of a company. It could be the assembly worker and his/her supervisor, the bank teller and immediate supervisor, etc.
How has the stimulus package affected Customized Training Grants?
To date, the Office of Grants Operations has not received funding from the Economic Stimulus package. We are funded through the dedicated fund Workforce Development Program (WDP).
I’m interested in the School Construction program (CTTP-WM), can you give me any information?
Yes, the purpose of the school construction program is to increase employment opportunities for women and minorities to learn construction related skills, and to benefit from school construction projects in local communities. The program components provide a variety of innovative training and support services designed to increase the success rate for participants to obtain apprenticeships in the construction trades. The CTTP-WM offers participants 8-16 weeks of free training to increase math and reading levels in order to prepare Abbott residents to test with the building trades unions and compete for apprenticeship opportunities within these unions. Please contact the NJ Department of Labor and Workforce Development, Office of Grants Operations at 609-633-6438 for more information.
I’m interested in the Youth Transitions to Work (YTTW) program; can you give me any information?
Yes, the Youth Transitions to Work program provides multiple year funding to a consortium of schools, employers, unions, and other entities to prepare young people for registered apprenticeship opportunities across a mix of occupational areas. Young men and women are identified in their junior year of high school and afforded the opportunity to align their academic studies for the last two years of high school with occupational areas that lead to formal registered apprenticeships such as in health care, information technology, pharmacy technician, stage technicians, green energy occupations, building trades, and automotive technology. Students who successfully complete the YTTW program are eligible to apply for a union or non- union apprenticeship opportunity. Please contact the NJ Department of Labor and Workforce Development, Office of Grants Operations at 609-943-3579 for more information.
I’m interested in applying for an apprenticeship grant, how do I begin the process?
The first step in applying for a grant opportunity is to determine which program your organization is interested in applying. Generally, this information can be found in the Notice of Grant Opportunity (NGO), which is announced on a yearly basis on the NJ Department of Labor and Workforce Development website. The eligibility to apply and award criteria is listed in the notice and should be carefully read for applicability to your organization. Please contact the NJ Department of Labor and Workforce Development, Office of Grants Operations at 609-943-3579 for more information.
I’m interested in becoming an apprentice, how do I apply?
Registered apprenticeship programs must meet federally approved standards relating to job duties, classroom instruction, wages, and safety and health conditions. The training periods varies from 2 to 5 years depending on the trade and industry standards. Generally, apprentices are usually high school graduates, ages 18 and over, and are employed in the trade prior to entering the program. To help apprentices meet federal and state program requirements, each county has a County Apprenticeship Coordinator. This person is responsible for registering and certifying completion of apprentices. If you are interested in information about local apprenticeship opportunities, please contact the vocational technical school in your county and ask to speak with the apprenticeship coordinator. http://lwd.dol.state.nj.us/labor/employer/training/Apprenticeship.html Please contact the NJ Department of Labor and Workforce Development, Office of Grants Operations at 609-943-3579 for more information.
