14. Supportive Services and Needs Related Payments

What The Law Requires:

1. Support Services: are services such as transportation, child care, dependent care, housing and needs-related payments, that are necessary to enable the individual to participant in activities authorized under title I of the Act.
   
   Eligibility: Funds allocated to a local area for adults and dislocated workers may be used to provide supportive services to adults and dislocated workers who:

• are participating in programs with activities authorized under Core, Intensive, or Training Services

and

• are unable to obtain such supportive services through other programs providing such services.

2. Needs-Related Payments: are payments that are necessary to enable an individual to participate in activities authorized under Title I.
   
   Eligibility: In general, funds allocated to a local area for adults and dislocated workers may be used to provide needs-related payments to adults and dislocated workers, who are unemployed and do not qualify for (or have ceased to qualify for) unemployment compensation for the purpose of enabling such individuals to participate in programs of training services
   
   Additional eligibility requirements: In addition, a dislocated worker who has ceased to qualify for unemployment compensation may be eligible to receive needs-related payments only if such worker was enrolled in the training services:

• by the end of the 13th week after the most recent layoff that resulted in a determination of the worker's eligibility for employment and training activities for dislocated workers;

or

• if later, by the end of the 8th week after the worker is informed that a short-term layoff will exceed 6 months.

Level of payments: The level of a needs-related payment made to a dislocated worker shall not exceed the greater of—

• the applicable level of unemployment compensation;

or

• if such worker did not qualify for unemployment compensation, an amount equal to the poverty line, for an equivalent period, which amount shall be adjusted to reflect changes in total family income.

Labor’s Perspective: Support services and needs-related payments are vital to many workers who enroll in training. Such services should be provided to all workers who need them without regard to employment status, past work history, age, race, gender or ethnicity.

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