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The New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development (NJDOL) this week announced progress of the CARE grant program that launched last March, which is aimed at promoting outreach, education and support toward expanding access to benefits and protections available for eligible workers here in New Jersey.

NJDOL says since the launch of the Cultivating Access Rights and Equity initiative, nearly 47,000 workers received targeted information on New Jersey’s paid leave laws and other work rights. The first round of CARE grant funding – $1.1 million awarded to 13 grantees and four collaboratives for a total 28 organizations – resulted in 46,785 workers reached through direct outreach.

Those efforts included community events, phone banking, canvassing, trainings, workshops, webinars, counseling and technical assistance, as well as sharing more than 220,000 mass messages in the form of targeted social media posts and local radio advertisements.

Over the summer, a second $1.5 million round was awarded to 17 grantees, including three collaboratives representing nine organizations.

The NJDOL notes that the grantees have worked closely with its representatives – attending presentations and trainings on topics such as Unemployment Insurance (UI), Wage and Hour Law, Strategic Enforcement, Immigration Relief, and Health and Safety – while offering the department valuable feedback on paid leave materials as well as supporting user testing for a new maternity timeline tool and ongoing UI modernization efforts.

Officials say that the grant program also supports NJDOL’s Strategic Enforcement goals by strengthening partnerships with community-based organizations and deepening their understanding of the state’s labor laws.

“The partnerships fostered through the CARE grant have been integral in connecting vital state services to New Jersey workers and raising awareness of these programs,” said Labor Commissioner Robert Asaro-Angelo in a press release. “Workers’ rights have been significantly enhanced under the Murphy Administration, and we are continuing to work with trusted community partners to ensure all residents know every benefit and protection to which they’re entitled.”