14. a. The commission shall foster and coordinate workforce investment initiatives of all State Departments. It shall promote initiatives of the Department of Education and the Commission on Higher Education to maximize the contributions of the State’s public schools and institutions of higher education in implementing the State workforce investment policy developed by the commission. The commission shall foster and coordinate initiatives of the Department of Education and the Commission on Higher Education that will enhance the State’s efforts to assist at-risk youths in achieving educational success and making successful transitions to work. The commission shall foster initiatives of the Commission on Higher Education among institutions of higher education that will enhance the State’s workforce investment efforts, including: the coordination of vocational programs between institutions; more use of facilities at institutions which provide education at or above the level of county colleges, including, but not limited to, the Advanced Technology Centers established pursuant to P.L.1985, c.102 (C. 52:9X-1 et seq.), P.L.1985, c.103 (C. 18A:64J-1 et seq.), P.L.1985, c.104 (C. 18A:64J-8 et seq.), P.L.1985, c.105 (C. 18A:64J-15 et seq.), and P.L.1985, c.106 (C. 18A:64J-22 et seq.); developing more programs to offer four year degrees for working students who attend only at nights and on weekends; and expanding programs which provide college credit for training and educational experiences outside of traditional academic contexts.

b. The commission shall have the responsibility, jointly with the Department of Education, the Department of Labor and Workforce Development and the Commission on Higher Education, to: (1) establish standards regarding the minimum levels of remedial instruction which shall be made available to a trainee under any workforce investment program, including any program of training undertaken in connection with additional unemployment compensation benefits provided pursuant to the provisions of P.L.1992, c.47 (C. 43:21-57 et al.) or any program funded or established pursuant to the “1992 New Jersey Employment and Workforce Development Act,” P.L.1992, c.43 (C. 34:15D-1 et al.) or the Workforce Investment Act of 1998, Pub. L. 105-220 (29 U.S.C. § 2801 et seq.); and (2) coordinate the development of appropriate intake and assessment instruments and procedures for the assessment of persons seeking access to workforce investment programs. The remedial instruction standards shall be determined through the use of common diagnostic tools, curricula, and evaluation techniques, and shall take into account the differing needs and characteristics of the various target populations which the programs serve. The remedial instruction standards shall be based on evaluations of the minimum levels of basic skills needed to succeed in particular types of occupational training offered under the programs and any additional improvements in basic skills needed by individuals of each target population to successfully adapt to the State’s changing economy. The standard for the minimum level of remedial instruction that shall be made available to an individual receiving the occupational training for a particular occupation shall not be less than the level necessary to attain the minimum basic skill levels indicated as needed for that occupation in the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Occupational Information Network, or “O*NET.” The commission, the Department of Education, the Department of Labor and Workforce Development and the Commission on Higher Education, may jointly set this standard at a higher level, but if they do not, the level indicated in the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Occupational Information Network, or “O*NET,” shall be regarded as the established standard.

L.1989,c.293,s.14; amended 1992, c.43, s.14; 1992, c.47, s.12; 1992, c.48, s.9; 2005, c.354, s.15.