Official Site of The State of New Jersey

July 23, 2025

TRENTON – The New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development (NJDOL) has awarded $2.5 million through a fourth round of the Cultivating Access, Rights, and Equity (CARE) grant program to 26 organizations, including four collaboratives comprised of 15 organizations. 

Launched in March 2022, the CARE grant funds outreach, education, and technical assistance to increase equitable access to New Jersey’s worker benefits and protections. Since its launch, CARE grantees have made direct contacts with over 200,000 workers and counseled thousands to help them secure the benefits and rights they are entitled to under the law. They have also reached more than 3,800 employers with information on their obligations and compliance. 

This year’s program funding will cover initiatives to raise awareness and access to paid family and medical leave, unemployment insurance, and other work rights, including Earned Sick Leave, minimum wage, overtime, wage theft, misclassification, Temporary Workers’ Bill of Rights, and the Domestic Workers’ Bill of Rights. 

“The NJDOL is committed to ensuring every worker in New Jersey can understand and access their work rights and benefits,” said Labor Commissioner Robert Asaro-Angelo. “Through the CARE grant, NJDOL is proud to support organizations who are making a difference in the lives of workers, particularly those in underserved communities. These initiatives are crucial to fostering an equitable workforce where everyone is empowered to thrive.” 

Awardees include community organizations, worker centers, social service providers, professional associations, libraries, maternal health programs, and faith-based groups that have demonstrated their ability to provide community-centered, culturally relevant, and language-specific programming, and link underserved residents and small businesses with government programs. 

The CARE grant program reaches workers who need increased access to their rights and benefits, including low-wage workers, workers of color, immigrants, women, refugees, survivors of domestic/sexual violence, and young workers. The program also funds outreach and education to small and immigrant-owned businesses, and other employers that need resources and information on these laws and programs. 

Grantees will build the capacity of their staff to provide information on worker benefits and protections through NJDOL training sessions, engage in outreach at community events, provide one-on-one counseling and application assistance to workers, conduct presentations and training programs, run social media and text campaigns, user-test outreach tools and applications, and more. 

Several organizations received funding for outreach and education on the Domestic Workers Bill of Rights, enacted on July 1, 2024. The law protects the work rights of domestic workers in New Jersey, regardless of their immigration status. Domestic workers provide essential services to families, including childcare, eldercare, housekeeping, cooking and more.

 “Our community is incredibly grateful for the CARE grant, which plays a vital role in empowering the Laundry Workers Center's outreach and education on worker rights,” said Rosanna Rodríguez, Co-Executive Director of the Laundry Workers Center, a CARE grantee. “With this support, we’ve reached over a thousand workers in New Jersey, including laundromat workers. We are excited to expand our outreach to include domestic workers and inform them of their rights under the New Jersey Domestic Worker Bill of Rights. Our work also helps to uplift the voices of these workers and ensure that their rights are upheld.” 

Co-Executive Director Dương Nghệ Lý from grantee VietLead added: “For the past few years, the CARE grant has been instrumental in strengthening our ability to connect with the Vietnamese community in South Jersey. The resources provided allowed us to build trust and share crucial information about labor rights and benefits in spaces that are culturally significant and welcoming to community members, leaders, and business owners alike, in the language that our community speaks. As a returning grantee, this sustained support has been vital, as it allows us to deepen the relationships we’ve built and maintain a consistent, trusted presence. Furthermore, the grant is a direct investment in our capacity, strengthening our ability to develop targeted resources and expand our reach to ensure every community member knows their rights and how to access resources.” 

“Family Health Initiatives is proud to partner with the NJDOL to expand access to information about New Jersey’s strong resources for new parents,” said President and CEO Helen Hannigan of grantee Family Health Initiatives. “Through this grant, we will ensure that all pregnant Medicaid recipients receive information and support to receive Family Leave Insurance payments. These payments support extended parent/infant bonding, breastfeeding, and allow families and individuals the time to focus on maternal mental and physical health postpartum.” 

The complete list of grantees is below:

For more information on the CARE grant program, visit: www.nj.gov/labor/care.

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