National Dislocated Worker Grants (NDWGs) are discretionary grants awarded by the Secretary of Labor pursuant to Section 170 of WIOA, as amended. NDWGs provide resources to states and other eligible applicants to respond to large, unexpected layoff events causing significant job losses. This funding is intended to temporarily expand capacity to serve dislocated workers, including military service members, and meet the increased demand for WIOA employment and training services, with a purpose to reemploy laid off workers and enhance their employability and earnings. Disaster NDWGs provide funding to create temporary employment opportunities to assist with clean-up and recovery efforts, when an area impacted by disaster is declared eligible for public assistance by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) or otherwise recognized by a Federal agency with authority or jurisdiction over Federal response to the emergency or disaster.

These are uniform and high-quality occupational standards that have been approved by the US Department of Labor (DOL) National Office of Apprenticeship. NPS are frequently utilized by large- and mid-sized companies with multiple establishments or by intermediary organizations acting on behalf of multiple employers.

Occupations or fields of work, for which individuals from the gender involved comprise less than 25 percent of the individuals employed in each such occupation or field of work.

When an individual is:

• Not attending, or registered to attend, any school and has not received a secondary school diploma or its recognized equivalent;
• Not attending, or registered to attend, any school and has either graduated from high school or has an equivalent diploma; or
• Attending a program through: Adult Education and Literacy, YouthBuild, Job Corps, a high school equivalency program or a dropout re-engagement program.