Increasing uptake of paid parental leave through benefits navigators in New Jersey
New Jersey Department of Labor
October 2024 - Present
Why This Matters For Families
Over the past 20 years, 13 states and D.C. have adopted paid family and medical leave (PFML) programs that provide income support to families when new children arrive, a family member needs care, or a family breadwinner suffers their own personal health issue. Paid leave is associated with higher labor force participation rates, higher earnings over time, better health, worker retention and productivity, and economic growth.
The New Practice Lab team is working directly with state administrators, as well as the individuals and families whom they serve, to streamline state paid leave program benefits. The team has also offered guidance to states working to pass paid family and medical leave laws, offering advice on language and processes that will aid benefit delivery to claimants and families. These programs can provide critical relief to U.S. families — but only if they reach the people who need them, when they need them.
Implementation Challenge
New Jersey first passed a temporary disability law in 1948 and later passed a Family Leave Insurance program into law in 2008. Together, these laws make up the state’s paid family and medical leave program. As one of the first states to run a paid leave program, they are facing the same issues as many older programs: legacy technology that is not easily updated to meet user needs.
In New York, New Jersey, and California only 2 out of 5 of eligible parents used state paid family leave for parental bonding in 2022. During one of our initial sprints with the state in 2019, the New Practice Lab documented the process of applying is often confusing and burdensome, and a prolonged back-and-forth between the state and the applicant often results in parents not receiving their benefits in a timely manner. This often forces parents to return to work earlier than planned.
While a modernization effort is underway, the state is interested in other strategies to improve access for New Jersey residents more immediately. At the end of 2024 and throughout 2025 the New Practice Lab team has been working with New Jersey’s Department of Labor (NJDOL) to design and implement a “navigator” pilot to assist new parents with applying for leave. The unique combination of two programs (“TDI” which covers medical leave for a parent, and “FLI” which covers bonding time with a child, requiring two applications at different times) has contributed to confusion for new parents in particular. For those that do know to apply to both programs, completing applications can require prolonged back-and-forth communications between the state and the applicant which can result in a parent not receiving their benefits in a timely manner and forcing those who can’t go without payment to return to work earlier than planned.
Our Approach
After assessing needs from various stakeholders, including the state, local community-based organizations, health providers, and families themselves, the New Practice Lab is assisting NJDOL with designing and standing up a pilot to understand if having navigators supports increased uptake of leave and an improved experience for families. A navigator can provide one-on-one support as families navigate completing and submitting their applications.
The New Practice Lab helped design the structure of a navigator service and training materials for the navigators, and outlined success metrics for the pilot program. The pilot is being run in Mercer County, New Jersey.
OBJECTIVE
Design a navigator program that will help new parents in Mercer County determine their eligibility, apply for all benefits they are eligible for with complete and accurate applications to reduce processing time
WHAT WE DID
Interviewed state examiners, local community organizations supporting families, related state-based programs, and families
Provided consultation on scope of pilot, service design, and evaluation metrics
Requested proposals from Trenton-area CBOs and selected two key partners who will provide navigation services
Created a two-part virtual training program that includes interactive exercises and can be repurposed for other DOL partnerships
Created a navigator toolkit that includes quick reference checklists for assessing eligibility and leave plan details, reusable outreach templates and application guides
Created practice exercises that allow teams to roleplay parent and navigator roles in order to prepare, strengthen confidence and gain familiarity with the navigation service and tools
OBJECTIVE
Assess the efficacy of a navigator in paid leave within Mercer County to determine if the navigator program should be scaled across the state
WHAT WE DID
Coordinated with NJDOL data staff and community-based organizations (CBOs) staffing the navigators to identify data that needs collection in order to measure and evaluate outcomes
Developed evaluation partner requirements and impact measures to support ongoing assessment of implementation
OBJECTIVE
Ensure sustainability of the pilot, and the program longer term should it scale
WHAT WE DID
Built tools, meeting agendas, and frameworks to facilitate staff continuing to run meetings and support navigators for the duration of the pilot
Participated in discussions with various programs and offices in NJ and external partners to explore opportunities for long term support & housing
What We Learned
“The Paid Leave Navigator Pilot program is a crucial step towards giving more New Jersey families the support they need to understand and access their state paid leave benefits. With one-on-one assistance, we are ensuring New Jersey workers can enjoy cherished moments with their new child without choosing between their family and their paycheck.”
“We’re so grateful the New Practice Lab supported NJDOL to thoughtfully design this navigator pilot that we can evaluate and hopefully, scale. Our teams have already leveraged the trainings and materials we co-created with NPL and community partners for paid leave outreach and education across the state. New Jersey families have truly benefitted from this longstanding partnership.”
This project is still actively in progress, and we expect early results in mid-2026. Here’s what we’ve learned so far:
The best chance someone has of getting their benefits in a timely manner is to submit a claim completely and correctly filled out the first time. Internal processes and rules mean that any claims that require a correction or additional information are highly likely to end up in a significant backlog that may take weeks to get to. The legacy system sends form letters, rather than emails, that are often too vague for claimants to understand what is required of them and the system does not allow for easy language updates.
Applying for paid leave requires strategic planning in a way that other benefit program applications do not require. Because of how New Jersey calculates time taken, a parent would get fewer days off if they decide to take the leave intermittently rather than continuously, an option that may be more appealing to a non-birthing parent. Parents need to assess what works best for them when they apply, potentially trading off leave, or working around available child care options. These strategic decisions could be assisted by a navigator.
Despite increases in overall uptake across the state and an existing NJDOL-led outreach program, certain communities are still underserved or even unaware of the benefit. Working with trusted and heavily embedded community organizations, the pilot aims to increase word-of-mouth awareness, increase language support and better understand the barriers to learning and applying for paid leave.
Next Steps
Training launched for navigators in October 2025, and actual engagement with families began in November 2025. The pilot is designed to operate for a full year and included a prospective plan for learning. We are continuing to provide support to the CBOs, NJDOL, and evaluation partner as navigation services start and teams find a supportive rhythm of collaboration, iteration, and learning.
