I have been teaching groundschool at a Part 142 training center for the past few years, and have seen numerous furloughed pilots get a type-rating paid for or partially paid for by the state in which they live. I myself received $3,000 in grant money from my home state to pay for my MEI when I was furloughed from an instructor position. My advice would be to start with the workforce center or unemployment office in your state. They should be able to point you in the right direction.
I hate to say it, by SkyHigh may have a point. These funds are usually doled out on a first-come-first-serve basis, and the budgeted allotments may be drying up. The reason I wasn't able to secure more aid was because the state's workforce training fund had been nearly drained...and that was in the fall of 2002.