REPORT TO COUNCIL
SUBJECT
Title
Renew Agreement on the Roles and Responsibilities between the NOVA Workforce Board and the Sunnyvale City Council Serving as the Chief Local Elected Official
Report
BACKGROUND
The North Valley (NOVA) Job Training Consortium was formed in 1983 with the passage of the federal Job Training Partnership Act (JTPA) and encompassed the six cities of Cupertino, Los Altos, Mountain View, Palo Alto, Santa Clara and Sunnyvale. Under the Workforce Investment Act (WIA) that replaced JTPA in 2000, the city of Milpitas requested and was granted permission by the Council to join the now seven-city consortium. For more than thirty years, the Council has served as the Chief Local Elected Official (CLEO) for the NOVA consortium and represents the seven cities through a Joint Powers Agreement. The City assumes all financial liability for the program and functions as the administrative entity for the services offered through NOVA.
The NOVA Workforce Board, appointed by the Council, is the governing board for NOVA and, in partnership with the Council, is responsible for ensuring effective workforce development programs that provide the most beneficial mix of services to all eligible residents and employers of the local workforce investment area and to be the catalyst for active participation of all sectors in the community in the provision of such services. The roles and responsibilities of the NOVA Workforce Board and the Council are defined in a formal agreement between the two, the renewal of which is the subject of this report.
Since its inception, NOVA has been highly successful in providing nationally recognized innovative services for this community's job seekers and businesses. It has consistently demonstrated exemplary performance, registered exceptional ratings in customer satisfaction, and received numerous commendations and awards. Last year, with an operating budget of approximately $7.4 million, NOVA effectively served 5,774 customers, providing a total of 83,570 services. In addition to serving the seven-city consortium, NOVA has provided leadership on a number of regional initiatives targeting disadvantaged workers and the long-term unemployed. In 2014, the State recognized the NOVA Workforce Board with the High Performing Board designation, one of just 16 honored out of 49 workforce boards across the state.
EXISTING POLICY
Council Policy Manual 5.1.1: Socio-Economic - Goals and Policies: Education and Training Goal 5.1F: Provide job training and employment services, within constraints of operative Federal regulations and available Federal funding, to address the locally-determined employment and training needs of economically disadvantaged residents and others with special needs.
ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW
N/A
DISCUSSION
In 2014, Congress passed the federal Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) that replaces WIA as the new governing legislation for the local workforce investment system. WIOA builds upon WIA by reaffirming America's Job Centers in supporting the nation's workforce, employers and the economy. In addition, WIOA catches up with what many local workforce boards, such as NOVA, are already doing in the area of sector-driven initiatives, use of today's technology to improve effectiveness and efficiencies, better access to services for everyone through an integrated service-delivery model, and enhanced performance accountability. WIOA will also require regional partnerships among local workforce boards through identified planning regions. This new law takes effect July 1, 2015.
With the transition from WIA to WIOA, the governance agreements for the NOVA consortium will need to be renewed. At the December 3, 2014 NOVA Workforce Board meeting, the Board approved a recommendation to the City Council to implement WIOA and take the following actions:
• Apply to the Governor for NOVA to be re-designated the NOVA workforce investment area;
• Agree to remain the CLEO on behalf of the NOVA consortium, with the City assuming financial liability for the program and serving as the administrative entity for NOVA's services;
• Renew the Joint Powers Agreement (JPA) that stipulates how the public agencies of the NOVA consortium will work together. The JPA will be agendized for Council consideration and approval at a later meeting; and
• Reaffirm the NOVA Workforce Board as the governing board for NOVA recognizing that the membership may undergo some changes in composition to comply with the new requirements under WIOA, with any new candidates recommended to the Council for appointment.
In addition, as part of the implementation of WIOA, the Council is being asked to consider and approve the attached revised Agreement on the Roles and Responsibilities Between the NOVA Workforce Board and the Sunnyvale City Council. WIA stipulates the functions of the local workforce boards and the CLEOs. Since the passage of WIA, the NOVA Workforce Board and the Council, as the CLEO, have maintained a written agreement that identifies the roles and responsibilities between the NOVA Workforce Board and Sunnyvale City Council in compliance with WIA. This agreement was recently extended at the June 11, 2013 Council meeting.
With the passage of WIOA that replaces WIA, this agreement will need to be renewed. Under WIOA, the roles and responsibilities of the local workforce board and CLEO mirror WIA requirements. In addition, WIOA has added that the local workforce board and CLEO will enter into a regional planning process as part of the required regional partnerships. The attached revised agreement contains this new regional planning role and also includes minor changes to reflect the transition from WIA to WIOA and to clarify terminology. This revised agreement shall take effect July 1, 2015, and, as with the previous agreement, the term of this new agreement is for five years ending June 30, 2020, or upon expiration of WIOA, whichever comes later. The agreement may be amended or extended in writing at any time upon mutual consent of the parties. At the January 28, 2015 NOVA Workforce Board meeting, the Board is expected to approve the attached revised agreement.
FISCAL IMPACT
The City assumes some financial risk by serving as the CLEO and administrative entity for the NOVA consortium. For example, if program expenditures for the consortium were to be disallowed through future audits for not meeting regulatory intent, as grant recipient the City would be responsible for reimbursement to the State or Federal government. The General Fund would be the likely source for repayment of any disallowed costs.
However, since the creation of NOVA in 1983, the City has administered hundreds of millions of dollars in grants and contracts, and there have been no disallowed costs to date associated with any of these expenditures. In addition, as funds are obligated to programs only based upon appropriations dedicated to NOVA, sufficient funds will exist to cover all anticipated obligations of day-to-day operations. If funding is cut, then staffing and program services are reduced accordingly.
PUBLIC CONTACT
Public contact was made by posting the Council agenda on the City's official-notice bulletin board outside City Hall, at the Sunnyvale Senior Center, Community Center and Department of Public Safety; and by making the agenda and report available at the Sunnyvale Public Library, the Office of the City Clerk and on the City's website.
RECOMMENDATION
Recommendation
Approve implementing the federal Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act for the NOVA consortium that includes the revised Agreement on the Roles and Responsibilities between the NOVA Workforce Board and the Sunnyvale City Council attached to the report.
Staff
Prepared by: Eileen Stanly, Analyst
Reviewed by: Stephen Quick, Manager of Business Operations, NOVA
Reviewed by: Robert A. Walker, Assistant City Manager
Approved by: Deanna J. Santana, City Manager
ATTACHMENT
1. Agreement on the Roles and Responsibilities between the NOVA Workforce Board and the Sunnyvale City Council