REPORT TO COUNCIL
SUBJECT
Title
Award of Contracts to Provide Employment and Training Services for NOVA Ready to Work Grant
Report
BACKGROUND
NOVA, as the lead in a collaborative of five local workforce investment boards (WIBs), submitted a proposal to the U. S. Department of Labor in June in response to its solicitation for applications for its H-1B Ready to Work Partnership grants. This program is designed to provide long-term unemployed workers with training and other services leading to employment in occupations and industries for which employers use H-1B visas to hire foreign workers. The grant requires that participants have been unemployed for at least 27 weeks at the time of their enrollment into the grant.
NOVA was recently announced as one of 23 grantees nationwide (and one of two in California) in the grant competition. The award is $5,293,884 to serve 1,273 job seekers during the grant term of November 1, 2014 through October 31, 2018. NOVA is the grant administrator and will be the service provider for northern Santa Clara County and San Mateo County (on behalf of the San Mateo WIB). In addition to NOVA, three other WIBs are providing services under the grant. Council approval is needed to enter into contracts with these organizations, as shown in the chart in the Discussion section.
EXISTING POLICY
Council Policy 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
The funded project, known as the Silicon Valley Ready to Work Initiative, will close the gap between long-term unemployed (LTU) job seekers, who will be taught to refresh their skills and renew their networks, and tech employers searching for talent. The project will serve job seekers in Santa Clara, San Mateo, San Francisco, and Alameda Counties. This regional labor market represents 10 percent of H-1B applications in the nation.
NOVA will serve LTU workers in both northern Santa Clara County and San Mateo County, and its WIB partners work2future (City of San Jose), City of San Francisco, and the County of Alameda will serve the remainder of the project area. All partners will provide individualized career advising, short-term skills training, contemporary job search skills and career navigation training, paid internships, and specialized support services including networking and financial counseling-leading to rapid reemployment. The initiative will target technology cluster occupations. Training will be conducted through community colleges and other vendors and will result in credentials such as CompTIA's A+, Cisco certifications, Microsoft certifications, Certified Information Systems Security Professional, and Project Management.
Other grant partners include the Silicon Valley Leadership Group and the Bay Area Council. In addition to validating demand for current technology skills, these premier industry associations will convene a forum to discuss best practices relative to hiring LTUs and share results, solicit members to host project participants for short-term paid internships, and promote project graduates for hire in mid- to high-skill technology-focused positions.
The following chart shows the grant budget and the WIB contracts. Approval is sought to award contracts up to the amounts shown in the far right column over the four-year grant period (see draft contracts attached):
Budget |
Grant Amount |
Contract for Approval |
NOVA/ San Mateo/ Other Costs |
$2,179,756 |
|
County of Alameda - Workforce Investment Board |
$1,000,000 |
$1,000,000 |
City of San Francisco - Office of Economic and Workforce Development |
$980,000 |
$980,000 |
City of San Jose - Office of Economic Development |
$1,134,128 |
$1,134,128 |
Total |
$5,293,884 |
$3,114,128 |
FISCAL IMPACT
The source of funds for the services in these contracts is H-1B Job Training Grant funds. Since funds are obligated to programs only based upon appropriations dedicated to NOVA in the grant award, sufficient grant funds will exist to cover all anticipated obligations of day-to-day program operations.
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 the award of contracts totaling $3,114,128 to three organizations named in this report to provide Ready to Work Grant services from November 1, 2014 through October 31, 2018.
Staff
Prepared by: Jeanette Langdell, Employment Training Manager
Reviewed by: Stephen Quick, Manager of Business Operations
Reviewed by: Robert A. Walker, Assistant City Manager
Approved by: Deanna J. Santana, City Manager
ATTACHMENTS
1. Draft contract - County of Alameda
2. Draft contract - City of San Francisco
3. Draft contract - City of San Jose