REPORT TO COUNCIL
SUBJECT
Title
Approval of Modifications to the Local and Regional Workforce Development Strategic Plans
Report
BACKGROUND
The Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) requires local workforce development boards in a planning region (Regional Planning Unit or RPU) to engage in a regional planning process resulting in the preparation and submission of a single regional plan that describes workforce development activities and service strategies and that incorporates local plans for each of the local areas within the planning region. The Bay-Peninsula RPU includes the workforce boards located in the counties of Santa Clara, San Mateo, San Benito, and San Francisco.
The State Plan is the controlling policy document for regional and local plans. It sets the State’s policy direction for these plans and serves as a conceptual map for local boards and their partners as they jointly develop the regional and local plans. The State Plan also designates required regional partners, including industry sector leaders, economic development, community colleges, adult education, and the Department of Rehabilitation. The Plan encourages the participation of other organizations including community-based organizations and nonprofits. The primary purpose of the local plans and partnerships is to facilitate access to services at the local level.
The Bay-Peninsula RPU’s current WIOA local and regional plans cover program years 2017-2020. Under WIOA, a biennial update is required to ensure plans remain current.
The State issued guidance for preparation of the regional and local plan modifications with a specific framework for required content. The local plan for the NOVA workforce area was submitted to the State on March 15, 2019 concurrent with the regional plan. The State requires each local area in a region to submit evidence of approval of the regional plan by its Chief Elected Official. The Sunnyvale City Council serves in this capacity for NOVA and is therefore requested to approve the Bay-Peninsula RPU Regional Plan modification, which also incorporates an update to the Local Plan for the NOVA local workforce development area.
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
The action being considered does not constitute a “project” within the meaning of the California Environmental Quality Act (“CEQA”) pursuant to CEQA Guidelines section 15378(b)(5) in that it is a governmental, organizational or administrative activity that will not result in direct or indirect changes in the environment.
DISCUSSION
The California Workforce Development Board (CWDB) made changes to the State Plan which required that RPUs and local boards update their Plans to be consistent with the State’s policy direction. The State Board required local boards to focus on the following priorities in their Local Plan modifications:
• Partnerships with county human service CalFresh programs.
• Partnerships with Local Child Support Agencies to provide workforce services to non-custodial parents.
• Partnerships with programs that serve individuals with disabilities, including strategies to implement Competitive Integrated Employment.
• Services for English language learners, the foreign born, and refugees.
The Regional Plan modification was required to be focused on:
• Aligning, coordinating, and integrating reentry and workforce services to the formerly incarcerated and other justice-involved individuals.
The four workforce development boards (WDBs) in the Bay-Peninsula RPU worked closely together in coordinating their stakeholder engagement process, developing strategies to strengthen the system of reentry and workforce services for formerly incarcerated and other justice-involved individuals, and planning for the successful deployment of upcoming Prison to Employment grant resources. The Regional Plan includes an assessment of services needed and regional alignment of services, current programming and programming in development, coordination with partners, the role of employers, and the importance of supportive services to assist with overcoming barriers to success.
Extensive and robust community and stakeholder engagement was conducted as part of the development of the regional plan modification. In addition to required partners, meeting invitations were sent to more than 1,000 additional stakeholders and partners across the region. Listening sessions open to all partners and members of the general public were held in all four counties both during and after business hours to provide the opportunity for input on the topics required for the local and regional plans. Public meeting notices were posted in job centers as well as online and on the CWDB website.
The RPU WDBs also held smaller stakeholder sessions with the planning partners who work more closely with justice-involved individuals. These planning partners include members of local Community Corrections Partnerships including County Probation Departments, County Sheriffs, Parole Units and California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation representatives, community-based organizations that serve justice involved individuals both in custody and post release, and core WIOA partners. No state prisons are located within the RPU.
The NOVA Workforce Board approved NOVA’s Local Plan modification at its January 23, 2019 meeting and approved the Bay-Peninsula RPU Regional Plan at its March 27, 2019 meeting. Both the local and regional plan modifications are available on NOVA’s website at <https://novaworks.org/about/plans>.
FISCAL IMPACT
No fiscal impact.
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 modifications to the NOVA Local Workforce Development Strategic Plan and the Bay-Peninsula Regional Workforce Development Strategic Plan.
Staff
Prepared by: Jeanette Langdell, Employment Training Manager
Reviewed by: Kris Stadelman, Director, NOVA Workforce Services
Reviewed by: Teri Silva, Assistant City Manager
Approved by: Kent Steffens, City Manager