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Receive a presentation on two grants awarded to the Workforce Development Board of Solano County: the James Irvine Foundation Grant for capacity building and the California Workforce Development Board for Helping Justice-Involved Reenter Employment (HIRE); and Consider delegating authority to the County Administrator, with County Counsel concurrence, to execute expenditure contracts over $75,000 associated with the implementation of the grants
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Published Notice Required? Yes ____ No __X_
Public Hearing Required? Yes ____ No __X_
DEPARTMENTAL RECOMMENDATION:
The Workforce Development Board (WDB) of Solano County recommends that the Board of Supervisors:
1. Receive a presentation on two grants awarded to the Workforce Development Board of Solano County: the James Irvine Foundation Grant for capacity building and the California Workforce Development Board for Helping Justice-Involved Reenter Employment (HIRE); and
2. Consider delegating authority to the County Administrator, with County Counsel concurrence, to execute expenditure contracts over $75,000 associated with the implementation of the grants.
SUMMARY:
In November 2022, the WDB began conversations with the James Irvine Foundation through an introduction from the Equity at Work Council, a regional workforce initiative of the San Francisco Foundation. The initial conversations were to better understand the challenges and opportunities for workforce development in Solano County. As part of the James Irvine Foundation’s Public Sector Practice Change Portfolio under their Better Careers initiative, in October 2023, the WDB was invited to apply for funding and was awarded a $500,000 grant.
In July of 2023, the WDB, in partnership with four community-based non-profits, applied for the Helping Justice-Involved Reenter Employment (HIRE) grant from the CWDB in the amount of $1,443,574. The WDB will act as the “hub” for the project and subgrant to the following organizations serving justice-involved and justice-impacted populations: Caminar, Center for Urban Excellence, Mission Samoa, and The Uncuffed Project.
FINANCIAL IMPACT:
Any additional funds needed during FY2023/24 related to both grants will be added through an Appropriation Transfer Request (ATR) during the FY2023/24 Midyear Budget process. The remaining funds will be included in FY2024/25 and FY2025/26 Requested Budgets for the WDB.
DISCUSSION:
The James Irvine Foundation’s Better Careers initiative supports efforts to build a more inclusive, equitable, and resilient workforce system that promotes racial and gender equity and access to economic opportunity for low-wage workers. Their Public Sector Practice portfolio focuses on supporting public workforce service providers to be better anchored in and responsive to the communities they serve.
In October 2023, the WDB successfully applied for and was awarded $500,000 from the James Irvine Foundation to make progress towards the following goals:
1. To ensure that staff throughout the local workforce development ecosystem develop new knowledge and skills needed to effectively serve job seekers in a post-pandemic economy.
2. To build capacity of WDB staff and board members to improve equitable access to culturally competent workforce development services in Solano County.
3. To prepare Solano County’s workforce development ecosystem for implementation of key workforce development concepts and methods, including job quality, apprenticeships, and behavioral design-informed service delivery approaches.
The CWDB’s HIRE initiative is a funding opportunity for community-based organizations and other non-profits to increase employment opportunities and job quality for formerly incarcerated and justice-involved individuals. This funding allowed a network of organizations to collectively apply for funding via one application.
In July 2023, the WDB successfully applied for HIRE funding in partnership with four local organizations: Caminar who will serve justice-involved and impacted individuals with mental illness; Center for Urban Excellence who will serve justice-involved youth and adults; Mission Samoa who will provide housing and employment services for justice-involved and justice-impacted individuals; and The Uncuffed Project who will provide therapeutic programming and housing for justice-impacted individuals.
The WDB will provide coordination through the Systems-Impacted in Solano Network (SISN) and help strengthen relationships with Solano County Department of Probation, Solano County Department of Child Support Services, and Solano Sheriff’s Office. Partners will expand and integrate best practices of restorative justice and psychosocial rehabilitation models. The WDB will also provide three pre-apprenticeship cohorts for justice-involved individuals.
Through the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the County and the WDB, the WDB has authority to accept the grants and sign the revenue agreements. This item is requesting authority for the County Administrator to execute any expenditure agreements over $75,000 related to implementation of the grants.
ALTERNATIVES:
The Board could choose to not receive a presentation on the grants. This is not recommended as this is an opportunity for the Board to hear about upcoming projects being implemented by the WDB. The Board could choose to not approve delegated authority for the expenditure agreements. This is not recommended as the contractors were an integral part of the grant awards.
OTHER AGENCY INVOLVEMENT:
Solano County Department of Probation, Solano County Department of Child Support Services, and Solano Sheriff’s Office are partners in the grant and will work with the community-based organizations to strengthen public-community partnerships for justice-involved and justice-impacted populations.
CAO RECOMMENDATION:
APPROVE DEPARTMENTAL RECOMMENDATION