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Accept a Grant Award from the California Employment Development Department (EDD) for $501,850 to the Workforce Development Board of Solano County for the period of August 1, 2025 through April 30, 2027 for Department of Rehabilitation (DOR) and America’s Job Center of California (AJCC) Collaboration supporting individuals with disabilities
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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 accept a Grant Award from the California Employment Development Department (EDD) for $501,850 to the Workforce Development Board of Solano County for the period of August 1, 2025 through April 30, 2027 for Department of Rehabilitation (DOR) and America’s Job Center of California (AJCC) Collaboration supporting individuals with disabilities.
SUMMARY:
The WDB received grant funds from EDD through a joint funding initiative between EDD and the Department of Rehabilitation (DOR), aimed at improving coordination of services between DOR and the WDB. The WDB operates Solano’s two job centers in Fairfield and Vallejo, which are branded as AJCCs under the federal Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA). DOR operates the Vocational Rehabilitation services for individuals with disabilities under WIOA. This grant is intended to improve coordination of services between these WIOA programs for the benefit of the individual with a disability to obtain and retain employment.
FINANCIAL IMPACT:
Funds for the project are included in WDB’s FY2025/26 Requested Budget. There is no County General Fund involved in the project.
DISCUSSION:
In Solano County, 13.4% of the population (or 58,478 individuals), has a disability. Of individuals between the ages of 18 and 65, 42% have two or more disabilities, exacerbating the potential barriers to employment. Individuals with disabilities face a number of challenges and barriers to securing employment, evidenced by their high unemployment rate at 13.8%.
Both the Department of Rehabilitation (DOR) and the Workforce Development Board (WDB) of Solano County receive federal Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) funds to provide workforce development in Solano County. The WDB received WIOA Title I funds as the local workforce development board, and DOR receives WIOA Title IV funds for vocational rehabilitation services. Both WIOA funding streams can be used to provide employment services to individuals with disabilities in different ways. The goal of this grant is to strengthen the collaboration and braiding of funding between these two local WIOA programs.
As a result of this grant, the WDB and DOR plan to design better approaches for co-enrollment, collaborative case management, business engagement, and data sharing. This grant will partially fund a Disability Resource Specialist at the WDB to coordinate services and co-enroll individuals with disabilities. The WDB will provide in-depth job coaching to 70 individuals co-enrolled in DOR programs. The project will also increase availability of on-the-job assessments and work sites for individuals with disabilities. The WDB and DOR will work together to build business awareness and education materials of the benefits of hiring and retaining individuals with disabilities, as well as develop a resource guide of employment and training-related services available to individuals with disabilities in Solano County.
ALTERNATIVES:
The Board could not approve the grant from the California Employment Development Department. This is not recommended as the funding will bring needed resources to the local workforce development community and improve employment services for individuals with disabilities.
OTHER AGENCY INVOLVEMENT:
None
CAO RECOMMENDATION:
APPROVE DEPARTMENTAL RECOMMENDATION