Workforce training programs: supportive services.

The California Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act establishes the California Workforce Development Board as the body responsible for assisting the Governor in the development, oversight, and continuous improvement of California's workforce investment system and the alignment of the education and workforce investment systems to the needs of the 21st century economy and workforce. That act requires the establishment of a local workforce development board in each local workforce development area of the state to assist the local chief elected official in planning, oversight, and evaluation of local workforce investment. The act requires local boards to carry out specific tasks consistent with the federal Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act, including, with representatives of secondary and postsecondary education programs, to lead efforts in the local area to develop and implement career pathways within the local area by aligning the employment, training, education, and supportive services that are needed by adults and youth, particularly individuals with barriers to employment. This bill would require the board, in partnership with the State Department of Social Services and the Office of the Chancellor of the California Community Colleges, to establish and administer the Lifting Families Out of Poverty Workforce Training Supportive Services Program. The bill would require the board, upon appropriation by the Legislature for that purpose, to make $50,000,000 in grants available to consortia, composed of representatives from local workforce development boards, county welfare departments, community colleges, or other stakeholders, that apply for funding to provide supportive services, as defined, and are approved in accordance with the bill. The bill would require the board, the State Department of Social Services, and the Office of the Chancellor of the California Community Colleges to jointly develop criteria, policies, and guidelines for the award of supportive service grant funds to a consortium consistent with the bill. The bill would require a consortium to apply for a grant by submitting a plan with prescribed elements to the board, and would authorize the board, after consultation with the State Department of Social Services, to approve the submitted plan and award grant funds, up to $5,000 per low-income workforce participant to be enrolled, per year. This bill would require each consortium that has received supportive service grant funds pursuant to this bill to submit a report to the board containing specified information, including, among other things, the number of individuals served and the types of supportive services received by each of the individuals served, as specified. The bill would require the board to transmit any reports to the State Department of Social Services and the Office of the Chancellor of the California Community Colleges, as specified, and would require the board, within 2 years of implementation of the grant program, evaluate the efficacy of the program and work with the Employment Development Department to determine the extent to which individuals served by the program are securing employment and achieving income gains, and what barriers remain to achieving these outcomes.