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. The act also provides for training partnerships that are overseen by the board, including the High Road Training Partnerships initiative, a demonstration project to model partnership strategies for the state among various industry sectors. This bill would require the California Workforce Development Board to establish and administer the Lifting Families Out of Poverty Supportive Services Program. The bill would require the board, upon appropriation by the Legislature for that purpose, to make $25,000,000 in grants available to consortia, composed of combinations of local workforce development boards, 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 California Workforce Development Board to 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 to approve the submitted plan and award grant funds, up to $5,000 per low-income workforce participant to be enrolled, per year. The bill would require the board to develop necessary policies to ensure that grants awarded are consistent with the intent of these provisions. The bill would also require the board, as part of the supportive services program described above, to develop High Road Training Partnerships or other similar programs to address the displacement of workers, including farmworkers in the southern central valley and youth who are in or out of school who are individuals with a barrier to employment, as specified. The bill would also authorize a High Road Training Partnership or other similar workforce training program to focus on the healthcare industry and evaluate provider network adequacy. The bill would require a consortium that receives a grant to report annually to the board how it used supportive service funds in sufficient detail to determine what services qualified as support services and how much funding went to each category of service.