Title
Acting as the Chief Elected Official of the local Monterey County workforce development area,
a. Approve the Monterey County Workforce Development Board’s Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) Four-Year Regional Planning Unit Plan for the Coastal Region and related Monterey County Local Plan and authorize their submission to the California Workforce Development Board;
b. Authorize the Chair of the Board of Supervisors to sign the Monterey County Local Plan; and
c. Authorize the Chair of the Board of Supervisors to sign the local board assurances and grant recipient form for receipt of WIOA funds
Report
RECOMMENDATION:
It is recommended that the Board of Supervisors, as the Chief Elected Official of the local Monterey County workforce development area;
a. Approve the Monterey County Workforce Development Board’s Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) Four-Year Regional Planning Unit Plan for the Coastal Region and related Monterey County Local Plan and authorize their submission to the California Workforce Development Board;
b. Authorize the Chair of the Board of Supervisors to sign the Monterey County Local Plan; and
c. Authorize the Chair of the Board of Supervisors to sign the local board assurances and grant recipient form for receipt of WIOA funds
SUMMARY/DISCUSSION:
Background:
The California Workforce Development Board (State Board) and the State of California Employment Development Department (EDD) issued a directive on September 16, 2016 requiring that local workforce development boards develop both regional and local plans, as mandated by the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) of 2014. The WIOA, designed to strengthen and improve the public workforce system and put job seekers back to work by helping workers acquire the skills employers need and help employers access the talent pool needed to compete in a global economy, also mandated that the State complete a Unified State Plan among the State agencies responsible for the core programs of the WIOA, including the State of California’s Labor and Workforce Development Agency, Community College Chancellor’s Office, Department of Rehabilitation, and EDD. This Unified State Plan identified policy objectives, threaded throughout the plans, and strategies that inform the regional (strategies 1-3) and local (strategies 4-7) plans:
State Plan policy objectives:
1. Fostering demand-driven skills attainment
2. Enabling upward mobility for all Californians
3. Aligning, coordinating, and integrating programs and services
State Plan seven policy strategies:
1. Sector strategies - employer-driven partnerships of industry, education and training, and other stakeholders that focus on the workforce needs of key industries in a regional labor market;
2. Career pathways - process that supports workers’ transitions from education into and through the workforce;
3. Regional alignment - to ensure alignment between partners and programs within a common labor market and with common industry sectors;
4. Earn and learn - the provision of paid work experiences and use of alternative training models including on-the-job training;
5. Supportive services - to provide services and support to promote program retention and completion among education and training recipients;
6. Integrated service delivery - efforts to streamline and coordinate services among partners; and
7. Creating cross-system data capacity - enable tracking of common performance outcomes for workforce development and education, programs including placements, training-related employment, and credential attainment.
Plan Development:
Monterey County Workforce Development Board (WDB) staff collected input from a variety of sources including research reports, interviews, and public meetings as part of the Regional and Local Plan development process to ensure the plans address the following goals and objectives:
• Collection and analysis of regional labor market data;
• Establishing regional service strategies;
• Developing and implementing sector initiatives for in-demand industry sectors and occupations;
• Promoting industry-valued secondary credential attainment;
• Understanding job quality considerations for the region; and
• Ensuring accessibility and inclusivity in regional programs and services.
A 30-day public comment period started on January 18, 2017 with drafts of the Regional and Local plans available via the WDB’s website and at America’s Job Centers of California (AJCCs) throughout the region. The WDB hosted two public meetings on February 9, 2017 in Marina and Salinas during the public comment period, affording workforce partners and the public an opportunity to review the plans and provide input and comment. The attached plans reflect comments submitted during the public comment process that ended February 16, 2017.
Regional Plan:
Regional Plans and partnerships function under the State Plan as the primary mechanisms for aligning educational and training provider services with regional industry sector needs in California’s 14 WIOA Regional Planning Units (RPU). The Coastal RPU includes Santa Cruz County, Monterey County, San Luis Obispo County, and Santa Barbara County workforce development areas with Monterey County WDB acting as the lead WDB in the development and submission of the regional plan. In order for the Coastal RPU regional plan to meet this function, members of the Coastal RPU asked its workforce boards to identify actions being taken or necessary to align programs with needs in the region, to build pathways to the middle class for special populations, and to align systems and build a shared vision for the region. The Coastal RPU Regional Plan builds off of existing education and workforce development efforts with a focus on the health care sector as labor market information indicates that this is a growth industry and a promising sector throughout the region with clearly articulated career pathways into middle wage jobs. The Coastal RPU Regional Plan advocates that the workforce boards within the Coastal RPU develop a model for industry engagement that may be used regardless of the industry of focus. The Coastal RPU Regional Plan identifies 10 actions to accomplish over the plan period, with six related to systems and partner alignment and four related to regional sector pathway activities. The Coastal RPU Regional Plan is required to be updated in 2019.
Local Plan:
The Local Plan must coordinate with the Coastal RPU Regional Plan, making the Regional and State policy strategies actionable, with a focus on customer-centered service delivery through the America’s Job Center of California (AJCC) / One-Stop system. The Local Plan will draw upon the collaboration with workforce partners accomplished during the development of the Phase I Partner Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) process for customer-centered service delivery, and will position the AJCC as an access point to a menu of services that creates an “on-ramp” to regional sector strategies. The Local Plan also addresses required information, including:
1. Analytical background concerning labor market needs, the workforce education system operating in the region, and priority industry clusters;
2. Vision, goals, and strategy of the Local Board and its partners (employer engagement, aligning career pathways and sector strategies, and system alignment and accountability);
3. Local program alignment to implement State Plan policy strategies;
4. Services and delivery strategies;
5. Information pertaining to the AJCCs in Monterey County;
6. Programs, populations, and partners;
7. Performance goals;
8. Training activities;
9. Public transparency, accessibility, and inclusivity information; and
10. Common intake and case management efforts.
The Local Plan is an attachment to the Coastal RPU Regional Plan submittal package.
Approval Timeline:
Plans are due to the State Board no later than March 15, 2017. It is anticipated that the State Board will review and approve, conditionally if changes/additions deemed necessary, both plans by June 30, 2017. Should the State Board identify any deficiencies; local areas will be notified. If no deficiencies are found, all Regional and Local Plans shall receive approval by September 1, 2017.
The local board assurances and grant recipient form is submitted for the Board’s approval, in its role as Chief Elected Official (CEO) for the Monterey County local workforce development area. By signing the local board assurances form, the CEO agrees to abide by the local area assurances and affirm that the WDB will comply with the applicable requirements of the WIOA, written Department of Labor guidance, and other applicable federal and state laws and regulations included in this document. As the local grant recipient, the CEO is liable for the use of WIOA funds. By signing the grant recipient form, the CEO agrees to the roles, responsibilities and designated signature authorities included in this document for the disbursement and administration of WIOA funds.
OTHER AGENCY INVOLVEMENT:
The Workforce Development Boards of Santa Cruz, San Luis Obispo, and Santa Barbara counties, as well as education partners from regional community colleges, Adult Education Block Grant consortia, EDD, and the partners to the Phase I Partner MOU have reviewed the Coastal RPU Regional Plan and the Monterey County workforce development area local plan.
FINANCING:
There is no impact to the County’s General Fund as WIOA activities are fully financed by federal funds.
Prepared by: Approved by:
____________________________ ________________________________
Christopher Donnelly Nicholas E. Chiulos
Interim Executive Director Assistant County Administrative Officer
Workforce Development Board County Administrative Office
(831) 759-6644 (831) 755-5145
ATTACHMENTS:
Regional Plan for the Coastal Regional Planning Unit, including:
• Regional Plan Signatures Page
Monterey County Local Plan, including:
• APPENDIX 1: Local Board Assurances
• APPENDIX 2: List of Comprehensive One-Stops and AJCC Partners in the Local Area
• APPENDIX 3: AJCC Memorandums of Understanding (MOU) Phase I
• APPENDIX 4: Local Area Grant Recipient Listing
• APPENDIX 5: Local Workforce Development Board Bylaws
• APPENDIX 6: Program Administration Designee and Plan Signatures
• APPENDIX 7: List of Stakeholders Engaged in Regional and Local Planning Process
• APPENDIX 8: Key Strategic Goals, Strategies and Actions
• APPENDIX 9: Summary of Public Comments