Bill Text: CA AB721 | 2019-2020 | Regular Session | Amended


Bill Title: Workforce training programs: supportive services.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Failed) 2020-02-03 - From committee: Filed with the Chief Clerk pursuant to Joint Rule 56. [AB721 Detail]

Download: California-2019-AB721-Amended.html

Amended  IN  Assembly  April 25, 2019
Amended  IN  Assembly  March 21, 2019

CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2019–2020 REGULAR SESSION

Assembly Bill No. 721


Introduced by Assembly Member Grayson

February 19, 2019


An act to add Article 4.5 (commencing with Section 14050) to Chapter 3 of Division 7 of the Unemployment Insurance Code, relating to job training.


LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


AB 721, as amended, Grayson. 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 combinations 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.
Vote: MAJORITY   Appropriation: NO   Fiscal Committee: YES   Local Program: NO  

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:


SECTION 1.

 The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:
(a) The Workforce, Education, and Training Subcommittee of the state Lifting Children and Families Out of Poverty Task Force was responsible for investigating existing workforce training programs and policies including community college training, career and technical education, work opportunity tax credits, and policies within the K–12 education system.
(b) The evidence provided to the task force showed that there is a need for supportive services to address the common reasons that low-income workforce training participants do not complete workforce training programs.
(c) A lack of childcare or affordable transportation are among the primary reasons that participants do not complete their vocational training programs.
(d) Fifty percent of the cost of these services may be covered by federal SNAP education and training reimbursement, thereby maximizing the impact of state funding.
(e) The subcommittee and the full task force determined that additional funding for supportive services for low-income workforce participants and an increase in coordination across the many programs aiming to support education and employment for this population are necessary to lift families out of poverty and to ensure that they can fully participate in programs that will provide them the regional market skills to sustain upward mobility.

SEC. 2.

 Article 4.5 (commencing with Section 14050) is added to Chapter 3 of Division 7 of the Unemployment Insurance Code, to read:
Article  4.5. Supportive Services For Workforce Program Participants

14050.
 As used in this article:

(a)“Consortium” means an entity that may be composed of any combination of local workforce development board, county welfare department, community college, or other stakeholder, working in partnership to enroll and support individuals in poverty in workforce training programs aligned with regional labor market needs.

(a) “Consortium” means an entity working in partnership to enroll and support individuals living in poverty and participating in workforce training programs aligned with regional labor market needs that include the following:
(1) Representatives from at least two of the following:
(A) Local workforce development board.
(B) County welfare department.
(C) Community college.
(2) Other stakeholders, as deemed appropriate.
(b) “Supportive services” mean services necessary to enable an individual to successfully participate in, or receive, training activities described in paragraph (5) of subdivision (d) of Section 14013.
(c) “Training” includes all services described in paragraph (5) of subdivision (d) of Section 14013.

14055.
 (a) The board, in partnership with the State Department of Social Services and the Office of the Chancellor of the California Community Colleges, shall establish and administer the Lifting Families Out of Poverty Workforce Training Supportive Services Program. Upon appropriation by the Legislature for that purpose, the board shall make fifty million dollars ($50,000,000) in grants available to consortia that apply for funding and are approved in accordance with this article. A grant shall not exceed $5,000 per year per low-income workforce participant to be enrolled pursuant to this article.
(b) The board, the State Department of Social Services, and the Office of the Chancellor of the California Community Colleges shall jointly develop criteria, policies, and guidelines for the award of supportive service grant funds to a consortium consistent with this article.
(c) These criteria, policies, and guidelines shall consider, but are not limited to, the following:
(1) The ability of a consortium to leverage additional funds in support of the program.
(2) The availability and likelihood of full-time employment in the regional labor market based on the successful completion of the job training program, including the alignment of the training program with regional labor market demand.
(3) Justification that the supportive services provided will assist a participant in completing their training, and that the training will lead to improved labor force attachment and earnings.

(3)

(4) The process through which a consortium of local partners will assess the needs of participants and determine the most cost-effective manner possible for the provision of supportive services, including through the referral to, and utilization of, all other public and private programs and supportive services that may be available.
(d) The criteria, guidelines, and policies developed pursuant to this section shall be exempt from the rulemaking provisions of the Administrative Procedure Act (Chapter 3.5 (commencing with Section 11340) of Part 1 of Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government Code). The board shall make the criteria, guidelines, and policies available to the public by posting them on its internet website.
(e) A consortium shall apply for a grant by submitting a plan to the board in accordance with subdivision (f). After consultation with the State Department of Social Services, the board may approve the submitted plan and award grant funds.
(f) A plan submitted pursuant to subdivision (e) shall include all of the following:
(1) The number of people to be served.
(2) The coordination with local governments, public and private employers in the area, community colleges, and local school districts.
(3) The availability and likelihood of fulltime full-time employment in the local area based on the successful completion of the job training program.
(4) The process through which the needs of participants will be assessed, and those needs met, in the most cost-effective manner possible including through the referral to and utilization of all other public and private programs and services that may be available.
(5) A description of the supportive services to be provided, any evidence indicating that the services have been shown to reduce barriers to training for similar populations, and justification that the supportive services provided will assist participants in completing their training and, as a result, will help them to achieve improved labor force attachment and earnings.
(g) (1) Each consortium that has received supportive service grant funds pursuant to this section shall submit a report to the board that contains the following information:
(A) The number of individuals served.
(B) The types of supportive services received by each of the individuals served.
(C) Whether each of the individuals served completed the training program in which they were enrolled.
(D) Whether each of the individuals served secured and retained employment during or after completion of the training program.
(E) Whether each of the individuals served experienced wage or income gains during or after completion of the training program.
(2) The reports shall be submitted on or before January 1 of every even-numbered year after the consortium has received the grant.
(h) The board shall transmit any reports submitted pursuant to subdivision (g) to the State Department of Social Services and the Office of the Chancellor of the California Community Colleges within one month of receipt from the consortium.
(i) Any grantee failing to submit a report pursuant to subdivision (g), or failing to demonstrate appropriate use of grant funds in a report submitted pursuant to subdivision (g), shall be deemed ineligible for any future grant funding until and unless such a report is submitted and appropriate use of funds is demonstrated.
(j) The board shall, within two years of implementation of the program set forth in this article, evaluate the efficacy of the program and shall 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.

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