Title
Subject: Oakland Workforce Investment Board
From: Community and Economic Development Agency
Recommendation: Adopt a Resolution authorizing the City Manager to apply for, appropriate, and accept a grant from the U.S. Department of Labor for up to $3,500,000 on behalf of the Oakland Workforce Investment Board to fund a three-year program to serve youth offenders, foster care youth, and disabled youth
Body
A REPORT AND RESOLUTION AUTHORIZING THE CITY MANAGER TO APPLY FOR,
APPROPRIATE AND ACCEPT A GRANT FROM THE U.S. DEPARTMENT OF LABOR FOR
UP TO $3,500,000 ON BEHALF OF THE OAKLAND WORKFORCE INVESTMENT BOARD
TO FUND A THREE-YEAR PROGRAM TO SERVE YOUTH OFFENDERS, FOSTER CARE
YOUTH AND YOUTH WITH DISABILITIES
SUMMARY
The City of Oakland through the Oakland Workforce Investment Board (WIB) has an
opportunity to submit a proposal to the U.S. Department of Labor to fund a three-year program
to serve more than 200 high risk youth and young adults ages 16 to 24. A multi-disciplinary
project development team led by City staff has designed a program targeted toward a population
at high risk for criminal behavior and is preparing a grant request for up to $3,500,000 in
Department ol'Labor discretionary funding. The proposed program partners include the City of
Oakland's Project Choice and its collaborating agencies, youth services providers funded by the
Oakland WIB through the Oakland Private Industry Council, Inc., the Alameda County Social
Services Agency, the Alameda County Office of Education, the Oakland Unified School District
and First Place Fund.
Staff is requesting City Council authorization to submit the grant request and to appropriate and
allocate the funding if granted in accordance with the program design approved by the Oakland
Workforce Investment Board.
FISCAL IMPACTS
The funds to be requested are not currently appropriated in the City's FY 2003-2005 Policy
Budget. The City is requesting the funds on behalf of the Oakland Workforce Investment Board
(WIB), which the Department of Labor recognizes as the designated policy and oversight body
for Workforce Investment Act (WIA) funding. The City currently administers WIA funding for
the City (fund 2195) on behalf of the Oakland WIB, with more than 90% of those funds allotted
by contract to the Oakland Private Industry Council, Inc. (Oakland PIC), which serves as the
Program manager for the Oakland WIB. Staff is recon-nuending that these new funds, if
awarded, be administered in the same fashion as the WIA funds and be passed through the City
to the Oakland PIC as prescribed in the program design approved by the Oakland WIB and the
Department of Labor. This report and resolution has no direct impact on the City's general
fund.
Item: 84
CED Committee
September 23, 2003
Deborah Edgerly Page 2
September 23, 2003
BACKGROUND
Mayor Brown and leadership from the Oakland WIB had requested continued funding from the
Department of Labor (DOL) for the West Oakland Youth Opportunity Grant. Although that
request was denied, the Mayor and the Oakland WIB were encouraged to submit a request for
DOL discretionary funding to support another program for at risk youth and young adults. Staff
set a deadline of October 1, 2003 to submit Oakland's request, assuming that the program design
is approved by the WIB Executive Committee on September 11, 2003 and the full WIB on
September 25, 2003.
KEY ISSUES AND IMPACTS
Youth in the Foster Care and court systems and youth with learning disabilities - often one and
the same - are at great risk for being chronically unemployed and, eventually, adult offenders.
The following data and trends support the need for effective intervention strategies for these
targeted groups:
Foster Youth
According to the most recent report from the Alameda County Department of Children and
@amily Services, though Oakland's residents make up only 27% of the Alameda County
population, in 2001, 56% (3,237) of all children in foster care in the county were from Oakland.
Numerous studies show that foster youth are far more likely to underachieve in school, be
unemployed as adults, and become involved in the criminal justice system. In one study of
recently emancipated foster youth, 26% had not had regular employment since leaving care, 45%
had had trouble with the law since they left care, 41% had spent some time in jail, 26% had had
formal charges filed against them and 7% were in state prison.
It is projected that fully 50% of mates who emancipate from foster care will become involved
with the criminal justice system.
According to the Alameda County Minors Involved in Prostitution Task Force, young
women in the foster care system are at very high risk of becoming involved in prostitution.
Learning Disabled Youth
A survey of 567 adults with teaming disabilities conducted by Learning Disabilities
Association of America found that 37% were unemployed.
National studies show that a minimum of 30% - 50% of juveniles involved in crimes have
;eaming disabilities.
About one in three youth with a learning disability drops out of high school, but those who
take occupationally oriented training courses were significantly less likely to drop out.
Item:
CED Committee
September 23, 2003
Deborah Edgerly Page 3
September 23, 2003
Court-Involved Youth
0 Youth who are court-involved face enormous and numerous barriers to securing permanent
employment and this lack of employment opportunities frequently results in high recidivism
rates.
Recidivismratesamongjuvenileparoleesrangefrom55%to75%.
The 1999 National Task Force on Employment and Training for Court Involved Youth
;etermined that the most effective "aftercare" employment training programs for court-involved
youth provide training programs that incorporated practical training, created extensive networks
of support for the youth, and formed linkages between the workforce development agencies,
juvenile justice and the array of other relevant providers.
0 One of the key gaps in services for former offenders identified by Oakland providers is
employment training programs that provide stipends.
PROGRAM DESCRIPTION
The following is a brief overview of the proposed youth services project:
Target Population
The proposed program will serve Oakland youth ages 16 - 24, with a primary emphasis on
serving youth ages 16 - 2 1. During the first year of the grant, it is planned that the program will
enroll:
100 foster youth (including approximately 33 youth in Independent Living Skills Program
(ILSP), 33 youth not served through ILSP, and 33 youth who have already emancipated).
30 court-involved young men.
15 court-involved young women.
20 young people with leaming disabilities.
(Total of 165 youth enrolled in the first year)
At this stage of program planning, it is not yet clear how many youth enrolled in the first year
will go on to be served in the second year, nor the total number of unduplicated youth who will
be served during the three-year grant period. These numbers will be determined based on a
series of factors including feasibility of attaining meaningful outcomes, cost-efficiency,
availability of leveraged resources, and the potential funding level from the Department of
Labor.
Program Management Structure
The fiscal agent for the program will be the City of Oakland on behalf of the Workforce
Investment Board. The Oakland Private Industry Council, Inc. wilt act as administrator of the
grant and provide overall program oversight. It is anticipated that the Youth Employment
Partnership will act as the primary workforce development agency serving foster youth and
youth with learning disabilities, while the Scotlan Center will act as the lead workforce
development agency serving court-involved youth.
Item:
CED Committee
September 23, 2003
Deborah Edgerly Page 4
September 23, 2003
A Program Management Team comprising representatives from YEP, Scotlan Center, OPIC, and
the WIB will be responsible for ensuring that the program operates smoothly, that timelines arc
adhered to, and that goals are being met. They will also review operations and design on an
ongoing basis and make any changes as necessary.
Additional program partners will include:
National Center for Youth Law, providing legal and technical assistance to help facilitate
systems change and improved service provision.
First Place Fund for Youth, providing referrals of emancipated foster youth and additional
resources and support services for those youth.
Alameda County Department of Education, providing referrals of court-involved youth and
foster youth in group homes, and additional resources and support services for those youth.
Alameda County Department of Social Services, providing referrals of foster youth and
additional resources and support services for those youth.
Inter-Agency Children's Policy Council, providing referrals of court-involved young women
and linkages with Oakland Police Department, the Juvenile Court, Alameda County Public
Health Department, and other agencies working with court-involved young women.
Oakland Unified School District, Department of Alternative Education, providing referrals of
youth with learning disabilities, and additional resources and support services for those
youth.
The Mentoring Center, lead agency on Project Choice, providing referrals of court-involved
youth, and additional resources and support services for those youth, and linkages to the
County Probation Department and California Youth Authority.
City of Oakland Department of Human Services, administrator of Project Choice.
It is also anticipated that some local private employers will be able to make commitments
towards positive support of or participation in the program.
Memoranda of Understanding will be secured from each partner prior to submission of the
proposal. MOUs will outline the specific role of each agency, the nature of their participation,
additional resources and services to be committed by each partner, and a schedule of their
activities.
Outcomcs
At this stage of the program planning, specific outcomes are yet to be determined. The focus,
however, will be on attaining recognized Department of Labor outcomes for individual program
participants. These will include some or all of the following:
Placement in subsidized employment
Placement in unsubsidized employment
Retention of unsubsidized employment after placement
Wage gains for youth placed in unsubsidized employment
Attainment of vocational certificates and credentials
Educational grade gains
GED pass rates
Placement in higher education
Attainment of other outcomes that reduce barriers to employment for individual youth.
Item: &V
CED Committee
September 23, 2003
Deborah Edgerly Page 5
September 23, 2003
In addition, the program aims to achieve institutional/systenlic change that will have a
broader impact on youth throughout the city and that can be used to develop models for best
practices that can be adopted in otherjurisdictions.
Program Model
The program will comprise the following components:
Recruitment and Referral
Youth will be referred by the agencies identified above for intake into the program.
Screening and Assessment
A comprehensive assessment tool will be designed that integrates effective tools already utilized
by workforce development agencies, social services, educational providers, and others. It will
assess a wide range of barriers affecting an individual's employment readiness including:
educational skills and qualifications, employment experience, involvement with criminal justice
system, housing, physical and mental health, substance abuse, child care, child support, parenting
skills,financialbarriers,driver'slicensestatus,familybackground,etc. Thetoolwillenable
case managers to design an individual service plan for each participant that addresses those
barriers. In the first year approximately 330 youth will be assessed and of those 165 will be
enrolled into the program.
Case Management and Individual Service Plan
Throughout their participation in the program, each participant Nvill work with a case manager
based at YEP or Scotlan Center to address individual barriers to employment. The participant's
case will be reviewed on a regular basis so that as new needs or opportunities arise, these can be
addressed. The case manager will work closely with the other providers/institutions involved
with the participant and ensure regular communication with these entities.
Pre- Vocational Skills Training
In most cases, program participants will be required to take part in a pre-vocational skills training
program that helps them develop the key competencies needed to succeed in the workplace.
Subsidized Work Experience
For those youth who cannot be placed immediately into unsubsidized employment, a
comprehensive menu of subsidized work experience and training options will be made available
through the nonprofit, public and for-profit partners.
Unsubsidized Work Experience
The program will include extensive job search and placement assistance to ensure that
participants are placed in suitable employment. A Worksite Facilitator will monitor each of the
placement sites, be responsible for communication and liaison with the employer/supervisor, and
help participants address problems.
Follow-Up
After placement in unsubsidized employment, youth will receive regular, ongoing follow-up
services through the Worksite Facilitator and Case Manager for up to one year. These st4ff 'It
IternXi
CED Committee
September 23, 2003
Deborah Edgerly Page 6
September 23, 2003
help youth address obstacles, assist them with attainment of educational goals and enrollment,
and should the need arise, help them conduct a new job search and secure a new placement.
Institutional/Systems Change and Development of Best Practices
One of the major goals of the program will be to remove institutional barriers that currently
prevent high-risk young people from gaining/retaining permanent unsubsidized employment. In
order to achieve this, key government agencies (OUSD, Alameda County Social Services,
Probation Department, Department of Education, California Youth Authority), workforce
development agencies (Yl@ P and Scotlan Center), and other critical providers (National Center
for Youth Law, First Place Fund for Youth, the Mentoring Center) will be brought together in a
Policy Review Committee which will be charged with identifying and reviewing systemic
barriers and developing new policies and procedures designed to remove those barriers.
Evaluation
An extensive evaluation component will be undertaken by an independent evaluator. Evaluation
will take place over the course of the three-year program and for period of one year afterwards.
It will include formative evaluation methods to ensure operation of a quality, effective program
during the grant period. It will also include sunimative evaluation methods to determine the
effectiveness ofthe program in enabling youth to realize individual employment development
outcomes and the effectiveness of the program in creating successful institutional change.
Budget and Leveraged Resources
As Program Administrator, OPIC will receive 10 percent of the grant. Approximately 30 percent
of the grant will be set aside for wages and incentives for youth participants. Because the
program is designed to achieve meaningful workforce development outcomes for an extremely
hard-to-serve population, success is predicated on program partners providing additional
resources that will address the multiple barriers encountered by participating youth. For
example, the comprehensive services already provided through Project Choice for court-involved
youth will be leveraged to help ensure success of this workforce development program.
Similarly, other partners including Alameda County Social Services, Alameda County
Department of Education, Oakland Unified School District, Oakland Private Industry Council,
Youth Employment Partnership, Scotlan Center, and First Place Fund for Youth will commit
services and resources that will address barriers encountered by the target group. Securing these
leveraged resources should also make DOL more inclined to fund the program.
It is currently estimated that the total grant request will be up to $3,500,000 for a three year
period.
SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
Economic: Workforce development is a fundamental component of economic and business
development. The business sector leadership ofthe Oakland WIB will help shape the program to
meet their current and future workforce needs.
Environmental: Some of the participants in this program may work on neighborhood clean-up
teams. item: 4
CED Committee
September 23, 2003
Deborah Edgerly Page 7
September 23, 2003
Social Equity: This proposed program is designed to enable the targeted participants to achieve
self-sufficiency through extensive education, training and work support services.
DISABILITY AND SENIOR CITIZEN ACCESS
Many of the participants targeted in this proposed program have learning disabilities. The
primary program partner in this area will be the Oakland Unified School District's Aftemative
Education and Exceptional Children programs.
RECOMMENDATIONS AND RATIONALE
Staff recommends that the City Council authorize the submittal of a grant request to the U.S.
Department of Labor for up to $3,500,000 and authorize the appropriation and allocation of
funds. if awarded, in accordance with the program design approved by the Oakland WIB. The
Oakland WIB, which is appointed by the Mayor, has assumed a strong leadership role in
developing policies that guide the continuous improvement of Oakland's workforce development
system. This proposed program is consistent with the policy direction of the City and the
Oakland WIB.
ACTION REQUESTED OF THE CITY COUNCIL
1) Authorization to submit a grant request for up to $3,500,000 to the U.S. Department of Labor
on behalf of the Oakland Workforce Investment Board; and
2) Authorization to appropriate and allocate the funds awarded in accordance with the program
approved by the Oakland WlB and the Department of Labor.
Res ectfu itted.
DANIEL VANDERPRIEM
Director of Redevelopment, Economic
Development and Housing
Prepared by:
Al Auletta, Workforce Development Manager
APPROVED AND FORWARDED TO THE
COMMUNITY AND ECONOMIC
DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE
Office of the City Manager Item: A
CED Committee
September 23, 2003
APPROVED AS
-7)
DEPOTY CITY AT-rokfiV
OAKLAND CITY COUNCIL
RESOLUTIONNo. C.M.S.
INTRODUCED BY THE CITY MANAGER
A RESOLUTION AUTHORIZING THE CITY MANAGER TO APPLY FOR,
APPROPRIATE AND ACCEPT A GRANT FROM THE U.S. DEPARTMENT
OF LABOR FOR UP TO $3,500,000 ON BEHALF OF THE OAKLAND
WORKFORCE INVESTMENT BOARD TO FUND A THREE-YEAR
PROGRAM TO SERVE YOUTH OFFENDERS, FOSTER CARE YOUTH
AND DISABLED YOUTH
WHEREAS, the Oakland Workforce Investment Board (WlB) is required under the
Workforce Investment Act of 1998 to set policy direction and oversee programs funded through
the Workforce Investment Act; and
WHEREAS, the Oakland WIB leadership and the Mayor met with representatives from the
U.S. Department of Labor and were encouraged to submit a request to fund an employment and
training program for high risk youth and young adults; and
WHEREAS, the Mayor and the Oakland WIB are proposing a comprehensive three-year
program to enable court-involved, foster care and disabled youth and young adults to achieve self-
sufficiency; now, therefore, be it
RESOLVED: that the City Manager is authorized to submit a grant request for up to
$3,500,000 to the U.S. Department of Labor; and be it further
RESOLVED: that the City Manager is authorized to apply for, appropriate and accept a
grant from the U.S. Department of Labor for up to $3,500,000; and be it further
Item # 94
CED Committee
September 23, 2003
RESOLVED: That the City Manager and her designee is hereby authorized to take
whatever action is necessary with respect to said funds consistent with this Resolution and its
basic purposes.
IN COUNCIL, OAKLAND, CALIFORNIA, 2003
PASSED BY THE FOLLOWING VOTE:
AYES- BROOKS, BRUNNER, CHANG, NADEL, QUAN, REID, WAN, AND PRESIDENT DE
LA FUENTE
NOES-
ABSENT-
ABSTENTION-
ATTEST:
CEDA FLOYD
City Clerk and Clerk of the Council
of the City of Oakland, California
Itemm Li
CED Committee
September 23, 2003