TITLE
Recommendation to authorize City Manager, or designee, to execute an agreement, and any necessary documents, subcontracts, and subsequent amendments, including amendments to the award amount or agreement term, with the CaliforniansForAll Youth Workforce Development Program to accept and expend grant funding up to $6,300,000 in California Volunteers - Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery funds, to provide the Economic Development Department, Pacific Gateway Workforce Innovation Network, in the creation of Long Beach Youth Climate Corps, a paid work experience program, for the period of December 6, 2021 through June 30, 2024. (Citywide)
DISCUSSION
City Council approval is requested to enter into a contract with the CaliforniansForAll Youth Workforce Development Program and accept and expend up to $6,300,000 in funding made available under California State and Local Fiscal Recovery funds. The grant funds will be used over two (2) years to create and implement the Long Beach Youth Climate Corps, a paid work experience program. This program will create paid work experience opportunities that will increase youth employment, develop youth interest and experience toward careers in public service, and strengthen capacity to address areas of education, climate change, and food security. The program will prioritize the engagement of youth people from Long Beach communities and prepare them for careers in high-growth and emerging industries, connect them to workplace mentors, social capital building opportunities, and bolster their level of civic engagement and understanding through education and hands-on experiences.
Youth in Long Beach need access to career pathways to ensure family-sustaining economic stability and to alleviate anxieties in planning for the future. Long Beach Youth Climate Corps will address these challenges by placing 388 youth in work experience opportunities that will strengthen leadership development, increase social capital, prepare youth for careers, and increase knowledge on how to address climate change, food insecurity, and economic recovery at the individual and community level. This program will increase access to pathways that expand economic and social capital for youth and young adults; increase programming and services that promote prosocial engagement for youth and young adults, especially those that are systemically impacted; and create healthier communities by addressing climate change through occupational training, community awareness, and education.
Pacific Gateway’s proposed approach includes a robust program journey that incorporates community-led outreach, intake, job preparation, professional and leadership development components. Youth will then have the opportunity to complete hands-on work experience opportunities across city departments and some community-based organizations, including Conservation Corps of Long Beach. The placements will be informed by existing and/or ongoing skill gap assessments of Long Beach’s current workforce and imminent retirement trends. Work experience placements will range from entry-level to advanced and provide 160 to 500 hours of hands-on experience. Leadership development, work-readiness, industry-led training, and mentoring activities will be provided to enhance youth development and industry knowledge.
Throughout the course of the program, Pacific Gateway will track and report the following metrics on a quarterly basis, number of youth: participating in program, employed in each focus area, enrolled in job training/readiness programs, completing job training/readiness programs; and average wage and hours worked of participants across program, and information/data/member stories.
On November 9, 2021, City Council approved a request from the Climate Action Committee to submit a proposal to create a Long Beach Youth Climate Corps Program using $5 million in cost-reimbursement funds from the State’s Governor’s Office’s CaliforniansForAll Youth Workforce Development Program. The CaliforniansforAll program aligns with the City of Long Beach’s (City) recovery efforts. In March 2021, the City adopted the Long Beach Recovery Act, a plan to fund economic and public health initiatives, as a response to individuals and businesses critically impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. The CaliforniansForAll funding will support a robust recovery infrastructure with intersecting programs that are building an equitable and just recovery with mutually beneficial outcomes for Long Beach communities.
Pacific Gateway administers the federal Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) and other employment and training funds received annually by the City. These funds support job training programs and business services delivered by the WorkPlace, Youth Opportunity Center, Harbor Gateway WorkSource Center, and selected community-based organizations, to assist residents in acquiring skills leading to employment in high-demand occupations with local employers.
This matter was reviewed by Principal Deputy City Attorney Richard F. Anthony on March 29, 2022 and by Budget Operations and Development Officer Rhutu Amin Gharib on March 31, 2022.
TIMING CONSIDERATIONS
City Council action is requested on May 3, 2022, to facilitate the processing of required documents.
FISCAL IMPACT
Under the agreement, Pacific Gateway will receive grant reimbursement revenue in an amount not to exceed $6,300,000 for the period of December 6, 2021 through June 30, 2024. These funds will supplement programs currently operated by Pacific Gateway with local, State, and federal workforce grants, and no City match or in-kind service is required. Sufficient appropriation is budgeted in the Community Development Grants Fund Group in the Economic Development Department to facilitate this grant program. This recommendation has a moderate staffing impact beyond the budgeted scope of duties and is consistent with existing City Council priorities. Approval of this recommendation will provide paid internships, job experience, and employment opportunities to the local community.
SUGGESTED ACTION
Approve recommendation.
Respectfully Submitted,
JOHNNY M. VALLEJO
ACTING DIRECTOR
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
APPROVED:
THOMAS B. MODICA
CITY MANAGER