14050.
As used in this article:(a) “Consortium” means an entity that may be composed of any combination of local workforce development board, community college, California Adult Education Program Consortium, Adult Education Program, or other local stakeholders, working in partnership to enroll and support individuals in poverty in workforce training programs aligned with regional labor market needs, except that every consortium shall include the local workforce development board that corresponds to its geographical area.
(b) “Supportive services” mean childcare, transportation, or other services identified by the state or
local workforce development board as necessary to enable an individual to successfully participate in High Road Training Partnerships programs or other similar workforce programs.
(c) “Training” includes all services described in paragraph (5) of subdivision (d) of Section 14013.
(d) “Workforce training program” means California Workforce Development Board workforce programs that are industry-based, worker-focused training partnerships that deliver equity, sustainability, and job quality aligned with the needs of the regional labor market.
14055.
(a) The board shall establish and administer the Lifting Families Out of Poverty Supportive Services Program. Upon appropriation by the Legislature for that purpose, the board shall make fifty million dollars ($50,000,000) twenty-five million dollars ($25,000,000) 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 participant to be enrolled pursuant to this article.(b) The board shall 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 High Road Training Partnerships Program or another similar workforce training program, including the alignment of the training partnerships program with regional labor market demand.
(3) 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.
(4) The list of designated qualified opportunity zones (QOZ) that meet the criteria for low-income community, as defined in Sections 1400Z-1 and 1400Z-2 of the federal Internal Revenue Code.
(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).
(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 other stakeholders.
(3) The availability and likelihood of full-time employment in the local area based on the successful completion of the High Road Training Partnerships
Program or another similar workforce 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.
(g) A consortium that receives a grant shall report annually to the California Workforce Development 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.
14055.1.
(a) The board, as part of its supportive services program pursuant to Section 14055, shall also develop High Road Training Partnerships or other similar workforce training programs to address the displacement of workers, including, but not limited to, farmworkers in the southern central valley of the state, and youth who are in or out of school and who are individuals with a barrier to employment, as defined in Title 1 of the federal Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act of 2014 (Public Law 113-128).(b) “High Road Training Partnerships” means the programs administered or overseen by the board, to model strategies for the state to develop
industry-based, worker-focused training partnerships that deliver equity, sustainability, and job quality and address questions of income inequality, economic competitiveness, and climate change through regional skills development designed to support communities across the state. To be similar to the High Road Training Partnership, another workforce training program shall have similar objectives and employ similar strategies to achieve those objectives.
(c) A High Road Training Partnership or other similar workforce training program may also focus on the healthcare industry and evaluate provider network adequacy.