SECTION 1.
The Legislature finds and declares as follows:(a) Every young person in California should have multiple pathways toward economic self-sufficiency and fulfillment.
(b) It is in the state’s best interests to establish a set of systems and a policy framework which facilitates early opportunities to explore careers with industry involvement from employers and labor while being connected to learning that supports building relevant skills and competencies.
(c) Creating a career connected learning system that is industry driven and
youth centered is essential to the social and economic goals of the state to ensure an equitable and thriving economy in which all can participate and prosper.
(d) The goals of a career connected learning system are to support youth in career exploration, career preparation, career acceleration through dual enrollment, training, and postsecondary strategies, and career launch.
(e) Preparing young people for real world employer-based learning opportunities increases their self-sufficiency and fulfillment, can lead to more youth advancing beyond high school with a degree or credential, and improves the state’s economy.
(f) In 2018, Governor Newsom declared a commitment to ensuring California reaches 500,000 apprentices by
2029.
(g) Registered apprenticeships are the lynchpin to a career-connected learning system and can lead to higher earnings for participants. Estimates suggest that those completing apprenticeships can earn on average $300,000 more over the course of their careers compared to those who did not complete an apprenticeship.
(h) The increases in earnings cited above are in large part due to their connection to established labor-management partnerships, and being an apprentice alone does not automatically translate to better career pathways.
(i) California’s Future of Work Commission found that while the probability of low-wage employment is reduced by 33 percent if a worker has a college degree, it is reduced by 39 percent
if a worker is a member of a union.
(j) The youth unemployment rate tends to be much higher than for older workers. In December of 2021, 16 percent of youth ages 16 to 19 years of age and 11 percent of youth ages 20 to 24 were unemployed in California, during that same period, the unemployment rate for people aged 25 to 64 years of age was 6.5 percent.
(k) The apprenticeship model is important in tracing what is known and what is able to be performed in the workplace, and how capabilities may positively impact employment training, which in turn should impact employment outcomes.
(l) In California, the average age of apprentices and preapprentices continues to climb, a trend that highlights the limits of our
current system to engage and support youth.
(m) In many instances, California lacks the programmatic infrastructure and flexibility required to allow youth to enter into emerging and growth industries, even during a thriving economy.
(n) California has an opportunity to expand access to union jobs for youth and younger workers to quality union jobs and careers through apprenticeships. The silver tsunami in many of California’s most important sectors means employers and public agencies need to incorporate high road
high-road partnerships with youth apprenticeships as a central component of their workforce and talent pipeline strategy.
(o) Apprenticeships and other high road high-road partnerships build succession road maps and enable knowledge transfer. A formal apprenticeship becomes a plan to avoid losing decades of experience, and important components, such as mentorship through on the job on-the-job learning, are examples of how to foster this knowledge transfer.
(p) For every youth to succeed, California must focus on youth furthest from opportunity, those facing persistent educational opportunity gaps, especially students of color, Indigenous students, low-income students, rural students, students with disabilities, and system-impacted youth, including those youths who are at risk of disconnection or are disconnected from the education system or employment and those unhoused or in the child welfare and juvenile justice
welfare, juvenile justice, or criminal legal systems.
(q) A recent study from the University of Chicago found that from 2000 to 2015, economic segregation in schools has worsened, particularly in districts like Los Angeles, and as a result has widened the achievement gap for youth of color living in deeply segregated neighborhoods of concentrated poverty.
(r) The aforementioned issues are the result of systemic racism which limits opportunities for youth, especially youth from Black and Indigenous families. Any system for career connected learning must aspire to reverse these historic inequities.
(s) For participating youth, wraparound support services and the engagement of families,
caregivers, and youth serving community-based organizations and support networks are critical and essential. This is evident from model programming in Wisconsin, Washington State, Colorado, North Carolina, and elsewhere.
(t) Establishing pipelines for youth to enter growth industries for on-the-job training that allows them to earn and learn is a proven practice that can transform their participation in the labor force fostering economic security and prosperity as well as strengthening the sustainability of the overall economy.
(u) The State Department of Education, the Chancellor’s Office of the California Community Colleges, the Foundation for California Community Colleges, the Labor and Workforce Development Agency, the California Workforce Development Board, the
Employment Training Panel, and the Division of Apprenticeship Standards are all critical stakeholders in supporting and advancing the California Youth Apprenticeship Program.
(v) Career Connect Washington, CareerWise Colorado, ApprenticeshipNC, and Youth Apprenticeship Wisconsin Wisconsin, and Iowa Youth Apprenticeship Program are national models for youth programming and include partnerships between their department of education, the community college system, the workforce development agency, businesses, and labor.