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Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act

4-Year Regional Planning Unit Plan

and Related Local Plans

Program Years 2017-2020

Local Workforce Development Area(s)

NOVA WDB, SAN BENITO WDB, SAN FRANCISCO WDB, SAN JOSE SILICON VALLEY WIN

Regional Lead Contact for RPU Monique Melchor, San Jose Silicon Valley WIN

Date of Submission March 15, 2017

Local area Contact name Phone number

NOVA WDB JEANETTE LANGDELL 408-730-7232

SAN BENITO WDB ENRIQUE ARREOLA 831-637-5627

SAN FRANCISCO WDB AMABEL AKWA-ASARE 415-701-4849

SAN JOSE SILICON VALLEY WIN

MONIQUE MELCHOR 408-794-1108

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1. Cover Page and Executive Summary

Executive Summary The Bay-Peninsula (BP) Region is home to one of the worlds most dynamic and innovative economies. It is also home to thousands of people who are disconnected from the regions economic prosperity. In this plan, key stakeholders of the BP Region describe how they are working together to launch industry-driven regional partnerships in sectors that are drivers of the regional economy. Our plan calls for the development of regional sector pathways for in-demand careers, and promoting access to these pathways for those who are disconnected from economic prosperity. As an administrative entity, the Regional Planning Unit (RPU) is in its infancy. As such, this plan documents efforts to build on existing industry engagement, and to more tightly coordinate and align strategies and pathways developed by the four workforce development boards and their partners. The goals of this plan are the following: Goal 1: Employers are actively engaged with the regional workforce system that understands and appropriately responds to their skilled workforce needs. (Demand-Driven skills attainment)

Develop and deploy a data-driven, collaborative, and replicable industry-driven sector partnership model, building on our SlingShot experience, for identifying and addressing existing and emerging in-demand industry sector workforce needs.

Coordinate and collaborate with the Bay Area Community College Consortium (BACC) and its employer advisory groups in order to promote on-ramps into the targeted regional in-demand sector pathways and to better align training curricula and postsecondary credentials with employer demand.

Assess employers current needs for upgrading their current (incumbent) workforce and develop an approach for making more earn-and-learn training opportunities available in the target sectors (building on our existing programs and initiatives).

Build upon previous efforts to engage employer association, economic development, and business partners through coordinated outreach and relationship-building efforts, formalizing our joint utilization of the web Labor Market Information (LMI) mapping platform (EconoVue and Dun & Bradstreet), and establishing a vehicle for sharing real-time labor market intelligence.

Collaborate with other active professional boards, groups, chambers, and associations, etc. in the region to connect and leverage workforce development opportunities for upward mobility into middle-skill occupations, including opportunities for individuals with barriers to employment.

Goal 2: Unemployed and underemployed individuals can (a) easily access and participate in workforce services appropriate for their skill levels, barriers to employment, and career goals; and (b) transition into relevant training opportunities to move up in a career pathway in an in-demand sector or occupation. (Upward Mobility)

Ensure priority of service and effective outreach strategies for recipients of public assistance, low-income individuals, individuals who are basic-skills deficient, and veterans.

Grow and diversify the labor force available to meet demands from employers for skilled workers through improved access by, and engagement of people with disabilities, immigrants, those who are limited English proficient, veterans, out-of-school youth, foster youth, farmworkers, ex-offenders, older workers (additional target population), and those from populations that are currently under-represented in the target industry sectors.

Develop regionally coordinated referral systems in collaboration with education providers to address worker needs (including those with English as a Second Language (ESL), disability accommodation, or basic skill remediation needs) and provide on-ramps into career pathways

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leading to industry-recognized or post-secondary credentials and sustainable careers the target sectors.

Increase awareness of career pathways in the target sectors and the workforce services available in the Americas Job Centers of California (AJCCs) and other access points for relevant services in our region.

Develop and deploy earn-and-learn and work experience opportunities for job seekers, including but not limited to internships, work experience, on-the-job training (OJT), apprenticeships, and customized training.

Increase coordination and collaboration between all partners including workforce development boards, community colleges, adult education providers, Career and Technical Education (CTE), the Employment Development Department, Unemployment Insurance, the Department of Rehabilitation, community based organizations, etc. across program silos to refer job seekers to in-demand employment opportunities and to reduce duplication of services.

Goal 3: Regional workforce system partners align and coordinate services and resources to create a no wrong door employment and training network easily accessed by workers including high need and historically disadvantaged populations such as farmworkers, ex-offenders those who are limited English proficient, out of school and/or disconnected and foster youth (including former foster youth); as well as employers. (Aligning and coordinating program and services.)

Identify, adopt, and scale innovative approaches to working together as a region to prepare the workforce in ways that meet industry demands.

Coordinate access to and provision of appropriate services for job seekers by core partners and other providers (a) through increased staff cross-training opportunities with partners; and (b) by developing a system-wide strategy for tracking referrals, credential attainment, and training-related employment outcomes (in partnership with the State as it makes changes to the CalJOBs platform).

Utilize Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) Title I funds and leverage additional public and private resources to support professional development of staff and cross-trainings at a regional level as applicable.

Develop criteria for one-stop certification which ensures the continuous improvement of services through the system and ensures that these partners are meeting the needs of local employers, workers, and job seekers.

For the duration of the planning period, these goals will play a key role in how the Bay Peninsula (RPU), the workforce development boards, and regional Chief Elected Officials (CEOs) guide investments.

These goals also align with Californias Unified Strategic Workforce Development Plan.

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2. RPU Regional Plan

2.A. Partners Party to the Plan

i. Describe the geographic boundaries of the Regional Planning Unit and any plans to petition for a regional planning

partner modification.

The BP Region is comprised of San Francisco, San Mateo, Santa Clara and San Benito Counties and its four local workforce boardsSan Benito, San Jose Silicon Valley Workforce Investment Network (SJSVWIN), North Valley Consortium (NOVA), and San Franciscos Office of Economic and Workforce Development.

ii. List the regional partners who are part of the plan and describe their role in developing and implementing the regional

plan.

The regional partners that are part of the plan are the four workforce boards of San Benito, SJSVWIN, NOVA, and San Franciscos Office of Economic and Workforce Development.

During the planning process, the RPU partners focused on building important infrastructure for the longer-term partnership initiated by these plans. This document is a starting point for forging sustainable collaboration, creating a model of regular communication and partnership, and expanding the use of Career Sector Pathways to serve jobseekers and employers and to promote regional economic prosperity and increased income mobility.

The boards represented in the region and their staffs were the primary drivers in writing the BP WIOA Regional Plan. Board staffs were assigned to six working groups that focused on 1) LMI, 2) MIS, 3) client services, 4) career sector pathways, 5) core partner development and 6) business services. In addition to these working groups, administrators from all four boards (the RPU Admin group) met weekly over the fall of 2016 to oversee the plan writing process.

The RPU working groups met virtually and in-person over the November-December timeframe to discuss a shared response to the States guidance. Each board provided information on programming, strategies, and partnerships specific to their local area. The groups also set shared goals for the region and strategies to achieve those goals. Through the lead agency, a consulting team (Social Policy Research Associates) was hired to support the working groups by providing direction and facilitation and to compile ideas generated by the working group and to prepare the Regional Plan drafts. Moving forward in 2017, RPU working groups will continue to address the goals and strategies they put forward in this plan.

After holding a series of meetings to gather input from key stakeholde