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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMINUTES - 01231996 - C53 TO;_ BOARD OF SliPERVISORS Contra FROM: John Cullen, Director =/ Costa Social Service Department z DATE: , = County cOst'-- N� January 16, 1996 A `° SUBJECT: APPROVE and AUTHORIZE the Submittal of the Greater Avenues for Independence (GAIN) Plan for FY 1995 - 1996 SPECIFIC REQUEST(S)OR RECOMMENDATION(S)&BACKGROUND AND JUSTIFICATION RECOMMENDED ACTION: APPROVE the amended Contra Costa County GAIN Plan for the FY 1995-1996 and AUTHORIZE the Social Service Director, or his designee, to submit the GAIN plan to the California Department of Social Services. FISCAL: Per California Department of Social Services County Fiscal Letter No. 95/96-16, the Contra Costa County GAIN allocation for FY 1995 - 1996 is $5,283,914, of which $2,558,687 are Federal funds and $2,167,790 are State funds. The County required share is $496,705, which is fully budgeted. BACKGROUND: GAIN is the employment/training program serving employable adults who are recipients of AFDC. With the implementation of AB 1371 in August, 1995, and the possibility of time-limited welfare benefits with Federal Block Grants, the plan for FY 1995 - 1996 focuses even more on welfare recipients getting jobs in the shortest time possible. To this end, the Department has made the following changes in the FY 95/96 plan: 1. Changing individuals invited into GAIN. In a four-phase plan, the Department will change the priorities of individuals invited into GAIN. The following priorities will be "County Designated Target Groups" in the next year. * AFDC recipients residing in the areas served by Service Integration Teams. CONTINUED ON ATTACHMENT: YES SIGNATURE: RECOMMENDATION OF COUNTY ADMINISTRATOR RECOMMENDATION OF BOARD COMNiTTEE APPROVE OTHER SIGNATURE (S): ACTION OF BOARD ON e1 3 APPROVED AS RECOMMENDED OTHER VOTE OF SUPERVISORS I HEREBY CERTIFY THAT THIS IS A TRUE UNANIMOUS(ABSENT r AND CORRECT COPY OF AN ACTION TAKEN AYES: _NOES: AND ENTERED ON THE MINUTES OF THE BOARD ABSENT: ABSTAIN: OF SUPERVISORS ON THE DATE SHOWN. CC: Contact: Robert Hofmann 3-1593 ATTESTED 9?3 SOCIAL SERVICE (CONTRACTS`UNIT) PHIL BA CHELOR,CLE F THE BOARD OF COUNTY ADMINISTRATOR SUPERVISORS AND COUNTY ADMINISTRATOR AUDITOR -CONTROLLER CONTRACTOR M382 (10/88) BY DEPUTY Cal Learn graduates and other parents under age 24 and on AFDC. Newly granted AFDC recipients with children age 6 and over and who are not in school or training. Newly granted AFDC-Unemployed parents. AFDC participants in approved Job Services programs outside the Department. AFDC recipients in a child care certification program being developed with Contra Costa Community College. Head Start parents receiving AFDC. Newly granted AFDC recipients with children age 3 and older and who are not in school or training. 2. Developing programs to take advantage of outside resources. The Department is currently working with outside agencies such as St. Vincent de Paul and the Contra Costa Community College to put together programs that will enable more recipients to reach job entry and further enrich the lives of people on AFDC and in the greater community. The Department is continuing to work with agencies such as the Private Industry Council, Richmond Works, and the Employment Development Department to maintain existing programs and put together new programs that will better serve GAIN participants. 3. Restructuring the Department to make employment the focus. The Department will organizationally merge GAIN Services Division with the Income Maintaince Division to better position our employment services as the "Front Door" in our system to encourage self-sufficiency. In FY 1994 - 1995, the Department set as a job entry goal, 768 participants getting jobs. Staff and GAIN participants more than met that goal with 911 job entries in that year. For FY 1995 - 1996, we have set 1200 job entries as our goal. Making the necessary changes in the GAIN program will help us to achieve that goal. CONTRA COSTA COUNTY GAIN PLAN UPDATE JANUARY, 1996 CONTRA COSTA COUNTY SOCIAL SERVICE DEPARTMENT JOHN CULLEN DIRECTOR ROBERT HOFMANN ASSISTANT DIRECTOR TERRY SALTER GAIN DIVISION MANAGER ELAINE GROTHMANN GAIN PROGRAM ANALYST GAIN COUNTY PLAN - FY 1995/1996 L INTRODUCTION: Beginning in FY 1993/1994, Contra Costa County shifted the focus of the GAIN program from primarily training/education to employment. This shift has aligned this county with the changes and goals of AB 1371. We have been able to boast of some success in improving job entries since this change was made. We went from 209 job entries in FY 1992/1993 to 911 job entries in FY 1994/1995 - a 336% improvement. Following the lead of the GAIN Advisory Council's recommendations, we anticipate further streamlining our operations in 1996. With the real possibility of time-limited AFDC eligibility looming for our recipients, it behooves us to assist as many individuals into employment as possible. It is our goal to put into place procedures that will enable this county to continue to increase job entry numbers monthly. During this period, the Department will begin to organizationally merge the GAIN Services Division with the Income Maintenance Division. This action is being taken to better position our employment services as the "Front Door" in our system to encourage self-sufficiency. This action will start the Department's effort to redefine/transition the welfare system to an employment-based response to poverty. To further our goal of "breaking the welfare cycle," we will continue to consider teen parents and parents under the age of 24 as a primary target. We will also target those who are new enough to the welfare system that they have not become complacent. As we endeavor to keep families intact and support coming from parents in the home, AFDC-Unemployed Parent cases will also continue to be a priority. In 1996, we are developing what we consider to be innovative programs. We have begun exploring the possibility of working with the Community College system and Head Start to put together a child care provider certification program. Should this program come into being, it will increase the number of certified child care providers in our West County area. We also hope to increase the role of community-based organizations in successful GAIN outcomes. We will continue the strong alliances established in the past with the Contra Costa County Private Industry Council and with the Richmond Private Industry Council / Richmond Works. In 1995 we also began a successful alliance with Richmond Employment Development Department through the use of the "GAIN 4" System. These affiliations have served us well in the past. As we continue to evolve our GAIN Program, we will continue to mutually serve GAIN clients. We look forward to a challenging and successful 1996. - Page 1 - II. GOALS AND PROJECTIONS: A. NUMBER OF PARTICIPANTS TO BE SERVED In November ,1994, the total number of GAIN participants being served in Contra Costa County %vas 2,591. By November, 1995, the number of GAIN participants being served had increased to 3,458. We expect to continue to expand the program by increasing the number of participants we serve. Through the changes we are making, we anticipate moving more participants into employment, thus opening the way for serving a greater number of participants. While the total number of participants may remain at approximately 3,500 at any given time, more individuals will ultimately be served by our program. B. ANTICIPATED JOB ENTRIES In our GAIN County Plan for FY 1994/1995, we set our target for job entries at 768. We arrived at this number by calculating the amount of grant savings we would need to actively participate in the California Performance Demonstration Project. The only problem with this projection is that the calculation was done prior to the implementation of "Work Pays," which increased grants to working AFDC recipients and decreased grant savings. Even though we did not achieve the grant savings we originally anticipated, as a result of changes we made in our County Plan for last year, we far exceeded our job entry target by assisting 911 GAIN participants to find employment. Our target for job entries for FY 1995/1996 is 1200. While we had a slow start on this goal the first three months of the fiscal year, in 10/95 and 11/95, we have exceeded our target of 100 job entries per month with a total of 205 jobs. With the adjustments we are making in the program, we anticipate reaching or exceeding our target for FY 1995/1996. Of the 1200 job entries we anticipate, approximately 75% should result in grant reductions and 15% should result in grant terminations (10% no change). C. ACTIONS BEING TAKEN TO INCREASE JOB ENTRIES 1. At the present time, 99% of individuals being served in GAIN are members of Federal Target Groups, so 99% of GAIN money is being used for Federal Target individuals. We plan a 4-stage phase in of County-designated target groups to achieve the 450/o/55% balance of monies prescribed by AB 1371. a. In Phase 1, from 1/1/96 - 3/31/96, only the following individuals will be inducted into GAIN: 1). AFDC recipients being served by our Service Integration Teams at Family Service Centers; and - Page 2 - 2). Newly-granted AFDC-FG recipients whose youngest child is age six or older and who are not currently in an education or training program; and 3). Newly-granted AFDC-U recipients; and 4). Cal Learn Graduates and other parents under age 24. b. In Phase 2, from 4/1/96 - 8/31/96, the following individuals will be added to the previous groups to be inducted into GAIN: 1). Participants of St. Vincent De Paul Job Club; and 2). Participants of other approved job programs being run outside the Social Service Department. c. In Phase 3, from 9/1/96 - 12/31/96, the following individuals will be added to the previous groups to be inducted into GAIN: 1). Participants in the Contra Costa College Child Care Training Program; and 2). Head Start parents receiving AFDC. d. In Phase 4, from 1/1/97 on, the following individuals will be added to the previous groups to be inducted into GAIN: 1). Newly-granted AFDC-FG recipients with children age 3 and older and who are not in an education / training program; and 2). Individuals who are in all other Federal Target Groups who have not yet been invited into GAIN. 2. We continue to contract with the Private Industry Council (PIC) for three, full time, Employment Placement Counselors (EPCs). These EPCs are experienced job developers, and one is available to serve participants at each GAIN office. Their role is to emphasize our commitment to employment placement by meeting with GAIN participants individually and as a group. They assist hard to serve participants by helping them meet with employers, polish their resumes. They also develop jobs which match the skills and needs of the hard to place individuals. 3. The EPC in the West County GAIN office in Hercules continues to work closely with a job developer from the Employment Development Department (EDD) - Page 3 - 53 Intensive Service Program (ISP) outstationed there three days per week. The EDD job developer provides us access to the "GAIN 4" System. This provides GAIN participants in our largest office with access to two job experts plus access to one of the largest job databases in the state. 4. We continue to support and expand Family Service Centers in two of the most economically deprived areas of the county, Bay Point and North Richmond, each of which includes an outstationed GAIN Case Manager. The Case Managers in these centers make contacts with employers in the communities, helping to develop jobs for GAIN participants served by the centers. Expansion plans for these centers will include outstationed staff and services from the county's Private Industry Council. GAIN and PIC staff co-located at these centers will provide greater services to individuals in these pockets of poverty. 5. We are currently negotiating participation with PIC (as are other county entities doing job development) in the "Search II" Job Match computer system. PIC plans to implement this system 1/1/96. We will access this system through our PIC EPCs. 6. With completion of certain programs, such as Heald Business College and Certified Nurse Assistant programs, we have allowed some individuals to go from training directly into Job Search with approval of the GAIN Supervisor. Now, under AB 1371, there will also be some individuals (with supervisory approval) who will go directly to Assessment, depending on how extensive their Job Search services through their programs were. Since certain programs concentrate on building self esteem, writing resumes, and support job placement as part of the program, Job Club is somewhat redundant. Requiring these individuals to attend Job Club prior to Job Search would only delay meeting their employment goals. If the individual has already been exposed to weeks of intensive job search through their program and still has not found employment, they may be referred directly to Assessment to determine what further plans must be made. 7. We are continuing participation in the job placement Performance Demonstration project. The use of targets has helped motivate staff and keep them on track, as evidenced by their exceeding FY 1994/1995 targets by 143 placements. 8. We have, since FY 1993/1994, had a GAIN flow that went from Orientation to Appraisal to Job Club for most participants (not including Self-Initiated Programs). Under our previous flow, some individuals were side-tracked for adult basic education or English as a second language programs. This will no longer be the case, except for those individuals the Case Manager determines need extra education, such as parents under age 20 with no high school diploma. For those individuals who do need this education, the recommended plan will be - Page 4 - for concurrent education and job services. We have already begun discussion of this in our West County area where teen/young adult parents attending Serra School may be able to work on their diploma or GED in the morning and have a work activity in the afternoon under supervision of the school. 9. Also, under our new plan, Job Club hours are being extended each day to include Job Search in the afternoons. Job Club will run daily for nine days. After that, the individual will attend Job Search daily for two weeks. Those who have not found employment in that four-week period will be referred to Assessment. By shortening the Job Club / Job Search period to four weeks instead of our previous ten weeks, we expect to be able to serve more clients. Extending the daily and weekly hours for these components will provide more support to participants, who, we expect, will reach employment sooner. 10. For some individuals with a recent employment history and who we consider to be "job ready," we will permit flexibility in the GAIN flow. With supervisory approval, GAIN Case Managers may flex individuals directly into Job Search or Assessment, depending on their individual need. 11. AFDC-U parents have been participating in the prescribed "work activity" as part of the employment plan after assessment. Under our new GAIN flow, these individuals will participate in AWEX either concurrently with job services being provided after Appraisal or as a separate activity while waiting for job services to begin. 12. Finally, as part of every employment plan after Assessment, all individuals in GAIN will participate in an AWEX or PREP slot, the hours to be determined by their individual situations. Should their employment plan include ABE/ESL or training, it will be scheduled concurrently with AWEX/PREP whenever possible. D. ADDITIONAL ACTIONS BEING DEVELOPED 1. We anticipate revising the program in the next few months to eliminate CASAS testing.prior to Assessment. We feel strongly that individuals may be unfairly subjected to remedial education, when, in fact, they have job skills that are readily put into use. By eliminating CASAS testing and giving these individuals a chance to explore their job potential through Job Club and Job Search first, they will be more successful in finding jobs. Should Case Managers decide at Appraisal that remedial education is still necessary for some individuals, these individuals would be encouraged to attend school concurrently with Job Club and Job Search. 2. We are currently working with the PIC to develop a jobs hot-line for potential employers. This concept has been tried in the Richmond area by 'Richmond - Page 5 - Works," and the collaborative effort by Richmond PIC, the City of Richmond, EDD, and GAIN has been very successful. By marketing to the community that when an employer has a need for new employees he/she should call the hot-line, we will become more mainstream in the jobs our participants can acquire. The hot-line will be designed as a job development tool for PIC, EDD, and GAIN, and all jobs developed from it will go into the Search Il system being implemented by PIC 1/1/96. We will access this system through our PIC EPCs. 3. We anticipate working with St. Vincent De Paul and other private, non-profit organizations to increase the slots available to GAIN participants for Job Club. Through these programs, with grant money available to them, we will greatly increase opportunities for GAIN clients, beginning with our West County area. 4. We are exploring the possibility of working with Head Start and with Contra Costa College in our West County area to set-up a child care certification program. Through this program, we anticipate expanding the available child care so there will be no shortage when increasing numbers of AFDC recipients enter employment. 5. We also anticipate working with Head Start parents on AFDC to provide job programs they need to become independent from welfare. 6. As part of our plan to better-serve those individuals already in GAIN, we will have a staff member not previously associated with the cases review them for current status. Those individuals who have completed components and not gone on will be referred back to Assessment to determine a new employment plan. Those individuals previously deferred under "one-time-through" will be included in this group. As a general recommendation, to be modified based on individual needs, these participants will be able to get the work experience they lack by participating in AWEX / PREP slots. Their hours of participation will be determined by their individual situations. Should further training or education be needed as part of the employment plan, it will be scheduled concurrently with AWEX or PREP. 7. Staff has embraced the "Work Pays" concept to such a degree that they have requested computer software to demonstrate to everyone in the program how much better off they will be working. To this end, we have been communicating with Network Six to assist them in revising their "Work Pays" software to meet California budgeting needs. We expect a new demo. disk from them to test their revisions at any time. - Page 6 - IIL COUNTY-DESIGNATED TARGET GROUPS As previously described, the county will phase in County-Designated Target Groups in 4 stages. To recap here, the new County-Designated Target Groups are as follows: A. AFDC recipients being served at Family Service Centers by the Service Integration Teams; B. Cal Learn graduates and other parents under age 24; C. Newly-granted AFDC-FG recipients with children age 6 and older and who are not currently participating in an education/training program; D. Newly-granted AFDC-U recipients; E. Participants (on AFDC) in St. Vincent De Paul and other approved Job Clubs outside of this agency; F. Participants (on AFDC) in the Contra Costa College Child Care Training Certification Program; G. Head Start Parents receiving AFDC; H. Newly-granted AFDC recipients with children age 3 and older and who are not currently participating in an education/training program. IV. LABOR MARKET INFORMATION Since our last county plan update, the labor market in the East Bay, including Contra Costa County,has continued on its predicted course. According to a 10/20/95 news release from EDD, the unemployment rate in this area has remained fairly steady at 5.7%. The East Bay Area posted a net increase of 1,700 jobs between August and September, 1995. Compared with September,1994, there was a net reduction of 1,100 in payroll employment, with the largest decrease in jobs in government activities. While approximately 2,400 jobs in the finance industry were lost, Services registered a gain of 1,600 jobs. Wholesale trade showed an increase of 2,300 jobs while retail trade posted gains of 1,300 jobs during the past year. EDD stated in their 1994 Annual Planning Information publication that between 1990 and 1997, services, the county's largest industry division, will lead in employment growth with the addition of 18,000 jobs for well over 40% of all new jobs in the county. Business services, comprised of a large variety of firms which offer services to other businesses on a fee or contract basis, is the fastest growing segment and will add over 7,000 jobs by 1997. Even though Health Services will fall to second in growth by 1997, it is still expected to add over 5,000 new jobs, as the county's expanding population and workforce increase the demand for - Page 7 - medical facilities. Engineering, accounting, research and management services, private education, museums, and legal services are expected to add another 2,000 jobs. Benefiting from a strong county employment base and the general affluence of the population, the retail trade should generate close to 9,000 jobs by 1997. The greatest increases will occur in restaurants and miscellaneous retail. The construction trade should increase when some long-term highway improvements, such as the Highway 680/24 interchange in Walnut Creek, are completed. Petroleum and chemical manufacturing, which produce mainly non-durable goods, and printing/publishing businesses should add new 2,400 jobs by the year 1997. Finance, insurance and real estate industries, of which Contra Costa has a slightly greater concentration than the state as a whole, are estimated to provide 2,500 new jobs in the next few years. To sum all of this up, EDD expects the current economic base in Contra Costa to expand at a moderate pace. Many of the jobs being created in this expanding economy are service jobs requiring little or no prior training. As the new job markets develop, we anticipate many new opportunities for job placements for GAIN participants. V. CHILD CARE RESOURCE INFORMATION Child care resources have generally expanded in accordance with the economic growth in the county. Some of the larger child care providers have opened new facilities in the last few years. Other large providers have gone out of business but have been purchased or reformed and reopened under new names. At the present time there are approximately 300 licensed centers and 1400 licensed day care homes in the county. There are no remote, unserved areas. We have never had a problem finding child care resources for GAIN participants. With programs we are working to develop, we anticipate even more child care resources to serve greater numbers of former AFDC recipients as they become employed. VL GAIN/PIC COORDINATION Letters from the County Private Industry Council and the Richmond Private Industry Council are attached. Please note that as we further develop participation in "Search H" and the"hot- line" concept, collaboration with PIC and EDD will be even closer. VII. ATTACHMENTS: #1 Coordination letter from County PIC #2 Coordination letter from Richmond PIC #3 GAIN Flow Chart (Regular Flow) #4 GAIN Flow Chart (AFDC-U Parents) - Page 8 - `'tipUstgy t~ DATE: December 8, 1995 TO: Elaine Grothmann, GAiN Program Analyst Co tr osta Coun Social Service Department 4� COSTA PRIVATE INDUSTRY COUNCIL FROM: Arthur C. Miner, Executive Director 242S Bisso Lane,Suite 100 Private Industry Council Concord,CA 94520-4891 (S10)646-S239 SUBJECT: COORDINATION/DEGREE OF PARTICIPATION BETWEEN FAX(510)646-5517 )TPA AND SOCIAL SERVICE EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE JOAN KELLEY-WILLIAMS Chair BABCO Pursuant to the requirements of the JOBS Program, this memorandum is STEVE GIACOMI written to document/confirm the coordination and participation by the Past Chair County's Private Industry Council/DTPA program in the GAIN/JOBS Liberty National Bank program administered by the County' Social Service Department. HELEN SPENCER Member at Large C.C.Community College District The Private Industry Council is currently under contract with the Social Service Department to provide Job Development Services to GAIN CWOYTURNER clients in the following program components: three week job search Chair Oversight Committee g p g p 3 , Turner&Associates 90 Day Job Search and PREP. CARA RUBINSTEIN HOME Chair Marketing Committee The PIC also provides, using Title 11-A 8% SECG funds, a unique Rehabilitation Svcs.of No.California "Assessment/Remediation Program: for GAIN participants who score ChaiBETH r Planning Committee LEE below 200 on the initial CASAS assessment in reading and/or math." C.C.C.Redevelopment Agency This program component was designed in coordination with the Social Service Department and utilized a Social Service representative in the DIRECTORS PIC's selection process for determining the program provider. Myrtle Ballard John Cullen Stephanie Ferguson Periodic meeting s are held with PIC administrative staff, PIC contractor Richard Foley staff, Social Service administrative staff and GAIN Case Managers to Eric Frank review/coordinate Job Search Services to welfare clients. Joe Gogiio Sylvester Greenwood George Hamm Also, the PIC Executive Director is a member of the GAIN Advisory Elaine Miyamori Committee which meets with Social Service Department staff and Barbara Shaw Annette Silva representatives of other agencies, such as adult education, Employment Charles woods Development Department and Community Based Organizations to provide input to the on-going GAiN program; the Social Service Director EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR is a member of the County PIC, Currently assigned to the Planning ARTHUR C. MiNER Committee It has been the practice of the Contra Costa County Private Industry Council to coordinate and participate with the County Social Service Department in the planing and implementation of the GAIN program. bj#2:GAIN Cityd aim December 14, 1995 Ms. Elaine Grothmarm GAIN Program Analyst Contra Costa County Social Services Department 40 Douglas Drive Martinez, CA 95543 Dear Ms. Grothmann: The City of Richmond's Employment and Training DepartmenVPrivate Industry Council fatly supports the goals of the Contra Costa County GAIN Program. We utilize our allocated 811/o/500/a JTPA monies to fund a very successful dropout recovery program for GAIN clients who are teen parents(those over 18 who are not eligible for CAL LEARN)through.the Richmond Adult School. This program was selected by the Department of Education as an exemplary program and is being used as a model site by other educational and community based programs throughout the state. Additionally, we continue to contract with the Department of Social Services,through the Contra Costa PIC,to provide job development and job placement services for West Contra Costa residents who are GAIN clients. We also expanded our contract with Social Services to provide office and job club space and administrative support for two GAIN Job Club coordinators. Thank you for your assistance in facilitating coordination between the Contra Costa GAIN Program and the Richmond Employment and Training Department. We look forward to continuing Richmond's participation with GAIN in the coming year. Sincerely, Upesi Mtaznbuzi Assis=t Director Employment and Training Department cc: Isiah Turner, Deputy City Manager Community and Economic Development 330-25th Street Richmond) C4 94804 (510) 307-80-79 TOTAL P-02 GAIN FLOW CHART(AFDC-U Parents Contra Costa County ORIENTATION EDUCATION+ Under 20 APPRAISAL JOB CLUB ................... WORK ACTIVITY No HSD WORK ACTIVITY JOB SEARCH ............................ WORK ACTIVITY ASSESSMENT No Yes (EDP) Job? SUCCESS I i i ' I WORK PREP AWEX OJT i i i � I I JOB SEARCH + PREP/AWEX i No Job? Yes �' SUCCESS GAIN FLOW CHART(Regular Flow) Contra Costa County ORIENTATION If under age 20 GED SIP APPRAISAL with no HS Diploma +prep or Other Work Activity JOB CLUB i JOB SEARCH Job? Yes SUCCESS No ASSESSMENT (EDP) PREP/AWEX ;NERV /AWEX EDUCATION + TRAINING + i ISED PREP/AWEX PREP/AWEX EARCH No JOBSEARCH + Job? PREP/AWEX Yes SUCCESS Yes Job? No PREP/AWEX+ ANNUALJOB SEARCH