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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMINUTES - 12192006 - C.111 TSO: — BOARD OF SUPERVISORS :`�! Contra =T:;; _ '< Costa FROM: Joseph P. Valentine, Directorj-- .:- " `� : °� County Y Employment and Human Services Department °�;•A�o� '�" DATE: December 19,2006 SUBJECT: CalWORKs Plan Addendum for Fiscal Year 2006-2007 SPECIFIC REQUEST(S)OR RECOMMENDATION(S)&BACKGROUND AND JUSTIFICATION RECOMMENDED ACTION: APPROVE the CalWORKs Plan Addendum and AUTHORIZE the Employment&Human Services Department Director, or designee, to SUBMIT the CalWORKs Plan Addendum for Fiscal Year 2006-2007 to the State of California, Department of Social Services. FINANCIAL IMPACT: No County cost. CHILDREN'S IMPACT STATEMENT: The CalWORKs Plan supports all five community outcomes established in the Children's Report Card: 1) "Children Ready for and Succeeding in School", 2) "Children and Youth Healthy and Preparing for Productive Adulthood", 3) "Families that are Economically Self-Sufficient", 4) "Families that are Safe, Stable and Nurturing" and, 5) "Communities that are Safe and Provide a High Quality of Life for Children and Families"by supporting the provision of CalWORKs services to address key client obstacles to self-sufficiency. BACKGROUND: The CalWORKs Plan Addendum is required by state legislation enacted in October of 2006 and speaks to all elements mandated by that legislation. The Contra Costa CalWORKs Plan Addendum represents an outline of the new and ongoing efforts of many local groups, organizations, departments and agencies to address welfare reform as part of the construction of a system of workforce and economic development,job creations and supportive services to benefit all Contra Costa job seekers and their families. The Ca1WORKs Plan Addendum specifically documents strategies and activities that are designed to increase the overall work participation rate of Welfare-to-Work participants and to engage participants early on and continuously in activities that will lead to self-sufficiency. �2 CONTINUED ON ATTACHMENT:_X_YES SIGNATURE: ✓RECOMMENDATION OF COUNTY ADMINISTRATOR RECOMMENDATI OF BOARD COMMITTEE �CAPPROVE OTH SIGNATURE(S): ACTION OF BO )DN d0(o APPROVED AS RECOMMENDED NLe7 OT VOTE OF SUPERVISORS I HEREBY CERTIFY THAT THIS IS A TRUE Unanimous (Absent ) AND CORRECT COPY OF AN ACTION TAKEN AND ENTERED ON THE MINUTES OF THE BOARD Ayes: Noes: OF SUPERVISOR THE DATE SHOWN. Absent: Abstain: Vacant: District IV ATTESTED U� JOHN CULLEN,CLERK OF THE BOARD OF SUPERVISORS AND COUNTY ADMINISTRATOR Contact: WENDY THERRIAN,3-1593 cc: EHSD CONTRACTS UNIT(EB) BY, GCO�r� ,DEPUTY COUNTY ADMINISTRATOR Contra Costa County Employment and Human Services Department CalWORKs County Plan Addendum Submitted to California Department of Social Services December 7, 2006 Prepared By Wendy Therrian, Workforce Services Director (925) 313-1593 wtherria@ehsd.cccounty.us Iliereb certif th y y° at the oianty pard o. upervisors was brie ed�regar ing t e conten s of this Plan Addendum prior to,submittal F: County Welfare Director's::Signatu:ce:; Printed Name ... Brief;ing Date::... . This plan addendum is submitted pursuant to Welfare and Institutions Code Section 10534. Contra Costa County CalWORKS Plan Addendum December 7, 2006 This CalWORKS Plan Addendum identifies new and existing strategies, services, and programs including policy and procedural approaches that provide for an improved work participation rate (WPR) for Contra Costa County. Consistent with the new TANF Reauthorization and AB 1808 requirements, this Plan Addendum represents an outline of expanded or new, immediate and long-range efforts that will be employed by the County to meet the new federal participation and State performance outcome requirements. It is expected that these efforts will continually evolve and improve over the next several years necessitating continued commitment, creativity, responsiveness and flexibility. Contra Costa County has begun refocusing efforts towards a more comprehensive system of workforce preparation by restructuring the Workforce Services (WFS) Bureau in September of 2006. The primary goal of this restructuring was to provide for enhanced client engagement and work participation through dedicated supervisory and managerial oversight of Welfare-to-Work activities. With this re- focused Bureau structure as the basis for implementing new and expanded strategies and activities, it is expected that the federal work participation rate (WPR) among CaIWORKs/Welfare-to-Work (WtW) recipients will improve. Contra Costa County is committed to its existing collaboration with community partners and will expand and continue leveraging these resources to increase employment and participant engagement. In an effort to assist participants in removing barriers to self-sufficiency, Contra Costa will continue to provide the full array of existing supportive services such as childcare, transportation and ancillary expenses to those meeting participation requirements. 1 1) County Goals A. General description of how the county will meet the goals of W&I Code 10540: Contra Costa County uses a variety of strategic approaches to reduce child poverty, decrease the dependence of needy parents on government benefits, and meet the requirements of federal law while minimizing outcomes that adversely affect those to be served as described in the W & I Code 10540. In partnership with community partners, other County Departments, faith-based organizations and other regional and local stakeholders; the goal of the Contra Costa CalWORKS program is to contribute to the reduction of poverty and the promotion of well-being by: • moving families from welfare to work; • increasing earned incomes; • increasing service efficiency and job-seeker, employer and staff satisfaction • providing supportive services (such as child care, cash aid, access to nutritional and health assistance) and increasing access to other services and resources to those in need as they work toward economic self-sufficiency. The major program approaches that support and enhance the achievement of these objectives as required by TANF Reauthorization and AB 1808 include: • expanding existing activities and implementing new activities that will assist families in their economic self-sufficiency efforts; • continuous participation in county-wide efforts to build a comprehensive system of workforce preparation and refocus efforts that will better engage participants in meeting their participation requirements; • restructuring of the WFS Bureau to ensure focused supervision and manager oversight of Welfare-to-Work (WTW) activities; • refocusing efforts to collect and analyze data for the purpose of measuring progress toward the established participation rates/requirements; • leveraging of resources with our EastBayWORKS partners and other community partners to increase employment and participation of CaIWORKS/Welfare-to-Work participants. Since the implementation of the CalWORKS program in Contra Costa County in March of 1998, the WFS Bureau has worked to enable clients to obtain and retain jobs, and enter employment in areas with potential for career advancement and increased earning capacity. Four (4) Ca IWO RKS/Welfare-to-Wo rk district offices located in the cities of Antioch, Martinez, Hercules, and Richmond offer CaIWORKS/Welfare-to-Work participants a full array of work search, support, and employment guidance and counseling services. Since July 2000, the WFS Bureau, in conjunction with other Workforce Investment Act (WIA) partners, has provided lead operational oversight and WIA services delivery at the four (4) EastBayWORKS One Stop Career Centers located in the cities of San Pablo, Concord, Pittsburg, and Brentwood. Cross-referrals and 2 CalWORKS/Welfare-to-Work and WIA services delivery connections have been developed to enhance employment and training efforts of Welfare-to-Work clients as well as further support their continued employment and wage progression. These efforts have been enhanced with the recent establishment of a full Assessment Center at the Concord One Stop Career Center. Targeted discussions are underway with the Contra Costa County Employment and Human Services Department Director, the Workforce Development Board Executive Director, the One Stop Administrator, and the WFS Bureau Director to further develop existing and new approaches specific to the TANF reauthorization requirements of DRA and AB 1808 for services to CalWORKS/Welfare-to-Work clients at the One Stop Career Centers. Similar discussions have been held with other WIA partners who oversee and operate the One Stop Career Centers in conjunction with the WFS Bureau. These partners include the: ❖ County Adult and Continuing Education Coordinating Council (local Adult Schools) ❖ Community College District (local Community Colleges) ❖ Community Services Bureau of the Employment and Human Services Department ❖ County Development Department ❖ State Employment Development Department ❖ State Department of Rehabilitation ❖ California Human Development Corporation Contra Costa County also utilizes an array of supportive services including childcare, transportation, and ancillary support (for books, tools, uniforms, etc.) to assist Welfare-to-Work participants in their efforts towards economic sufficiency. Other existing programs and services proven effective in supporting participants include three special transportation programs -- Rides-to-Success, Children's Transportation, and KEYS Auto Loan. Three special housing programs -- the Relocation Grant program, the Emergency Assistance Grant program, and the Transitional Support Grant program are also provided to assist participants in stabilizing their housing situations leading to increased employment and career advancement/mobility potential. Targeted job expansion, development, placement, and retention are also provided to Welfare-to-Work participants by Employment Placement Counselors (EPCs) and Business Service Representatives (BSRs), Moreover, and as a means to address barriers to employment, family well-being, and self-sufficiency; Contra Costa County also contracts with a number of different agencies and organizations that provide job club/job search for limited English participants, translation services, record expungement, domestic violence intervention and counseling services, special employment placements for the learning disabled, and mental health and substance abuse counseling services. Many of these services are provided through on-site liaisons located in the CalWORKS/Welfare-to-Work district offices. 3 2) Participation Improvement Reflected below are the immediate and long-range existing, revised, and new policies and strategies to be undertaken by Contra Costa County to improve the federal work participant rate (WPR) among Ca IWO RKS/Welfa re-to-Work applicants and recipients. B. Providing up-front engagement activities: Policies and Strategies The following up-front immediate and long-range engagement activities/strategies will be provided in a focused and consistent manner to engage CalWORKS applicants and recipients in the process to seek, secure, and retain employment. New Policy/Strategv: • Establish new directed assignments and positions of Client Engagement Specialist (CES) under a coordinated and supervised structure that will focus on engaging non-compliant or non- participating participants particularly those new in the CaIWORKS/Welfare-to-Work process. The CES will immediately outreach, contact, and make home visits to those clients who are not complying with assigned activities and those that are at-risk of being sanctioned. (Immediate action) • Institute process that will ensure the engagement of participants in Orientation and Appraisal within 10 days of granting. (Immediate action) • Incorporate Social Worker presentations at Job Club/Job Search to encourage clients to reach out for help in disclosing and removing barriers to employment. (Immediate action) • Develop and implement expanded frequent-entry/frequent-exit activities that will provide greater flexibility and options for the engagement of participants in their assigned activities. This will be a collaborative effort with our community-based partners, service providers, and other stakeholder partners including those at the One Stop Career Centers. (Long-range action) Expanded Policy/Strategy: • Expand the implementation of the CalWORKS Assessment Center to other One Stop locations in the County and to the CaIWORKS/Welfare-to-Work District Offices. (Long-range action) • Ensure the completion of assessments and Welfare-to-Work plans within one month of referral for assessment. This re-instituted policy 4 will be promulgated via internal policy memorandum and will be monitored under the new Welfare-to-Work managers and supervisors. (Immediate action) • Expand the Job Search. pilot in Central County conducted in partnership with the Central County One Stop Career Center to each CaIWORKS/Welfare-to-Work district office. This expanded job search component provides continued support and leverages funds to aid participants' job acquisition. (Long-range action) Existing Policy/Strategy: • Continue to conduct regular meetings with staff and community partners to continually assess and gather ideas and feedback for up-front engagement. • Continue our successful strategy of identifying and case conferencing participants open to Child Welfare to coordinate Welfare-to-Work and Family Maintenance/Family Reunification (FM/FR) plans. This effort will be further enhanced with the expected functionality of the CaIWIN Special Indicator data field under CaIWIN to be used for the immediate identification of Child Welfare and Welfare-to-Work cross-over cases. • Continue split, but coordinated functions of eligibility and employment services which through a pilot study showed increases in the federal WPR. • Continue the active involvement of Job Placement Counselors in Job Club/Job Search to enhance the job search efforts and effect the immediate and enhanced placement of job-ready participants. • Ensure the continued provision of supportive services and undertake expanded outreach to facilitate knowledge regarding the availability of supportive services. Expansion efforts will include the increase of supportive service information in the Bureau and Department's marketing materials including direct mailings to clients. • Contact no-show participants by phone and letter to initiate the noncompliance process Anticipated effects and percentages of families affected by new strategies: • We anticipate that the early outreach and engagement efforts of the Client Engagement Specialists will result in increased client participation by 12% - 15%. Upon outreach and engagement, we expect a minimum of 50% of clients to agree to cooperate in their assigned activities. 5 • By providing Orientation and Appraisal to participants within a 10 day period, we expect a minimum of 70% of families to be engaged sooner in the Welfare-to-Work process. • By incorporating Social Worker presentations at Job Club/Job Search, we expect that an additional 10% of clients will disclose barriers thereby putting them on a faster track for appropriate activity participation. • We expect an increase of 30% of clients to maintain their regular participation with the provision of frequent-entry/frequent-exit activity options. We expect to refer those participants identified as having more than a ten-day break between activities to the frequent- entry/frequent exit activities thereby increasing their participation by at least 30%. How success will be determined for new strategies: In order to assess the success of the new up-front engagement strategies/activities and to determine the need for any required modifications to the strategies to ensure expected outcomes, data reporting specialists within the Department will continue to extract monthly reports that identify the types of activities and number of participants engaged. These reports as well as the data contained in the County's WTW25 & WTW30 will be used monthly and quarterly by unit staff, supervisors, and managers for the ongoing monitoring of cases and to track the status of Contra Costa County's WPR. This information will be reviewed on a monthly basis at unit meetings as well as at Bureau management team meetings with special conferences held to affect any additionally-required interventions or changes to ensure that the outcomes are met. These data will also be reviewed and discussed quarterly at Executive Team Department meetings as well as at quarterly All Supervisor meetings. Our overall goal is to achieve a 2-4% increase to our recalculated WPR over a three (3) year period. Additionally, we expect the following: • A decrease in noncompliance and sanctions by 12% - 15% of those participants referred to the Client Engagement Specialists during initial, up-front activities • One hundred percent (100%) of those' participants seen at Orientation and Appraisal will be evaluated for exemptions and barriers to employment • An increase of up to 30% in the overall number of participation hours 6 ' 2) Participation Improvement .C. Achieving full engagement for individuals who are required to participate, and who are partially participating, not participating, or are between activities: Policies and Strategies Through the following immediate and long-range full engagement activities/strategies, Contra Costa will encourage full participation by identifying and engaging those participants who are not fully engaged or in-between activities. New Policy/Strategy: • Issue a Request for Proposal (RFP) for the administration and diversification of community service and work experience slots which will be connected to placements in unsubsidized employment. This RFP will request a wider range of occupationally-specific worksites in demand occupations incorporating the concept of"drop- in" work experience slots for those participants who are either in- between activities or those requiring a short-term, interim work assignment. (Immediate action) • Explore the re-establishment of the County's CaIWORKS/Welfare- to-Work Employment Development Program which will be designed to specifically prepare, test, certify, and refer participants to County Departments for hiring consideration. (Immediate action) • Refer to the new Client Engagement Specialists those non- participating, or partially participating clients who may be at-risk of noncompliance or sanction for outreach and engagement. These participants will receive a full array of prioritized services that are necessary to be provided to re-activate their full engagement. (Immediate action) • Develop processes to ensure timely review of expired exemptions (Immediate action) • Develop and implement expanded frequent-entry/frequent-exit activities that will provide greater flexibility and options for the full engagement of participants in their assigned activities. This will be a collaborative effort with our community-based partners, service providers, and other stakeholder partners including those at the One Stop Career Centers. (Long-range action) • Identify and connect those Safety-net participants requiring full participation with Employment Placement Counselors and WIA universal services provided through the One Stop Career Centers. 7 These efforts will enhance the full participation of Safety-net clients with existing resources. (Long-range action) • Collaborate, and develop referral and training linkages with the One Stop Career Centers for the targeted training provision of WIA- funded Work Experience and On-the-Job Training for CaIWORKS/Welfare-to-Work participants. It is expected that as this linkage is implemented, participants will be co-enrolled in CalWORKS and WIA. (Long-range action) • Develop and institute a triaging case conference triaging process for designated WFS Bureau staff to concentrate on full-support strategies for those participants hardest to engage. This case conferencing approach is expected to enhance the communication of those staff providing services to Ca IWO RKS/Welfa re-to-Work participants while maximizing the integration of services and support for the benefit and full engagement of the participants. (Long range action) Expanded Policy/Strategy: Expand the implementation of the CalWORKS Assessment Center to other One Stop locations in the County and to the CaIWORKS/Welfare-to-Work District Offices. (Long range action) • Increase the co-enrollment of participants in various WIA-funded activities to achieve maximum participation. This will be accomplished through the establishment of a formal process for the referral and consideration of CaIWORKS/Welfare-to-Work participants in WIA-funded services and activities. (Long range action) • Continue the referral and subsequent job placement of CaIWORKS/Welfare-to-Work participants through temporary employment agencies at the County's One Stop Career Centers. This effort will be expanded for placement of clients through staffing agencies with other County organizations and Departments/Divisions. (Long range action) Existing Policy/Strategy: • Continue to conduct regular meetings with staff and community partners to continually assess and gather ideas and feedback for the ongoing and full engagement of participants • Continue the Job Retention and Job Services program that reward participants for meeting benchmark expectations in compliance with 8 job services, and/or for acquiring and maintaining employment for fixed intervals of time • Continue the provision of supportive services and undertake expanded outreach to facilitate knowledge regarding the availability of supportive services. Expansion efforts will include the increase of supportive service information in the Bureau and Department's marketing materials including direct mailings to clients. Anticipated effects and percentages of families affected by new strategies: • A RFP to expand and diversify community service and work experience assignments is expected to result in an enhanced provision of work experience/community service that will allow for a minimum increase of 25% additional work experience slots for CaIWORKs/Welfare-to-Work participants. • Based on the County's future ability to increase staff positions, the CalWORKs Employment Development Program (EDP) is expected to result in 10 positions annually for Ca IWO RKS/Welfa re-to-Work participants. These positions are expected to result in gainful, long- term employment for participants. • Of those participants referred and receiving services from the Client Engagement Specialists, 80% are expected to be screened for exemptions and barriers that prevent the participant from being fully engaged. It is anticipated that an additional 12-15% of participants will be more fully engaged. • Of those expired exemptions, at least 50% will receive a timely review. • We expect an increase of 30% of clients to maintain their regular participation with the provision of frequent-entry/frequent-exit activity options. We anticipate to refer those participants identified as having more than a ten-day break between activities to the frequent- entry/frequent exit activities thereby increasing their participation by at least 30%. • Of those identified Safety-net participants not meeting their required participation hours, 100% will be referred to work with One Stop Career Center staff. • It is expected that ten (10) CaIWORKS/Welfare-to-Work participants will be co-enrolled in WIA-funded Work Experience or On-the-Job training. 9 • It is anticipated that through the staff case conferencing triaging process, an additional 5% of families will be more fully engaged in work participation activities. How success will be determined for new strategies: In order to assess the success of the new full engagement strategies/activities and to determine the need for any required modifications to the strategies to ensure expected outcomes, data reporting specialists within the Department will continue to extract monthly reports that identify the types of activities and number of participants engaged. These reports as well as the data contained in the County's WTW25 & WTW30 will be used monthly and quarterly by unit staff, supervisors, and managers for the ongoing monitoring of cases/participants and to track the status of Contra Costa County's WPR. It is expected that these data will be further supplemented by data retrieved through the existing JTA and SMARTware system utilized by the One Stop Career Center system. This information will be reviewed on a monthly basis at unit meetings as well as at Bureau management team meetings with special conferences held to affect any additionally-required interventions or changes necessary to ensure that the outcomes are met. These data will also be shared and discussed at quarterly Executive Team Department meetings as well as at quarterly All Supervisors' meetings. Our overall goal is to achieve a 2-4% increase to our recalculated WPR over a three (3) year period. Additionally, we expect the following: • An increased number of participation hours for 30% of those participants not fully engaged • Through the EDP, ten (10) participants will successfully move from cash aid to gainful employment • The major focus of the Client Engagement Specialists will be to engage the noncompliant and sanctioned participants and evaluate a resolution for compliance. As result, we anticipate 12% - 15% of our noncompliant and/or sanctioned participants will be agreeable to resolving their noncompliance/sanction • An increase in the overall number of participation hours by 30% • For those Safety-net participants referred to the One Stop Career Centers who are not meeting their required participation hours, we expect that a minimum of 50% will receive WIA universal, core, or training services. 10 • One hundred percent (100%) of participants placed in a Work Experience or On-the-Job Training slot will be fully engaged through subsidized employment • We expect a 5% increase in engagement and expedited referrals of those multi-barriered CalWORKS/Welfare-to-Work participants to appropriate work activities and support resources thereby increasing their participation while reducing their time on aid. 11 2) Participation Improvement D. Activities that will encourage participation and prevent families from going into sanction: Policies and Strategies Contra Costa County will continue to provide and implement employment-focused and integrated welfare-to-work programs and services; including, but not limited to Job Search and Job Readiness Assistance, Job Skills Training, Work Experience, Vocational Education and Training, and One Stop Career Center and WIA services. Such activities are necessary to encourage client participation and to prevent families from going into sanction. The following describes new and expanded efforts to encourage client participant and to prevent sanctioning families. New Policy/Strategy: • Develop and implement work participation "bridging" activities that will encourage client participation. Specific "bridging" activities currently under discussion with the local Adult Schools comprise a job skills/vocational training program designed to target expanding occupations with the greatest potential for immediate job placement. This activity will include a diversity of components ranging from skills and aptitude assessments to career exploration to the inclusion of a 69practicum" or "externship" components which will provide participants with direct work experience in their chosen occupational areas. It is expected that by providing a diversity of employment options under a program that can be easily customized to the specific needs of individual participants participation will be encouraged and job placement and retention enhanced. (Immediate action) • Refer to the new Client Engagement Specialists those non- participating, or partially participating clients who may be at-risk of noncompliance or sanction for outreach and engagement. These participants will receive a full array of prioritized services that are necessary to be provided to re-activate their full engagement. (Immediate action) • Collaborate, and develop referral and training linkages with the One Stop Career Centers for the targeted training provision of WIA- funded Work Experience and On-the-Job Training opportunities for CaIWORKS/Welfare-to-Work participants. It is expected that as this linkage is implemented, participants will be co-enrolled in CalWORKS and WIA. (Long-range action) • Develop and implement expanded frequent-entry/frequent-exit activities that will provide greater flexibility and options for the full 12 engagement of participants in their assigned activities. This will be a collaborative effort with our community-based partners, service providers, and other stakeholder partners including those at the One Stop Career Centers. (Long-range action) Expanded Policy/Strategy: • Expand the implementation of the CalWORKS Assessment Center to other One Stop locations in the County and to the CaIWORKS/Welfare-to-Work District Offices. (Long range action) • Increase the co-enrollment of participants in various WIA-funded activities to achieve maximum participation. This will be accomplished through the establishment of a formal process for the referral and consideration of Ca IWO RKS/Welfa re-to-Work participants in WIA-funded services and activities. (Long range action) • Continue the referral and subsequent job placement of Ca IWO RKS/Welfa re-to-Work participants through temporary .employment agencies at the One Stop Career Centers in the County. This effort will be expanded for client placement through staffing agencies with other County organizations and Departments/Divisions. (Long range action) Existing Policy/Strategy: • Continue to conduct regular meetings with staff and community partners to continually assess and gather ideas and feedback for encouraging client participation in work activities and to prevent families from going into sanction • Continue the provision of supportive services and undertake expanded outreach to facilitate knowledge regarding the availability of supportive services to encourage participation. Expansion efforts will include the increase of supportive service information in the Bureau and Department's marketing materials including direct mailings to clients. • Continue monthly contacts with participants to reinforce participation requirements and available supportive services, and to encourage full participation • Continue to refer multi-barriered participants for assessment and intensive services • Continue the early identification and referral of CaIWORKS/Welfare- to-Work participants requiring SSI Advocacy services 13 Anticipated effects and percentages of families affected by new strategies: • Of those clients enrolled in bridging activities, we expect a 30% increase in the number of participation hours • Of those participants referred and receiving services from the Client Engagement Specialists, 80% are expected to be screened for exemptions and barriers that prevent them from being fully engaged. It is anticipated that 12-15% will be more fully engaged. • It is expected that ten (10) CalWORKS/Welfare-to-Work participants will be co-enrolled in WIA-funded Work Experience or On-the-Job training. • With the provision of frequent-entry/frequent-exit activity options, we expect a 30% increase in clients maintaining their regular participation. We anticipate to refer those participants identified as having more than a ten-day break between activities to the frequent- entry/frequent exit activities thereby increasing their participation by at least 30%. How success will be determined for new strategies: In order to assess the success of the new full engagement strategies/activities and to determine the need for any required modifications to the strategies to ensure expected outcomes, data reporting specialists within the Department will continue to extract monthly reports that identify the types of activities and number of participants engaged. These reports as well as the data contained in the County's WTW25 & WTW30 will be used monthly and quarterly by unit staff, supervisors, and managers for the ongoing monitoring of cases/participants and to track the status of Contra Costa County's WPR. It is expected that these data will be further supplemented by data retrieved through the existing JTA and SMARTware system utilized by the One Stop Career Center system. This information will be reviewed on a monthly basis at unit meetings as well as at Bureau management team meetings with special conferences held to affect any additionally-required interventions or changes necessary to ensure that the outcomes are met. These data will also be shared and discussed at quarterly Executive Team Department meetings as well as at quarterly All Supervisors' meetings. Our overall goal is to achieve a 2-4% increase to our recalculated WPR over a three (3) year period. Additionally, we expect the following: 14 • An increased number of participation hours for 30% of those participants not fully engaged • The major focus of the Client Engagement Specialists will be to encourage and more fully engage participants. As such, we anticipate 12% - 15% of participants not fully engaged to be agreeable in participating in their scheduled activities 100% of participants placed in a OJTMEX will be fully engaged through subsidized employment 15 2) Participation Improvement E. Reengaging noncompliant or sanctioned individuals: Policies and Strategies All non-compliant and sanctioned CaIWORKS/Welfare-to-Work participants will be identified and referred to the Client Engagement Specialists for the Specialists to evaluate a resolution for compliance. The Client Engagement Specialists will either provide those services necessary to re-engage clients, or will make appropriate referrals for identified services to allow for clients' participation. Other immediate and long-range actions to be undertaken for re-engaging noncompliant or sanctioned individuals are as listed below. New Policy/Strategy: • Target direct mailings and notices to participants that will facilitate their reengagement (Immediate action) • Refer to the new Client Engagement Specialists those noncompliant or sanctioned participants for immediate outreach and re- engagement to either circumvent and/or cure their sanction. (Immediate action) Expanded Policy/Strategy: • Enhance outreach and case management for noncompliant and sanctioned participants by retraining our Employment Specialist workers on effective pro-active case management. Training will focus on an "assets-based" approach to case management. (Immediate action) • Modify existing policies to include the Client Engagement Specialist in the annual CalWORKs redetermination sessions with participants. (Long-range action) Existing Policy/Strategy: • Continue to conduct regular meetings with staff and community partners to continually assess and gather ideas and feedback for encouraging client participation in work activities and to prevent families from going into sanction • Continue monthly contacts with participants to reinforce participation requirements and available supportive services, and to encourage full participation 16 • Continue to refer multi-barriered participants for assessment and intensive services • Continue the early identification and referral of CaIWORKS/Welfare- to-Work participants requiring SSI Advocacy services • Continue the provision of supportive services and undertake expanded outreach to facilitate knowledge regarding the availability of supportive services to encourage participation. Expansion efforts will include the increase of supportive service information in the Bureau and Department's marketing materials including direct mailings to clients. Anticipated effects and percentages of families affected by new strategies: • The major focus of the Client Engagement Specialists will be to encourage and more fully engage participants. As such, we anticipate 12% - 15% of noncompliant/sanctioned participants will agree to comply or cure their sanction. • Through targeted mailings and outreach, we expect that 50% more clients will be informed and knowledgeable of approaches/reasons to comply and/or cure their sanction How success will be determined for new strategies: In order to assess the success of the new full engagement strategies/activities and to determine the need for any required modifications to the strategies to ensure expected outcomes, data reporting specialists within the Department will continue to extract monthly reports that identify the types of activities and number of participants engaged. These reports as well as the data contained in the County's WTW25 & WTW30 will be used monthly and quarterly by unit staff, supervisors, and managers for the ongoing monitoring of cases/participants and to track the status of Contra Costa County's WPR. It is expected that these data will be further supplemented by data retrieved through the existing JTA and SMARTware system utilized by the One Stop Career Center system. This information will be reviewed on a monthly basis at unit meetings as well as at Bureau management team meetings with special conferences held to affect any additionally-required interventions or changes necessary to ensure that the outcomes are met. These data will also be shared and discussed at quarterly Executive Team Department meetings as well as at quarterly All Supervisors' meetings. Our overall goal is to achieve a 24% increase to our recalculated WPR over a three (3) year period. Additionally, we expect the following: 17 • A major focus of the Client Engagement Specialists will be to engage the noncompliant and sanctioned participants and evaluate a resolution for compliance. As a result, we anticipate 12% - 15% of our noncompliant and/or sanctioned participants will be agreeable to participate and become compliant. • Length of sanction time will be reduced and resolved for 100% of those participants who cooperate. • An estimated increase of 15% of those participants working with their Client Engagement Specialist and Employment Specialist will resolve their sanction. 18 2) Participation Improvement F. Other activities designed to increase the county's federal WPR: Policies and Strategies New Policy/Strategy: • 100% Quality Assurance review of all Ca IWO RKS/Welfare-to-Work cases and on-going monitoring (Immediate and long-range action) Expanded Policy/Strategy: • Evaluate and revise internal policies and procedures, business processes and forms that will reduce multiple appointments and streamline or simplify services' provision thereby increasing CaIWORKS/Welfare-to-Work client participation (Immediate and long-range action) • Expand and further develop interfaces, projects, and partnerships with Bay Area businesses and employers to develop customized training and employment opportunities that will fully engage participants by providing for direct placements. (Immediate and long-range action) Existing Policy/Strategy: • Develop CalWIN Handbook with instructions for completing mandatory fields that affect and capture the WPR-related hours of participation and employment for CaIWORKS/Welfare-to-Work participants • Continue to assign participants to Employment Specialist workers for orientation, appraisal, and employment counseling. Services also include a review of Welfare-to-Work participation requirements as well as assessing participants' strengths, abilities and employment goals. This effort will be expanded and reviewed for quality assurance. 19 Anticipated effects and percentages of families affected by new strategies: • It is anticipated that through a 100% review and ongoing monitoring of all Ca IWO RKS/Welfa re-to-Work cases, at least 80% of active cases will be documented in CaIWIN reflecting the status of each client, actions taken by workers, and the level of participation and other activities in which clients are engaged. How success will be determined for new strategies: In order to assess the success of these other strategies/activities and to determine the need for any required modifications to the strategies which may be necessary to ensure expected outcomes; data reporting specialists within the Department will continue to extract monthly reports that identify the types of activities and number of participants engaged. These reports as well as the data contained in the County's WTW25 & WTW30 will be used monthly and quarterly by unit staff, supervisors, and managers for the ongoing monitoring of cases and to track the status of Contra Costa County's WPR. This information will be reviewed on a monthly basis at unit meetings as well as at Bureau management team meetings with special conferences held to affect any additionally-required .interventions or changes necessary to ensure that the outcomes are met. These data will also be reviewed and discussed quarterly at Executive Team Department meetings as well as at quarterly All Supervisor meetings. Our overall goal is to achieve a 2-4% increase to our recalculated WPR over a three (3) year period. 20 2) Participation Improvement G. Collaborative efforts with local agencies, workforce investment boards, community colleges, and adult education/regional occupation programs: Policies and Strategies Contra Costa County will continue participating in county-wide. efforts to build a comprehensive system of workforce preparation, economic and workforce development and job creation in both the County and region. Information is shared in a number of different forums and meetings held weekly, monthly, and quarterly. Some of these efforts include participation on or linkages with: ■ the Contra Costa County Workforce Development Board (a "nested" Bureau within the County Employment and Human Services Department) ■ the City of Richmond Workforce Investment Board ■ the Children's Policy Forum ■ the County's Transportation Alliance ■ local Chambers of Commerce ■ EastBayWORKS ■ the Food and Nutrition Policy Consortium ■ East Bay Refugee Forum ■ the Local Planning Council for Child Care and Development ■ Faith-based and community-based organizations ■ Bay Area Legal Aid • For services to CalWORKS/Welfare-to-Work participants, the Employment & Human Services Department contracts with: o the County Department of Health Services for Mental Health/Substance Abuse Services. Meetings are held quarterly with regular contact for information-sharing and services review. o the County Public Defender's Office for Criminal Record Expungement services. Meetings are held as needed with regular contact for information-sharing and services review. o the East Bay Perinatal Council for the Cal-Learn program. Meetings are held semi-annually with regular contact for information-sharing and services review. o MV Transportation (the Children's Transportation program). Meetings are held semi-monthly with regular contact for information-sharing and services review o Catholic Charities for the provision of case management and job services for limited English speaking participants. Meetings are held 21 semi-annually with regular contact for information-sharing and services review o Lao Family for Southeast Asian job services and case management for CaIWORKS/Welfare-to-Work participants. Meetings are held semi- annually with regular contact for information-sharing and services review o STAND! against Domestic Violence provides domestic violence intervention and counseling services. Meetings are held semi-annually with regular contact for information-sharing and services review o ARC provides learning disabled evaluations and specialized job placement services. Meetings are held semi-annually with regular contact for information-sharing and services review o Rubicon Industries provides learning disabled evaluations and specialized job placement services. Meetings are held semi-annually with regular contact for information-sharing and services review. Regular monthly service delivery reports and fiscal demands are submitted to the County from each contractor. Designated staff oversee and manage each contract; and fiscal and program monitoring staff review and evaluate each contract at least twice annually. Each contract is evaluated against the service needs of the Department before renewal. • Contra Costa County has built and continues to sustain strong partnerships with industry and business primarily through the County Workforce Development Board and through the Department's Welfare-to-Work programs. Since the County's implementation of the Ca IWO RKS/Welfa re-to-Work program, these partnerships have led to the successful training and job placement of Welfare-to-Work participants. The Department's Workforce Services Bureau has years of experience in designing successful avenues for job development leading to placement and retention for the unemployed and underemployed in the county. Local Ca IWO RKS/Welfare-to-Work staff will continue to coordinate with the local One Stops to ensure participants have access to all the programs and services offered. These efforts will be expanded and targeted for CaIWORKS/Welfare-to-Work participants as described in the new and revised policies/strategies contained in this addendum. • The Department intends to continue communication with other agencies and providers in the child care community. EHSD will continue to provide Stage 1 and Stage 2 Child Care, referring those in Stage 2 who are in a stable employment plan to the local Child Care Council and Alternative Payment Program agencies. Stage 3 will continue to be administered as part of the broader community child care services. Moreover, EHSD is currently merging with the County Community Services Department thereby facilitating a closer collaboration with the County's Head Start Programs. 22 . The County's three Community Colleges (Contra Costa College, Diablo Valley College and Los Medanos College) serve the community-at-large and specifically focus on Ca IWO RKS/Welfa re-to-Work participants. CalWORKs liaisons from the colleges work closely with EHSD staff who are also assigned as Department liaisons to the colleges. This established coordination ensures timely payments on behalf of our participants, appropriate communication around education and employment goals, leverages resources, and reduces service duplication. • Other primary partners (as previously listed under 1.A) such as the County Adult and Continuing Education Coordinating Council (local Adult Schools), the County Development Department, the local State Employment Development Department, the State Department of Rehabilitation, the Regional Occupational Centers/Program and other community-based organizations work closely with the Department to develop education workshops, and short-term employment trainings which serve to maximize education/training and placement options for our Ca IWO RKS/Welfa re-to-Work participants. These efforts serve to facilitate and enhance the job placement of our clients. Meetings with these agencies occur monthly with information-sharing and evaluation of service levels and outcomes. 23 3) Quarterly Progress ' H. Plan to measure to quarterly progress: Policies and Strategies As required by State law, county performance will be evaluated based on the three outcome measures: • The employment rate of county CalWORKs cases; • The federal WPR of county CalWORKs cases, excluding individuals who are exempt and including sanctioned cases and cases participating in mental health, substance abuse, and/or domestic abuse activities; and • The percentage of county CalWORKS cases that have earned income three months after ceasing to receive assistance (leavers). Measures of quarterly progress Based on the ability to gather data in CaIWIN, we will continue to extract monthly reports that identify the types of activities and number of participants engaged. This information will be compiled into.monthly and quarterly reports. Furthermore, these reports will be an indicator of where data is lacking. As necessary, our Department report specialists will complete specialized data extractions and reports for additional inventory and evaluation purposes. These Department reports as well as the data contained in the County's WTW25 & WTW30 will be used monthly and quarterly by unit staff, supervisors, and managers for the ongoing monitoring of cases/participants and to track the status of Contra Costa County's WPR. It is expected that these data will be further supplemented by data retrieved through the existing JTA and SMARTware system utilized by the One Stop Career Center system. This information will be reviewed on a monthly and quarterly basis at unit meetings as well as at Bureau management team meetings with special conferences held to affect any additionally-required interventions or changes necessary to ensure that the outcomes are met. These data will also be shared and discussed at quarterly Executive Team Department meetings as well as at quarterly All Supervisors' meetings. Proiected impact on county's federal WPR The projected impact is an overall 24% increase in our recalculated WPR over a three (3) year period. 24 4) Funding Program Component Fiscal Year Fiscal Year Description of how 2005-06 Actual 2006-07 additional funding Expenditures Budgeted provided in Fiscal Amount Year 2006-07 will be used CaIWORKs Eligibility Administration $16,066,766 $16,684,134 WTW Employment AB 1808 — CaIWORKs Services $22,681,654 $23,545,715 Improvement funds will be used to implement the new and revised policies and strategies as described in this Plan Addendum Allocation CaIWORKs Child Care $7,283,642 $7,085,902 Cal-Learn $439,758 $404,929 CaIWORKs Funded Allocation Mental Health Services $873,767 $1,076,146 CaIWORKs Funded Substance Abuse Allocation Services $812,180 $878,695 Other Other 25