Practical Lessons from Accelerator 1.0 - 4.0: Innovative ... · and participant success numbers...

Practical Lessons from Accelerator 1.0 - 4.0:Innovative Solutions, Project Successes, and Learning Experiences

With the rapid transformation of the labor market toward more on-demand and contingent employment in emerging and growth industry sectors, the workforce system has failed to achieve scale and impact in efficiently and effectively helping Californians access and attain middle skill employment. The California Workforce Development Board (State Board) has contributed funding through the Workforce Accelerator Fund (Accelerator) to improve jobs outcomes for California workers, particularly individuals with barriers to employment, by accelerating service delivery through effective innovative solutions.

The Aim of the Workforce Accelerator Fund

Accelerator funds innovative solutions to accelerate system-wide changes to better address the challenges and barriers that keep Californians from achieving success in their professional lives. Through a combination of seed funding and an initiative-wide support network, Accelerator provides an opportunity for the workforce system to create services in unique ways, tailored to the needs of customers.

Many Californians face substantial challenges in finding good jobs and supporting themselves and their families in an era with volatile, rapidly evolving labor markets. At the same time in regions across California, employers in key industry sectors are searching for qualified workers for occupations at all skill levels.

Traditional workforce and education strategies have had little impact in helping these workers to build relevant skills and connect to good jobs. Even promising strategies lack the speed, agility, or scale needed to accelerate employment for workers desperately in need of that help. We need to bring the creativity for which California is known to bear and create new strategies that achieve scalable impact with workers who face difficult employment prospects.

The Workforce Accelerator Fund provides grants to projects that create and prototype innovative strategies to accelerate skill development, employment, and

Workforce Accelerator Fund Impact Brief

reemployment for California job seekers, students, and workers. Innovations that emerge from these prototypes can then be scaled and replicated across the state, infusing new ideas into the bloodstream of workforce development.

About this Brief

This brief provides information on outcomes and lessons learned from Accelerator 3.0 and 4.0. The outcomes are summarized into dashboards differentiated by project leads - those working either within or outside the workforce system. Dashboards contain overall project success indicators and define project outcomes and outputs as innovative solutions and project success. Information gathered from reports provide learning experiences and project outcomes related to the innovation process. The brief concludes with a set of practical lessons that can inform successive iterations of Accelerator as a catalyst and space for innovation and in accelerating improvements in workforce services for Californians with barriers to employment as well as California businesses looking for skilled and ready employees.

New Components of Accelerator 3.0 and 4.0

Despite our state’s overall prosperity, many Californians are in danger of being left behind, not making ends meet, and unable to create a middle class life for themselves and their families. Targeted populations served in Accelerator 1.0 and 2.0 included individuals who were long-term unemployed, returning veterans, individuals with disabilities, low-income workers, disconnected youth, and ex-offenders, expanding the targeted populations to include CalWORKS participants and immigrant job seekers for Accelerator 3.0 and 4.0.

Accelerator 3.0 and 4.0 project teams were encouraged to create new tools, borrow methods from other disciplines, or apply models from other sectors or populations in order to achieve their desired outcomes. Projects were granted funds based on four types of projects: New Accelerator Projects, Innovation Impact Projects, and Innovation Network Projects. Innovation Impact Projects replicated and scaled successful Accelerator 1.0 or 2.0 project models in a new region, with new system service providers or partners and/or focused on a new eligible target population, while Innovation Network Projects were Innovation Networks of multiple Accelerator projects working with a technical assistance provider to coordinate network activities. An important component of Accelerator 3.0 and 4.0 is the funding for Technical Assistance and Support activities to aid all the Accelerator projects. Information gathered from reports and State Board staff provides insight about the importance of team building, knowledge sharing, course corrections, and sustainability.

What is the Accelerator opportunity for innovation and how is it designed?

Accelerator creates a space for innovation and acts as a catalyst for change by incentivizing workforce practitioners to prototype innovative solutions, scale what works, and share learning experiences.

The Workforce Accelerator Fund is designed to:

• Allow project teams to develop and prototype solutions for system change or service delivery that work• Provide an opportunity to scale and replicate what works• Create opportunities to learn lessons and share experiences across projects• Support networks of workforce innovators and practitioners• Grant flexibility and encourage a new “business as usual”• Foster a culture of innovation throughout the broader workforce system

How is success measured through Accelerator?

Through this space for innovation, Accelerator projects are able to self-identify goals. All of the projects from Accelerator 1.0 - 4.0 either exceeded, achieved or mostly achieved project goal success. Project goals, project goal success indicators, and overall project innovative solutions and project success from each project are located in two tables titled Accelerator 3.0 and 4.0 Project Success Dashboard. Many of the goals are process-oriented, measured to identify goals that lead to innovative solutions and/or project success. Successive projects funded to scale and replicate their innovative solution prototype typically attempt to achieve greater project or participant success. The table below summarizes the types of innovative solutions and participant success numbers achieved by all of the projects:

Practical Lessons from Accelerator 1.0 & 2.0:Innovative Solutions, Participant Success, and Learning Experiences






The Workforce Accelerator Fund provides grants to projects that create and prototype innovative strategies to accelerate skill development, employment, and reemployment for California job seekers, students, and workers. Innovations that emerge from these

prototypes can then be scaled and replicated across the state, infusing new ideas into the bloodstream of workforce development.

About this Brief

This brief provides information on outcomes from Accelerator 1.0 and 2.0. The outcomes are summarized into dashboards differentiated by project leads - those working either within or outside the workforce system. Dashboards contain overall project success indicators and define project outcomes and outputs as innovative solutions and participant success. Information gathered from reports and from Project Team members provide learning experiences related to the innovation process. The brief concludes with a set of practical lessons that can inform successive iterations of Accelerator as a catalyst and space for innovation and in accelerating improvements in workforce services for Californians with barriers to employment as well as California businesses looking for skilled and ready employees.




• Allow project teams to develop and prototype solutions for system change or service delivery that work

• Provide an opportunity to scale and replicate what works• Create opportunities to learn lessons and share experiences across projects• Support networks of workforce innovators and practitioners• Grant flexibility and encourage a new “business as usual”• Foster a culture of innovation throughout the broader workforce system


Through this space for innovation, Accelerator projects are able to self-identify goals. All of the projects from Accelerator 1.0 and 2.0 either exceeded, achieved or mostly achieved project goal success. Project goals, project goal success indicators, and project innovative solutions and participant success from each project are located in two tables titled Accelerator 1.0 and 2.0 Project Success Dashboard. Many of the goals are process-oriented, measured to identify goals that lead to innovative solutions and/or participant success. Successive projects funded to scale and replicate their innovative solution prototype typically attempt to achieve greater participant success. The table below summarizes the types of innovative solutions and participant success numbers achieved by all of the projects:

Where is innovation occurring in the workforce system?

Innovation is occurring throughout the workforce system, yet innovation depends on where practitioners are located in the broader workforce system. Projects led by workforce development boards and community colleges operate “within” the workforce system because they are more embedded within local and regional government administrative structures. Projects led by community-based organizations, industry associations, labor unions, and chambers of commerce, tend to operate “outside” the workforce system and are not as embedded within government administrative structures. Both of these categories of workforce innovators and practitioners and their projects have similar yet differing sets of opportunities and constraints. Innovation is happening both within and outside the workforce system and through project-driven interaction innovators and practitioners can learn a lot from each other through the innovation process.

What can workforce innovators and practitioners learn through the innovation process?

Workforce innovators and practitioners throughout the broader workforce system can learn about the innovation process by sharing their learning experiences. Many times innovators and practitioners operate individually, without a proper means to network and learn from one another about their innovation process. Based on information provided in project reports, interviews, and facilitated convenings, Project Team members shared their learning experiences around the process of innovating a solution and serving participants with other project teams and with State Board staff. Learning experiences varying depending upon the type of innovative solution, population served, regional labor market need, and project team leads. The following tables of selected projects highlight learning experiences from innovating solutions:

How can Accelerator stakeholders learn from innovative solutions, participant success, and learning experiences?

Stakeholders, which include the State Board, Employment Development Department, and the Labor and Workforce Development Agency, as well as workforce system partners and policy makers can learn practical lessons about how to better support projects engaging in the innovation process to be more impactful. Evidence from the learning experiences of projects both within and outside the workforce system about innovating solutions to workforce problems that enable participant success provides examples of the types of practical lessons that can inform and be applied in successive iterations of Accelerator both as a space for innovation and to accelerate service delivery for California job –seekers, students, workers and employers.

• Increased flexibility for granteesProviding administrative flexibility encourages grantees to take risks, try something new, and move their projects along more expediently; grantees are more likely to share experiences and lessons if not stifled by structural impediments and it helps create a new “business as usual.”

• Sharing accountability to enable risk-takingTraditional forms of performance accountability constrain innovation and do not support projects that are designing system efficiency or developing new program models; innovative, more qualitative process-oriented measurement yields lessons learned that helps support networks.

• Making networks matterNetworks connect, unify, and provide support to innovative workforce practitioners across the workforce system; in California, with diverse regional economies, supporting a network to share and learn experiences fosters a culture of innovation.

• Bringing voices from outside into the workforce systemMany workforce practitioners work outside the federally-funded workforce education and training system; their voice represents the expansive and interconnected workforce system and help move the workforce system toward innovative solutions and better understand customer need.

• Listening closely to the fieldThe field is the front-line for understanding client needs; creating capacity and developing a customer-centered perspective is central to the success of innovative solutions.

• More inclusive of community-based organizationsCBOs are embed in communities and closest to those in greatest need; finding opportunities and creating the space for inclusion would benefit workforce policy and increase success system outcomes.

• Meeting who we serve, where they areInnovation increasingly happens locally and virtually; supporting solutions to reach and provide access to those in greatest need helps move the system toward greater outcomes for workers and employers.

Innovative Solutions from Accelerator 1.0 and 2.0

17Successful new

training programs, career

pathways, and service delivery

models

5New web

applications of digital platforms

developed

15Toolkits, reports, and white papers created for use in

scaling and replicating

41New employer partnerships

Center for Media Change, Inc. through 1.0 and 2.0 Hack the Hood program, had youth clients design and build a mobile app for career exploration and skills development.

Opportunity Junction produced a toolkit for other potential innovators and practitioners to replicate their job-seeker designed community college

pathway program.

Pacific Gateway developed toolkit for engaging and providing training for employers to mentor foster youth with a paid work experience.

Foundation for California’s Community Colleges was able to build relationships in 2.0 and register an additional 10 new employers who partnered in their LaunchPath pilot from 1.0.

Monterey County Workforce Development Board was able to increase the number of employer partnerships through an awareness campaign that engaged employers to provide internship opportunities and mentoring to at-risk youth.

Bay Area Community Resources over the course of their 1.0 and 2.0 implemented a digital platform prototype that was iterated based on feedback data from participants using the platform to communicate and receive information from case

managers and job coaches.

Alameda County WDB in working with advanced manufacturing employers and community college partners created training programs culminating into two separate Engineering Technologist career pathways.

Chaffey College worked with system partners and built upon initial success to develop and streamline a service delivery model for training and work readiness.

Innovative Solutions from WAF 1.0 and 2.0

44New training

programs, career pathways, and

service delivery models

Richmond Community Foundation replicated a job-seeker-designed community college pathway program to serve low-income and long-term unemployed students. In collaboration with SparkPoint Contra Costa and The Stride Center, 19 students who were enrolled in CTE programs at Contra Costa College either graduated, continued with schooling or entered employment.

Jewish Vocational Services SoCal created a career pathway into veterinary medicine for participant with barriers, allowing them access to cost-efficient training and

apprenticeships.



Los Angeles Valley College replicated and created additional modules for a toolkit, demonstrating how to remove barriers to training completion and placement rates by utilizing a two-generational model and holistic approach to supportive services.

Alameda County Workforce Development Board developed a toolkit to help local AJCCs test and implement a customer feedback process, developing a more efficient service delivery model that allows AJCCs to address and solve a customer’s immediate issue or request

more creatively.

22New web

applications or digital platforms

developed

Allen Temple Health & Social Services Ministry partnered with 8 community colleges to validate the use of Virtual Services applications and how it can improve workforce outcomes for adults and youth, successfully increasing attendance rate, communication requests and employment skills.

San Diego Workforce Partnership, Inc.’s new mobile application created a better and more accessible communication process between case managers and job seekers, allowing them to communicate as frequently as possible via text messages and phone, reducing the amount of travel time to an AJCC for job

seekers.


Marin County’s BrightFutures maintained an online listing of career professionals who wanted to volunteer their time to provide career talks to students in grades kindergarten to 12th grade. They engaged over 200 volunteers with affiliations to business chambers, university alumni association, rotary clubs, public agencies and large employers, allowing them to develop new employer partnerships.

Upwardly Global secured 6 employers to support and commit to interviewing and hiring their pilot project participants after they

completed their training.


Practical Lessons from Accelerator 1.0 & 2.0:Innovative Solutions, Participant Success, and Learning Experiences






The Workforce Accelerator Fund provides grants to projects that create and prototype innovative strategies to accelerate skill development, employment, and reemployment for California job seekers, students, and workers. Innovations that emerge from these

prototypes can then be scaled and replicated across the state, infusing new ideas into the bloodstream of workforce development.

About this Brief

This brief provides information on outcomes from Accelerator 1.0 and 2.0. The outcomes are summarized into dashboards differentiated by project leads - those working either within or outside the workforce system. Dashboards contain overall project success indicators and define project outcomes and outputs as innovative solutions and participant success. Information gathered from reports and from Project Team members provide learning experiences related to the innovation process. The brief concludes with a set of practical lessons that can inform successive iterations of Accelerator as a catalyst and space for innovation and in accelerating improvements in workforce services for Californians with barriers to employment as well as California businesses looking for skilled and ready employees.




• Allow project teams to develop and prototype solutions for system change or service delivery that work

• Provide an opportunity to scale and replicate what works• Create opportunities to learn lessons and share experiences across projects• Support networks of workforce innovators and practitioners• Grant flexibility and encourage a new “business as usual”• Foster a culture of innovation throughout the broader workforce system


Through this space for innovation, Accelerator projects are able to self-identify goals. All of the projects from Accelerator 1.0 and 2.0 either exceeded, achieved or mostly achieved project goal success. Project goals, project goal success indicators, and project innovative solutions and participant success from each project are located in two tables titled Accelerator 1.0 and 2.0 Project Success Dashboard. Many of the goals are process-oriented, measured to identify goals that lead to innovative solutions and/or participant success. Successive projects funded to scale and replicate their innovative solution prototype typically attempt to achieve greater participant success. The table below summarizes the types of innovative solutions and participant success numbers achieved by all of the projects:




Workforce innovators and practitioners throughout the broader workforce system can learn about the innovation process by sharing their learning experiences. Many times innovators and practitioners operate individually, without a proper means to network and learn from one another about their innovation process. Based on information provided in project reports, interviews, and facilitated convenings, Project Team members shared their learning experiences around the process of innovating a solution and serving participants with other project teams and with State Board staff. Learning experiences varying depending upon the type of innovative solution, population served, regional labor market need, and project team leads. The following tables of selected projects highlight learning experiences from innovating solutions:

How can Accelerator stakeholders learn from innovative solutions, participant success, and learning experiences?

Stakeholders, which include the State Board, Employment Development Department, and the Labor and Workforce Development Agency, as well as workforce system partners and policy makers can learn practical lessons about how to better support projects engaging in the innovation process to be more impactful. Evidence from the learning experiences of projects both within and outside the workforce system about innovating solutions to workforce problems that enable participant success provides examples of the types of practical lessons that can inform and be applied in successive iterations of Accelerator both as a space for innovation and to accelerate service delivery for California job –seekers, students, workers and employers.

• Increased flexibility for granteesProviding administrative flexibility encourages grantees to take risks, try something new, and move their projects along more expediently; grantees are more likely to share experiences and lessons if not stifled by structural impediments and it helps create a new “business as usual.”







Innovative Solutions from Accelerator 1.0 and 2.0

17Successful new

training programs, career

pathways, and service delivery

models

5New web

applications of digital platforms

developed




Center for Media Change, Inc. through 1.0 and 2.0 Hack the Hood program, had youth clients design and build a mobile app for career exploration and skills development.

Opportunity Junction produced a toolkit for other potential innovators and practitioners to replicate their job-seeker designed community college

pathway program.

Pacific Gateway developed toolkit for engaging and providing training for employers to mentor foster youth with a paid work experience.

Foundation for California’s Community Colleges was able to build relationships in 2.0 and register an additional 10 new employers who partnered in their LaunchPath pilot from 1.0.

Monterey County Workforce Development Board was able to increase the number of employer partnerships through an awareness campaign that engaged employers to provide internship opportunities and mentoring to at-risk youth.

Bay Area Community Resources over the course of their 1.0 and 2.0 implemented a digital platform prototype that was iterated based on feedback data from participants using the platform to communicate and receive information from case

managers and job coaches.

Alameda County WDB in working with advanced manufacturing employers and community college partners created training programs culminating into two separate Engineering Technologist career pathways.

Chaffey College worked with system partners and built upon initial success to develop and streamline a service delivery model for training and work readiness.

44New training

programs, career pathways, and

service delivery models

Richmond Community Foundation replicated a job-seeker-designed community college pathway program to serve low-income and long-term unemployed students. In collaboration with SparkPoint Contra Costa and The Stride Center, 19 students who were enrolled in CTE programs at Contra Costa College either graduated, continued with schooling or entered employment.

Jewish Vocational Services SoCal created a career pathway into veterinary medicine for participant with barriers, allowing them access to cost-efficient training and

apprenticeships.



Los Angeles Valley College replicated and created additional modules for a toolkit, demonstrating how to remove barriers to training completion and placement rates by utilizing a two-generational model and holistic approach to supportive services.

Alameda County Workforce Development Board developed a toolkit to help local AJCCs test and implement a customer feedback process, developing a more efficient service delivery model that allows AJCCs to address and solve a customer’s immediate issue or request

more creatively.

22New web

applications or digital platforms

developed

Allen Temple Health & Social Services Ministry partnered with 8 community colleges to validate the use of Virtual Services applications and how it can improve workforce outcomes for adults and youth, successfully increasing attendance rate, communication requests and employment skills.

San Diego Workforce Partnership, Inc.’s new mobile application created a better and more accessible communication process between case managers and job seekers, allowing them to communicate as frequently as possible via text messages and phone, reducing the amount of travel time to an AJCC for job

seekers.


Marin County’s BrightFutures maintained an online listing of career professionals who wanted to volunteer their time to provide career talks to students in grades kindergarten to 12th grade. They engaged over 200 volunteers with affiliations to business chambers, university alumni association, rotary clubs, public agencies and large employers, allowing them to develop new employer partnerships.

Upwardly Global secured 6 employers to support and commit to interviewing and hiring their pilot project participants after they

completed their training.


82Paid internship, externship, work

experience, on-the-job training

(OJT), work readiness,

mentorship, and pre-apprenticeship

participants

LeadersUp engaged employers and AJCC practitioners to inform, design, and pilot a model OJT framework with the LA County workforce system, placing 10 disconnected youth into OJT opportunities.

NoRTEC developed a program to serve first-time offenders ages 18-24, providing them with wraparound services, including housing, education services, cognitive therapy, and vocational services that lead to employment opportunities. Participants were placed into paid internships and On-the-Job

opportunities.

630Participants that

entered employment,

postsecondary education, or

apprenticeships

NOVA Workforce Development graduated 12 students from their Coding Corps program, who were all able to find employment opportunities in coding technology.

Worker Education and Resource Center developed an Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) apprenticeship program, securing employment for 17 participants in the medical field.

701Participants completed

training

Community Housing Partnership developed the Service Corps Program, an innovative model of using volunteerism as a way to practice job skills, gain experience, network and make connections and step into employment. They trained 21 participants in the program, connecting 60% of participants to employment opportunities.

Livingston Community Health Services retrained 21 Medical Assistants and Licensed Vocational Nurses (LVNs) to become Health Coaches, resulting in a wage increase and a new job title for those who

completed the training.

15Employers

served

Hospitality Training Academy developed and implemented outreach strategies that concentrated in organizations serving African Americans, Asian Americans, transgender individuals and other under-represented populations and placed them into employment opportunities with 10 various business partners.

The California Conservation Corps Foundation partnered with Pride Industries and Alta Regional Center to identify employers and participants for their pilot project, placing 15 participants with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) into culinary training at four local

Eskaton Senior Living locations.

152Credentials

attained

Mother Lode Job Training’s participants who completed the Water Resource Management Training Program received various certifications, ranging from a water resource management certificate to an Operator-in-Training (OIT) certificate to a skills attainment certificate.

USNRG, Inc.’s veteran participants completed training in a new energy efficiency career pathway and received dual certifications in BPI Building Analyst (BPI-BA) and BPI Health

Home Evaluator (BPI-HHE).

Participant Success from WAF 3.0 and 4.0



82Paid internship, externship, work

experience, on-the-job training

(OJT), work readiness,

mentorship, and pre-apprenticeship

participants

LeadersUp engaged employers and AJCC practitioners to inform, design, and pilot a model OJT framework with the LA County workforce system, placing 10 disconnected youth into OJT opportunities.

NoRTEC developed a program to serve first-time offenders ages 18-24, providing them with wraparound services, including housing, education services, cognitive therapy, and vocational services that lead to employment opportunities. Participants were placed into paid internships and On-the-Job

opportunities.

630Participants that

entered employment,

postsecondary education, or

apprenticeships

NOVA Workforce Development graduated 12 students from their Coding Corps program, who were all able to find employment opportunities in coding technology.

Worker Education and Resource Center developed an Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) apprenticeship program, securing employment for 17 participants in the medical field.

701Participants completed

training

Community Housing Partnership developed the Service Corps Program, an innovative model of using volunteerism as a way to practice job skills, gain experience, network and make connections and step into employment. They trained 21 participants in the program, connecting 60% of participants to employment opportunities.

Livingston Community Health Services retrained 21 Medical Assistants and Licensed Vocational Nurses (LVNs) to become Health Coaches, resulting in a wage increase and a new job title for those who

completed the training.

15Employers

served

Hospitality Training Academy developed and implemented outreach strategies that concentrated in organizations serving African Americans, Asian Americans, transgender individuals and other under-represented populations and placed them into employment opportunities with 10 various business partners.

The California Conservation Corps Foundation partnered with Pride Industries and Alta Regional Center to identify employers and participants for their pilot project, placing 15 participants with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) into culinary training at four local

Eskaton Senior Living locations.

152Credentials

attained

Mother Lode Job Training’s participants who completed the Water Resource Management Training Program received various certifications, ranging from a water resource management certificate to an Operator-in-Training (OIT) certificate to a skills attainment certificate.

USNRG, Inc.’s veteran participants completed training in a new energy efficiency career pathway and received dual certifications in BPI Building Analyst (BPI-BA) and BPI Health

Home Evaluator (BPI-HHE).

Participant Success from WAF 3.0 and 4.0


Workforce innovator and practitioners throughout the broader workforce system can learn about the innovation process by sharing their learning experiences. Many times innovators and practitioners operate individually, without a proper means to network and learn from one another about their innovation process. Based on information provided in project reports, interviews, and facilitated convenings, Project Team members shared their learning experiences through the process of innovating a solution and serving participants or implementing strategies that created or reinforced a unique approach to addressing workforce pipeline gaps with other project teams, Technical Assistance coaches, and State Board staff. Technical Assistance support was implemented for Accelerator 3.0 and 4.0 to provide individual and group-based assistance to project and grantees in the design, development, and implementation of projects and to provide a forum for cross-project communication and learning.

Opportunities were created for project teams to share best practices and ideas during webinars, convenings, and ongoing communications with Technical Assistance coaches. Coaches engaged with project teams, supporting reflection and expanded thinking, along with confidence to carry forward with the project’s initial approach. Community of practice gatherings and webinars allowed Project Team members to promote and highlight best practices and learning experiences by sharing knowledge and expertise around various innovative practices.

Learning experiences varied depending upon the type of innovation solution, population services, regional labor market need, and Project Team leads.

How can Accelerator stakeholders learn from innovative solutions, project successes, and learning experiences?

Stakeholders, which include the State Board, Employment Development Department, and the Labor and Workforce Development Agency, as well as workforce system policy makers can learn practical lessons about how to better support projects engaging in the innovation process to be more impactful and create a “new business as usual.” Evidence from the learning experiences of projects within and outside the workforce system about innovating solutions to workforce programs that enable participant and project success provides examples of the types of practical lessons that can inform and be applied in successive iterations of WAF, both as a space for innovation and to accelerate service delivery for California jobs-seekers, students, workers and employers.

• Increased flexibility for granteesProviding administrative flexibility encourages grantees to take risks, try something new, and move their projects along more expediently; grantees

are more likely to share experiences and lessons if not stifled by structural impediments and it helps create a new “business as usual.”







• Integration of technologyWorkforce practitioners understand the challenges in serving a diverse population; integrating technology into service delivery models can innovatively enhance communication processes and tackle a number of barriers to employment.

Learning Experiences from Innovating Solutions Workforce Development Boards and Community Colleges

Project Lead

Innovative Solution Learning Experiences

Verdugo WDB

Developed recruitment and outreach strategy to build web-based information sharing network for female veterans seeking training and employment opportunities.

• Marketing and design was possible through the guidance of an Advisory Committee which helped build more space for innovation;

• Recruitment is understood through eligibility and placement opportunities;

• Articulating constraints to partners helpful for shared understanding;

• Opportunity for innovation strengthened community-based outreach to bridge needs.

Pacific Gateway

Developed toolkit for engaging and providing training for employers to mentor foster youth with a paid work experience.

• Research and development phase was key to understanding how to bridge need;

• Engaging employers to mentor youth difficult to scale because relationships take time to develop;

• Require more space to expand upon innovative outreach methods and operate with greater flexibility.

Merced WDB

Development of Career Pathway to advance medical assistants and LVNs to “health coaches.”

• Engagement from employers to develop a health coaching program was integral and lead to participant success;

• Personally identifiable participant data and eligibility became a barrier

• Shared accountability needs to be addressed because of funding requirements, articulation possible through a “kick-off” event.

Chaffey College

Developed streamlined process for local and regional public workforce education and training partners to effectively and efficiently serve participants and meet employer need.

• Duplication in delivery of services required a streamlined process due to the number of partners engaged in alignment process;

• A focus was the articulation of need, of shared institutional process and accountability;

• Scale is not just defined as number of participants served, but additional partners aligned;

• Outside providers found the streamlined process difficult to operationalize;

• Gaps remained in labor market outcomes, but learn and earn opportunities provided to be most effective.

NOVA

Development of informative media to compliment web-based interaction for long-term unemployed who were provided opportunities for “externships” with engaged tech employers.

• Development occurred over 1.0 and 2.0 to identify opportunities to make program components have greater “stickiness”;

• Intermediary had difficulty establishing connections with employers for externships;

• Utilizing administrative flexibility with an institutional partnership minimized risk-taking for the grantee and for employers to subsidize externships;

• The model is effective yet dependent on particular geographical labor market needs.

NoRTEC

Developed new model through partnerships within juvenile justice system to provide assessment, training, and job placement for out-of-school youth.

• As partnerships became more firm there was an increased sense of shared accountability;

• Risk was removed from process which allowed a prototype to develop;

• Articulation of need bridged disparities allowing for participants to experience a more seamless service delivery;

• Scale is possible at the local/regional level and dependent upon embedded institutional coordination.

Learning Experiences from Innovating Solutions Community-Based Organizations, Industry Associations, Labor Unions, and Chambers of Commerce

Project Lead

Innovative Solution Learning Experiences

Opportunity Junction

Development of a Job-Seeker Designed Pathway to fill a gap between low income participants’ navigation to successfully complete a community college career technical education program.

• Operating with flexibility, necessary partners were brought into the project to assist with participant support;

• Listening strategies for pathway development resulted in greater engagement and program attachment;

• Institutional barriers remained in successive cohorts because pathways were individualized.

Bay Area

Community Resources

Development of customizable technology-based tool to accelerate communication between service providing staff and customers.

• Bridging the job seeker, staff and product development needs required constant engagement;

• Trouble-shooting effective methods for communication lead to design improvement;

• Prototyping aligned with solving problem to resource issue of providing initial and follow-up services;

Center for Media Change

Developed “Hack the Hood” program for disconnected youth to receive mentoring and learn in-demand tech and entrepreneurial skills.

• Innovation occurred by getting “best guess” wrong – better integrating media supports into classroom instruction increased engagement;

• Program participation spurred by tech-entrepreneurial opportunity; • Addressing target population need was challenging and might

have benefitted from system support;

CEO

Development of digital assessment tool to help integrate use of technology and accelerate training and placement opportunities for ex-offenders.

• Enabled partnership with workforce system that had not previously been established;

• Constraints of system needs made interoperability of tool less flexible;

• Better understanding system needs would help foster attachment of innovation to help serve a population with employment stigma.

JVS LA

Establish a Professional Intervention Team Approach to help build and support successful self-identities for target populations.

• Effective use of counseling and education supports; • Awareness of system constraints enabled successful working

relationship with case management professionals; • Iterative outcomes allowed greater labor market attachment when

partnering with firmly embedded training programs.

Shirley Ware

Development of healthcare apprenticeship model for low wage workers through engaging employers, navigating approval process, and standardizing curricula.

• Positioned for successful engagement from partners and stakeholders at varying levels of public and private sector;

• Build-out from learning phase to pilot program more successful because of shared understanding of governing process;

• Scale and replication is dependent upon initial space for engagement to tailor or redefine program elements.

UCLA

Development of toolkit to help practitioners better understand transgender youth needs for work experience and employment.

• Project is exploratory in scope and built around a network of community and non-profits;

• Work experience success is dependent on participants and voice and recruiting and mentoring employers about needs;

• Significance of population need is a cultural imperative to enable the workforce system to be responsive

Exceeded

Exceeded

Achieved

Accelerator 1.0 and 2.0 Project Success Dashboard Workforce Development Boards and Community Colleges

Applicant Project Big Idea WAF will allow us to: Target Population(s) Project Goals

Project Goal

Success

Innovative Solutions and

Participant Success

Alameda County WDB

Engineering Technologist

Career Pathways for Low-Skilled Participants

Deliver high-quality training for skills needed by employers in advanced manufacturing, including bio-tech, medical and machine-tool manufacturing and engineering that is accessible for target populations.

Convene Community Colleges, Advanced Manufacturing Employers, WIBs, and partners to assess the need for specific training programs in engineering technology and develop and pilot at least one employer-specific training programs.

Long-term Unemployed Returning Veterans

• Initial exploration of A.S. engineering technologist pathway with six advanced manufacturing employers;

• Development or expansion of at least two regional A.S.; engineering technologist pathway programs targeted to low skilled individuals;

• Dissemination of policy brief discussing employer need and WIA/post-secondary system program opportunity for engineering technologist training programs.

• 10 students in summer internships

• Developed 2 community college pathway programs

Chaffey College

Shared Prosperity for Stakeholders

(SPS) 1.0 & 2.0

Streamline service delivery process by eliminating duplication and meet the needs of employers.

Clarify the service delivery system, train the trainers on work readiness, and apply to pilot cohort.

Long-term Unemployed Low-Income Workers CalWORKs Participants Disconnected Youth

• Create a new system delivery model for successful training and job placement;

• Pilot the model with both technical and work readiness training;

• Provide details on how to replicate and scale the new model statewide.

• Created new model for service delivery

• 20 were selected and processed for training;

• 15 successfully

completed • Referrals

increased 300%

Take the 1.0 project to scale and increase capacity by including additional partners who will utilize, refine, and adopt the newly streamlined process.

• Scale the streamlined service delivery model;

• Partners will be convened to plan the scaling/adoption processes;

• Training providers and clients will offer feedback for possible refinement;

• Feedback through these additional partners’ activities will lead to a best practice outline.

• Added 4 additional

service partners

• Produced descriptive report

• Coordinating all

partners to use CalJOBS

Mostly Achieved

Mostly Achieved

Achieved

Mostly Achieved

Foothill WDB Vets-to-Nurses Program

Aide veterans to become credentialed nurses by exam or priority admission to RN/ADN Program.

Fund the development of a program, partnership and direct client services.

Veterans

• Process design; • Recruit and enroll eligible

veterans; • Train veterans in test-taking

strategies; • Fund testing fees; • Provide support services; • Veterans receive LVN/RN

certification or priority enrollment in specific program.

• 65 veterans received one-on-one orientations

• 25 veterans were

identified; • 4 enrolled

Foundation for California Community

Colleges

LaunchPath Employer

Engagement 1.0 & 2.0

Reduce transactional costs to match prepared students with willing employers to fill workforce gaps in priority industry sectors, pilot a responsive matching and badging web platform that can serve students and employers at a statewide scale.

Accelerate employer recruitment and adoption of LaunchPath, supporting a pivotal preparation period prior to expansion and adoption in new regions in 2015.

Disconnected Youth

• Facilitate 300 students/employer matches through LaunchPath pilot in the fall of 2014;

• Recruit 30 employers to join a distinguished employer network committed to work-based learning as a solution for workforce development and skill attainment;

• Develop a business case document.

• 43 registered employers

• 25 students

received offers of internship from employers

Scale work based learning through the use of digital tools and articulating employer return on investment (ROI).

A 2.0 grant will allow us to diversify employer engagement strategies; test tools and strategies in new regions; build on the lessons learned from year one regarding the use of LaunchPath as a tool for scaling work based learning.

• Design and test new employer engagement strategies;

• Understand regional size and structure as factors of employer engagement;

• Facilitate additional placements of youth into work based learning

• Engage employer champions at a state and regional level.

• Gained commitment from 10 new employers

• 127 youth in work

based learning placements

Foundation for California Community

Colleges

Accelerating WIB Work

Based Learning Services

Support WIOA implementation through adapting innovative tools for local WIBs.

Support three pilots that address core workforce services under WIOA: work based learning; credentialing; and on the job training. Success in this project will lead to advances that include digital platform management to accelerate work based learning on a regional level; utilization of digital badges to determine work readiness; using alternative “employer of

Disconnected Youth

• Test LaunchPath for applicability to WIOA work based learning;

• Assess digital badging as a technique for work readiness assessment;

• Adapt payroll services to support WIOA OJT and work based learning;

• Ongoing feedback loop from community college and WIB partners.

• 15 WDBs provided feasibility input

• 6 community

colleges provided feasibility input

Exceeded

Achieved

Achieved

record” to streamline administration of on the job training.

Fresno Regional WDB

503 Innovation Project

Leverage the opportunity created by 503 regulations with innovative placement strategies.

Establish new, industry-friendly modes of referring qualified disabled workers to federal contractors.

Individuals with Disabilities

• Focus groups with federal contractors;

• Develop apprentice model for workers with disabilities;

• Develop a workforce intermediary;

• Develop extra-governmental job network;

• Action Plan to implement and replicate.

• 26 job orders obtained by workforce intermediary

• 9 placements

Los Angeles Valley College

Foundation

Bridging the Gap

Accelerate re-employment and infusing system innovations into the workforce structure.

Expand the project’s proven solutions to be adopted throughout the state in order to direct resources in more efficient and effective ways and to serve more long-term unemployed and enable the development of a business plan to facilitate replication of the program by community colleges and non-profits throughout LA County and the State.

Long-term Unemployed

• Increase enrollment; • Develop tools and instructions

for replication; • Develop strategic funding

plan.

• 75 fellows enrolled • Increased

participation by 50%

• Increased number

of cohorts form 2 to 3

• 53 graduates (in

first two cohorts) • 72% gained

employment

Merced County

Medical Assistant & LVN Career

Pathway

Create a career path for Medical Assistants and Licensed Vocational Nurses by retraining them to become Health Coaches.

Assist in the creation of a career path for Medical Assistants and also train administrators and providers on the benefits of adding Health Coaches to the team. This grant will assist the health care organization to meet new requirements under the Affordable Care Act and allow more patients access to care, increase improvements, and significantly reduce costs as in the near future payment plans will be directly tied to outcomes to maintain funding to prevent possible layoffs.

Low-income workers

• Create a career path for Medical Assistants;

• Increase wages for Medical Assistants;

• Secure long-term employment (Retention).

• 19 participants

were served • 17 participants

completed health coaching training

• Those who

completed training received a wage increase

• All 19 participants

retained employment

• Healthcare career

path created

Mostly Achieved

Achieved

Achieved

Monterey County WDB

Youth Ambassadors

for Peace Magnet

Program 1.0 & 2.0

Engage employers as mentors through internships guiding at-risk youth to become leaders.

Secure staff to oversee Project Team; develop and engage employers; develop sustainable design.

Disconnected Youth

• Develop tracking system; • Create strong sustainable

partnerships with business; • Looking for businesses that

are committed to mentorship and leadership program concept.

• 54 of 101 referrals

have been placed in paid internships;

• 11 or 20%

completed their internship

Provide internship opportunities which will enable WAF participants to explore potential career pathway occupations under the guidance of mentor supervisors.

• Encourage work based mentor relationships between business owners and disconnected youth;

• Develop internship opportunities to enhance career exploration activities for disconnected youth;

• Youth provide mentorship in classroom upon completion of their participative experience.

• 130 youth referred to project

• 33 were given

assessments • 33 participants

were enrolled • 10 enrolled

participants engaged with workplace mentors

• 8 enrolled

received work experience while in program

NoRTEC

Court Involved Youth

Employment Services 1.0

Create and further partnerships with agencies serving court involved youth to foster success.

Provide funding that will allow AJCC staff to serve a greater number of court involved youth.

Disconnected Youth

• More than 60% of the youth served by this project will attain a high school diploma, GED, and/or other industry recognized occupational certificate;

• All youth will receive an array of services with the ultimate goal of unsubsidized employment.

• Enrolled 18 youth • 11 of 18 enrolled in

OJT/work experience;

• 6 youth obtained

diploma/GED; • 6 more scheduled

to complete at time of report

• Developed pilot

program

Exceeded

Achieved

Prepare court involved youth for employment and reduce recidivism.

Continue our pilot and obtain juvenile “buy-in” through the development of a WIOA/juvenile justice program that will be sustained through annual allocated funding from both entities and other community partners.

• Provide incarcerated youth with a “second chance” education/employment program;

• Coordination/provision of educational services that leads to diploma/GED;

• Assessment of youth and development of an education/employment plan;

• Placement in employment or education at program exit.

• 30 youth attended orientation

• 26 youth enrolled

and completed individual service strategy plan

• 5 youth earned a

high school diploma

• 11 youth receiving

tailored services • 14 youth placed in

work experience or on-the-job training

• 6 youth entered

unsubsidized employment

• 3 youth continued

to postsecondary education

North Central Counties Consortia

NCCC Pre-Apprenticeship

“Move the needle” on accelerating education and training for disconnected youth and increasing the wages for low-income workers.

Address the lack of pre-apprenticeship and apprenticeship programs within the four-county region which has left disconnected youth and low-income workers at a disadvantage to exploring careers and accessing guidance about training and employment opportunities.

Low-income Workers Disconnected Youth

• Design Pre-Apprenticeship Programs in the Construction field;

• Design Pre-Apprenticeship Program in the Medical field;

• Replication and scaling of program through sharing of curriculum;

• Placement of participants in Apprenticeship Programs/Post-Secondary Education.

• Designed and implemented 2 pre-apprenticeship programs

• 32 enrolled in healthcare pre-apprenticeships (14 disconnected youth/18 low income workers)

• 25 enrolled in

construction pre-apprenticeships (16 disconnected youth/9 low income workers)

• Over 68% entered

employment, postsecondary education, or a

NoRTEC Court Involved Youth

Employment Services 2.0

Achieved

Mostly Achieved

Exceeded

registered apprenticeship

NOVA Workforce

Board

Technology Solutions for California’s

LTU

Transform NOVA’s MyPlan website into an essential tool for online service delivery.

Optimize the functionality of the MyPlan website with the addition of 9-13 compelling videos.


• Produce video and animation sequences that are informative, engaging, and compelling in order to achieve a high rate of complete views;

• Produce a scalable website with valuable job-search information accessible 24 hours a day, 7 days a week to job seekers everywhere;

• Conduct assessment of data and technology tools for employment of LTUs;

• Develop a “tech externship” model for LTU workers enrolled in the project.

• Developed externship model

• Placed 10 long-term unemployed

• All participants

reported skills gains

NOVA Workforce

Board

Scaling Tech Externship

Model

Develop technology approaches to overcome barriers now faced by the long term unemployed in California.

Expand and refine internship model, present the model to WIBs throughout CA and help them develop strategies for implementation, and develop an internet platform to scale the externship approach.


• Refine and expand the use of the experiential learning externship model;

• Tech externship model recognized by California WIBs;

• Internet platform to scale use of externship model.

• Developed internet platform

• 7 long term unemployed case managed through externship

• 3 participants

placed in employment

Pacific Gateway

Workforce Investment

Network

Employer Engagement

for Foster Youth

Recruit caring employers and turn them into career advocates for foster youth.

Integrate systems between workforce, child welfare, and employer community.

Disconnected Youth

• Engage and train employers in the mentoring model and match 40 foster youth with employer mentors;

• Develop a toolkit and replication model to motivate employers to serve as long-term career advocates to disconnected foster youth;

• Develop a toolkit for serving foster youth and disseminate the toolkit throughout the workforce system.

• 35 Foster Youth will be provided with paid work experience;

• 40 youth have

completed paid work experience;

• 15 Employers will

be trained to serve as mentors for Foster Youth

• Developed 2

toolkits

• Developed replicable model

Achieved

Mostly Achieved

Mostly Achieved

Sacramento Employment and Training

Agency (SETA)

Capital Region Accelerator

(CRA) 1.0 & 2.0

Develop a Human Centered Design toolkit to assist long-term unemployed re-enter employment.

Create a regional program to reduce long-term unemployment using innovative service systems.

Long Term Unemployed Returning Veterans Low-Income Workers

• Human Centered Design Toolkit;

• Bridge Program for Veterans; • Employer Forums; • New methods of serving long-

term unemployed; • ‘Rebrand’ long-term

unemployed; • Reduce long-term

unemployment.

• Not available

Reduce the unemployment rate of long-term unemployment individuals in the Capital Region.

Expand on the deliverables in the CRA 1.0 by implementing innovative earn and learn activities to ensure re-entry of the long-term unemployed into the labor market.

Long Term Unemployed Low-Income Workers CalWORKS Participants

• Implement HCD solutions to engage the long-term unemployed;

• Enroll 10 Veterans’ in the LVN-RN Bridge program;

• Implement hospitality customer service training program;

• Expand Priority Worker Program.

• 5 priority workers in pre-apprenticeship program

Tulare WDB

Readiness for Employment

Through Sustainable Education &

Training (RESET)

Help ex-offenders gain employment.

Align resources to serve probationers by funding planning, infrastructure, and paid work experience.

Ex-Offenders

• Collect data from participants and employers through site visits, group discussions, and surveys;

• Assess educational needs, job skills, soft skills, substance abuse problems, mental health needs, and housing needs while keeping in mind the need of the employers who will hire them;

• Provide on the job training by employers in regular full-time jobs and assess participants for vocational training, adult school, and community college courses;

• Track participant activities using technology to provide feedback to probation officers and local one-stop staff to breakdown silos between law enforcement and workforce development systems.

• 83 probationers have participated in the RESET program

• 61 transitioned to

the AJCC from the RESET program

• 38 participants

are currently working.

Exceeded

Exceeded

Ventura WDB

Specialized Training &

Employment Project for

Success (STEPS)

Offer coordinated job services to re-entry and parolees.

Expand services and include vocational programs leading to industry-recognized credentials in demand occupations; develop a standardized process and tools for outreach and orientation to community employers to expand the existing pool of employers willing to employ ex-offenders; investigate different methods of program performance tracking; issue quarterly status reports to document performance measures, and 5) convene monthly partnership team meetings.

Ex-offenders

• Expand the STEPS program further to provide the full scope of employment training and job placement services for the target population;

• Develop and implement specific short-term educational or vocational certificate programs for the ex-offender jobseekers that will facilitate their ability to obtain industry-recognized certificates and employment in demand sector occupations;

• Develop an outreach plan to educate and encourage local employers to consider ex-offenders as valuable and productive employees;

• Enroll 45 re-entry/parolees in coordinated jobs services

• Developed service delivery model

• 82 enrolled

Verdugo WDB

Female Vets: Getting the

Employment Help They Deserve

Create an unemployment service system tailored to the needs of female veterans.

Unite community organizations that service large volumes of veterans, such as a local community college veterans program, a local city veteran’s consortium of service organizations, and a regional EDD veterans program, with community organizations that focus primarily on serving the needs of women, such as the YWCA, to jointly concentrate their efforts on recruitment and outreach of female veterans.

Returning Veterans

• Develop a local marketing campaign focused exclusively on female veterans and conduct local events to recruit female veterans for one-stop services;

• Integrate educational and support services with community organizations, LWIB, and community colleges;

• Provide case management services, job placement services, assessment services, career counseling services to develop an individualized employment and/or training plans for all participants.

• Developed online tool to integrate services

• 25 enrollments • 6 Job Search

enrollments • 20 enrollments

into vocational training, OJT, apprenticeships, or educational advancement

• 1 job placement

Achieved

Exceeded

Accelerator 1.0 and 2.0 Project Success Dashboard Community-Based Organizations, Industry Associations, Labor Unions, and Chambers of Commerce

Applicant Project Big Idea WAF will allow us to: Target Population(s) Project Goals

Project Goal

Success

Innovative Solutions and

Participant Success

Able-Disabled Advocacy, Inc.

(A-DA) VetWORKS

Secure living-wage employment for San Diego’s “Wounded Warriors” returning from military service.

Initiate an IT training program to accelerate training and credential attainment for San Diego’s returning veterans in order to fill the region’s labor demand for skilled IT workers. The project focuses on creating opportunities to secure living-wage employment for veterans with service connected disabilities while expanding earn and learn models and utilizing a competency-based model that focuses on learning rather than duration of training.

Returning Veterans

• Expand partnerships with employers;

• Accelerate training and credentialing of Vets with military experience in technology utilizing a competency-based and industry-recognized training model.

• Developed competency-based training model

• 20 participants gained employment

• 45 veterans

enrolled • 33 veterans

completed training

Bay Area Community Resources

(BACR)

CareerHub 1.0 & 2.0

Streamline and accelerate workforce services via virtual/e-services to increase outcomes.

Design and pilot virtual service model and tool for and by jobseekers which offers text, voice and email services designed in partnership with jobseekers and program staff.; streamline and accelerate the service delivery pipeline with respect to case management, coaching, training, job referral, retention, communication and employment verification.

Long-term Unemployed Low-Income Workers Disconnected Youth

• Allow more job seekers to receive workforce services;

• Reduce time to employment by 15% and increase attendance at events, workshops, meetings by 20%.;

• Deliver a web app, program services, and a model/white paper.

• Developed web app

• Increased program services to job seekers

• Increased attendance to 60%

Design and test the effectiveness of virtual service

Take the proven Virtual Service Model (VSM) from our pilot to scale across 8

• Increase participant engagement with the eight

• Increased

response rate to

Exceeded

Achieved

Exceeded

provision on employment and training outcomes for jobseekers.

Doorways serving 1m650 Disconnected Youth in San Francisco through structured training, coaching, technical assistance and peer learning opportunities.

new CBOs implementing VSM;

• Increase the response rate to employment and training verification requests;

• Increase employment skills among workforce service recipients;

• Offer training, coaching, technical assistance, and peer learning to CBOs using VSM, and receiving reports about ease of use, satisfaction with support and value of VSM.

career advisors to 50%

• Increased

employment skills, on average 76%

• Partnered with

and received feedback from 8 new CBOs

Bay Area Video

Coalition

Bay Area Tech Training Referral

Platform

Rapidly move under/employed workers to the training and services they need.

Provide user needs research and building out of a pilot platform site, site launch, and analysis of site effectiveness for referrals over the course of eight months; three month creating an improved iteration; one month analysis for future site iteration improvements.

Long Term Unemployed Returning Veterans Individuals with Disabilities, Low-Income Workers CalWORKS Participants Disconnected Youth Ex-Offenders

• Align Chapter Three services with Bay Area Tech Training Providers;

• Create a web platform for service referral;

• Measure increase in trainees to each program.

• Created web platform

• 100 job seekers have been referred through the platform

Center for Employment

Opportunities

Advanced skills training for the

formerly incarcerated

seeking employment

Increase economic opportunity for formerly incarcerated residents of San Bernardino County who face multiple barriers to employment, including the

Help CEO as it seeks to develop a comprehensive approach to helping a subset of its participant population access “middle skill” employment opportunities and continue advancing along a career pathway.

Ex-offenders

• Enroll and assess 50 participants under supervision for training and development needs;

• Complete basic soft skills training and transitional employment training with 40 participants;

• Provide 35 participants with earn and learn hard skills training, leading to industry-

• 81 participants enrolled

• 74 employed in

transitional “earn and learn” work

• 33 participants

attained advanced training credential

Achieved

Exceeded

Achieved

stigma of a conviction.

recognized certificates, with at least 25 completions within 12 months;

• Place 20 people into permanent jobs, with at least 10 being linked to certificate/credential;

• Assist at least 10 participants in retaining employment for at least 6 months.

• 53 placed into secure employment

• 23 participants

retained employment

Center for Media

Change, Inc.

Hack the Hood

Apply “flipped classroom” digital learning tools to workforce development training.

Fund research, modeling, and prototyping of digital education tools and “flipped classroom” model.

Disconnected Youth

• Increase learning/content mastery;

• Increase retention rates; • Increase referral success; • Produce 15 “flipped

classroom” prototype modules;

• Pilot prototype modules with one cohort of 20 youth.

• Develop digital learning model

• Recruited 25 youth

• 22 completed the

program

Hack the Hood 2.0: Level Up

Use Human Centered Design (HCD) process to research opportunities for video curriculum that can help accelerate and enhance job training for disconnected youth.

Build on the concepts developed during the HCD research, and develop a career exploration and skills development mobile application to house, build on, and disseminate the curriculum and mentor videos. The app will be developed by and for disconnected youth during a Hack the Hood Bootcamp 2.0.

• Advanced skills boot camp for app development;

• Level Up Mobile App; • Recruit partner

organization for MVP testing;

• Level Up implementation curricula and media library for partners.

• Applied HCD process

• Developed mobile app

• 8 youth enrolled in paid apprenticeship

• 6 youth

completed certification

• 4 participated in

short-term, part-time paid apprenticeship

Community Career

Development, Inc.

Transportation Works: Truck

Driver/Bus Operator

Accelerator Project

Accelerate/improve and increasing access to employer-directed, industry-recognized vocational training in the

Support the establishment of sector specific, multi-disciplinary advisory group committed to researching, developing, and deploying time-tested, new and innovative workforce development strategies that combines targeted

Low-income workers

• Engage participation of bus and truck driver employers and associations to assess hiring needs;

• Review vocational training components with workforce leaders and community colleges;

• Partnered with 2 new industry partners

• Achieved new

commitments from over 6 public training providers

Achieved

Achieved

high-growth logistics/transportation sector.

candidate recruitment & assessment, employer directed community college vocational training, the introduction of virtual learning modules, the alignment of funding, the management of processes to ensure curriculum relevance, and customer-focused methodologies that will effectively prepare targeted populations for high demand occupations (truck driving and bus operation) with employers in high growth industry.

• Collaborate with key stakeholders to draft curriculum and recruitment/assessment strategies;

• Design test pilot, develop OJT opportunities, finalize curriculum for adoption.

• Developed new curriculum

East Bay Community Law Center

Fair Chance Licensure

Employment Project

Improve licensing and employment outcome for low-income community college students with criminal records.

Create a pathway from community colleges to reentry legal services that improve employment outcomes, including reentry career path counseling, criminal court record clearing remedies, Prop 47 relief, licensing and employment advocacy, and impact litigation to resolve systemic barriers to licensure and employment.

Ex-offenders

• Scale direct client advocacy by identifying, investigating, and tracking licensing and related employment barriers subject to impact litigation and regulatory reforms;

• Replicate and scale legal service delivery model through development and sharing of guides, legal intake, and training materials;

• Train community college staff, counselors, and professors on helping students with records overcome barriers to employment.

• EBCLC attorneys fielded more than 55 inquiries and requests for technical assistance

• EBCLC attorneys provided in-depth case support in more than 10 cases.

• EBCLC attorneys

conducted 4 trainings for reentry attorneys

• 2 community

colleges directly referred students with records

International Rescue

Committee San Diego

WorkReady

Increase employment placement rates of CalWORKs participants; job upgrades for employed CalWORKs participants so they can earn a

Provide navigation to the hardest-to-serve CalWORKs participants to help the transition from vocational ESL to subsidized work placements; co-locate a second navigator to help employed CalWORKs participants access ITA funds to support a

Low-Income Workers CalWORKS Participants

• Streamline referrals between CalWORKs proven and proven VESL programs;

• Ensure that San Diego’s expanded work experience program serves the hardest-to-serve;

• 30 refugee and

immigrant clients served

• 25 participants

received career coaching and work readiness training

Achieved

Exceeded

family-sustaining wage.

transition to jobs with family-sustaining wages.

• Ensure that employed CalWORKs participants can upgrade skills.

• 20 participants placed into employment

Jewish Vocational

Service (JVS)

SNAP E&T Integration and

BankWork$ Implementation

Ensure that there are more opportunities for low-income people with barriers to employment to receive relevant training leading to employment.

Facilitate coordinated efforts across public sector agencies, financial institutions, innovators from private sector, and the SNAP recipients who can benefit significantly from effective vocational training programs with a goal of linking siloed systems, and connecting high quality training with underutilized funding streams to offer more training opportunities leading to employment.

Long Term Unemployed Returning Veterans Individuals with Disabilities Low-Income Workers CalWORKS Participants Disconnected Youth

• Establish JVS as a third party trainer reimbursable through SNAP E & T;

• Create the communication systems necessary to support reimbursement;

• Provide an effective BankWork$ program in the Bay Area.

• Enrolled 77 participants (over 3 cohorts)

• 51 participants

graduated • 40 employed • 78% placement

rate • Starting salaries

range from $12-25 per hour

• Strengthened

relationships with 7 partner banks

• Developed

effective program

JVS Los Angeles

JVSLA BankWork$

Increase participant retention in rigorous training program leading to increased employment for targeting population.

Hire the two certified/credentialed professionals (MSW and Para-Educator) that will establish a cohort system and provide the intensive support, including mental health and educational assistance to ensure graduation and subsequent employment

Long Term Unemployed Returning Veterans Individuals with Disabilities Low-Income Workers CalWORKS Participants Disconnected Youth

• MSW and Para-Educator will provide professional intervention;

• MSW will establish participant cohort system;

• Project Team will implement improvements to meet customer needs;

• Project team will place graduates into jobs.

• Enrolled 81 participants

• 74% completions

rate (an increase of 11%)

• Participant math

skill level increased an average of 3.7 grade levels (5.2 – 8.9)

• Participant

reading skill level increased an average of 2.4 grade levels (7.1 – 9.5)

• 83% employment

placement rate

New Door Ventures New Desk Pilot Connect youth to

tech sector jobs Prepare disconnected youth for gainful and

Disconnected Youth

• Identify and transform the local youth service system

Mostly Achieved

Exceeded

by creating a sustainable business partnership with employers.

rewarding employment in a competitive workforce by gaining hands-on work and leadership experience through meaningful community engagement projects. Ensuring this pilot program can be completed and evaluated as a potentially scalable model.

to make it more youth centered, integrated, and capable of driving and supporting change;

• Provide paid and unpaid internships to 40 youth who receive public assistance;

• Develop a youth peer mentoring process.

• 23 youth participated in training

• 5 youth

completed certification

• 4 youth were

placed on Desk projects

Youth placed on

projects worked at least 20 hours per week.

Opportunity Junction

Job-Seeker Designed

Pathway 1.0

Create the first completely job-seeker-designed community college pathway program.

Fund the development process, participant support, and initial pilot.

Long-term Unemployed Low-income Workers

• Increase enrollment and completion of low-income students in CTE programs;

• Recruit 32 participants to engage in a college pathways program that calls for their participation in its design, develop and document the program based on job-seeker inputs, and enroll 20 of these participants into the program;

• Document processes and create a toolkit to allow for project replication;

• Develop marketing materials based on focus group feedback and conducted outreach and recruitment of target populations.

• 34 customers, including 20 job seekers and 14 program alumni, participated;

• 20 job‐seekers

enrolled into eight different CTE tracks at LMC, with 17 either graduating (one person) or enrolling into their track’s second semester (the other 16)

• Developed toolkit

Mostly Achieved

Exceeded

Continue implementation with the pilot cohort through program completion and placement, test the model with a new cohort, and engage new and continuing partners in the determining how to systematize and scale funding.

• Evaluate model by finishing implementation of pilot through job placement;

• Replicate pilot, with co-enrollment in WIOA, if appropriate, for second cohort;

• Develop a plan for scaling and sustaining the project and others like it.

• 35 participants attended orientation

• 24 participants

invited to planning process

• 20 enrolled in CTE

track coursework • 7 participants

completed CTE course for certification and entered employment

• 8 participants

continuing CTE coursework

Regents of the University of California -

UCLA

Transition to Work

Create a Service Provider/Employer Toolkit to design workforce programs for transgender youth.

Provide time/funds to research this challenge and promulgate finding to the workforce system.

Disconnected Youth

• 20 youth will complete work experience;

• 16 youth placed in unsubsidized employment;

• Development of Toolkit for serving Transgender Youth;

• Dissemination of Toolkit through the workforce system.

• Developed toolkit

• 86% completion rate

• 72% placed in

unsubsidized employment or higher education

• 12 youth

completed work experience

• 10 youth in

unsubsidized employment or higher education

• Continue to work

with the remaining 4

Opportunity Junction Job-Seeker

Designed Pathway 2.0

Achieved

Achieved Rising Sun

Energy Center

Woman Build: Union Career Pathways for

Women

Improve access to living-wage career pathways to help low-income women achieve economic self-sufficiency while also increasing the representation of women in the building trades.

Provide necessary resources to support best practice research and design of the program, alignment of resources across the WIB, Social Service Agency, Community Based Organizations, and Building Trades to facilitate career pathway access, placement and retention support, as well as support to pilot our training model.

Long Term Unemployed Returning Veterans Low-Income Workers CalWORKS Participants Ex-offenders

• Design a building trades pre-apprenticeship program that specifically and effectively serves women;

• Provide specialized preparation for women to enter and succeed in building trades careers;

• Increase the number of women enrolled in Bay Area building trades apprenticeship programs;

• Provide supports to ensure female placement and retention into apprenticeship programs.

• 20 participants trained

• 19 completed

apprenticeship training

• 63% in application

process for apprenticeships

• Pre-

apprenticeship Program designed

SEIU Education and Support Fund

Early Care and Education

Apprenticeships

Childcare workers are caught between low wages and increasing education requirements.

Prototype an innovative multi-level apprenticeship program through which low income childcare workers will earn college credits that articulate to certificates or degrees needed for higher-wage positions in Early & Elementary Education.

Low-income Workers

• Develop a replicable multi-level Registered Apprenticeship program with the capacity to train up to 150 workers per year;

• Create a replication toolkit to with training curriculum;

• Strengthen the pipeline of qualified workers for the state’s Early Childcare and Education system;

• Create a new career pathway to be available to socioeconomically disadvantaged individuals.

• 24 apprentices enrolled

• 24 participants

are registered apprentices

• Developed

pathway

• Developed apprenticeship program

Achieved

Exceeded

Achieved

Shirley Ware Education

Center (SWEC)

Partnership for Healthcare

Apprenticeships 1.0

Research and development of marketing tools for apprenticeship models, and compilation of critical healthcare apprenticeship information.

Help employers deliver additional training to develop the skills that meet their particular needs through apprenticeship, which offers a more efficient approach: employers could hire uncertified workers who complete an accelerated competency-based customized training that not only prepares them for certification but also meets the specific needs of the employer.

Long-term Unemployed Low-income Workers

• Develop marketing tools such as a flyer and PowerPoint presentation about apprenticeship models.

• Career Pathways documentation

• Sample standards for each apprenticeship program

• Prepared and submitted competitive application for federal American Apprenticeship initiative.

• Initial pilot successful

• Division of Apprenticeship Standards (DAS) approved program

Piloting Healthcare

Apprenticeships 2.0

Continue to help low-wage workers and low-skill job seekers advance into and enter healthcare.

Pilot a healthcare apprenticeship (Medical Coder) within the infrastructure created with WAF 1.0 funding; SWEC will test tools and curricula and train 10 apprentices with employer partner.

• Final standards registered with DAS;

• Toolkit for replication created;

• Final report created and widely disseminated;

• Curricula for didactic and OJL created.

• 10 participants served

• Developed toolkit • Developed

pathway

• Developed apprenticeship program

United Way of the Bay

Area

SparkPoint Plus Initiative

Increase Job retention/advancement and training program completion rates, as well as data-driven regional learning and information sharing.

Pilot and focus a highly effective service delivery platform on improving workforce outcomes. It will allow us to further test its great promise as (1) a tool for training program retention, (2) a vehicle for effective employer engagement, and (3) a mechanism to pilot regional work. It will position us to share best practices, to attract new partners (especially employers and colleges), and to sustain and scale this work well beyond the end of the grant period.

Individuals with Disabilities Low-Income Workers CalWORKS Participants Disconnected Youth

• The project will recruit and support individuals (via SparkPoint partners) on a cohort basis to participate in sector-based training programs in at least 2 community colleges;

• It will secure commitments from at least 5 employers to inform program design and outcomes and to provide hands-on experience;

• It will require partners in a learning cohort to share regional job lead and outcome data.

• Recruited 21

participants

• 21 participants completed training

• 9 employed • Income increase

for 9 participants • Continuing to

place and provide income supports for remainder of participants

Practical Lessons from Accelerator 1.0 - 4.0: Innovative ... · and participant success numbers...

Documents

Transcript of Practical Lessons from Accelerator 1.0 - 4.0: Innovative ... · and participant success numbers...