Note: A webinar about this new guide will be held on August 23, 2018. The webinar is being co-hosted by the International Rescue Committee, Grantmakers Concerned with Immigrants and Refugees, and Workforce Matters. Register here.
A newly released publication is encouraging community-based organizations in California to actively participate in their local Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) planning process and otherwise engage with their local workforce boards.
California Nonprofits and the Public Workforce System: How CBOs Can Make Their Voices Heard in the WIOA Planning Process is a short, readable guide designed for nonprofit advocates. It is being released in anticipation of the upcoming deadline for the required modifications of WIOA plans, which occurs midway through the plans’ four-year timeframe.
The guide was authored by Erica Bouris of the nonprofit International Rescue Committee, which has offices in 26 US locations, including six in California. It was funded by the Grove Foundation and the Walter and Elise Haas Fund. Both foundations are part of the Immigrant Workforce Learning Community, a group co-convened by Grantmakers Concerned with Immigrants and Refugees and Workforce Matters.
Sections of the guide include:
The publication also provides examples of how California nonprofits have engaged with their local public workforce system, including by informing strategy development for Opportunity Youth, having a seat on the local workforce board, becoming a contracted service provider, winning competitive grants through the state workforce board’s Workforce Accelerator Fund, and participating in the state’s trailblazing English Language Learner (ELL) Navigator program.
Finally, nonprofits are provided with practical suggestions for how to participate, including by making public comments at workforce board meetings, sharing reports and data, inviting workforce staff to witness programs in action, and applying for a seat on the workforce board.
The guide complements more formal guidance previously released by the California Workforce Development Board. That guidance requires local workforce boards to take specific steps to ensure that a diverse range of stakeholders have opportunities to participate in WIOA planning.
