City Council
March 15, 2022
City Administrator Approval Date:
Mar 1, 2022
AGENDA REPORT
TO: Edward D. Reiskin FROM: Guillermo Cespedes
Chief, Violence Prevention City Administrator
SUBJECT: Acc eptance of California Department DATE: February 8, 2022 of Corrections and Rehabilitation
(CDCR) Contract for Golden State
Works (GSW) and Grant Agreement with
Center for Employment Opportunities
(CEO)
RECOMMENDATION
Staff Recommends That City Council Adopt A Resolution To Authorizing The CityAdministrator To:
1) Enter Into A Three-Year Agreement With California Department Of Corrections And Rehabilitation (CDCR) And Accept And Appropriate Approximately Three Million Nine Hundred Fifty-Six Thousand Five Hundred Twenty-Two Dollars ($3,956,522) Annually To Implement Golden State Works Transitional Employment And Job Placement Services For Oakland Residents On Parole; And
2) Renew The Agreement With CDCR And Accept And Appropriate Up To Four Million Five Hundred Thousand Dollars ($4,500,000) For A Fourth Year Of Funding If Available; And
3) Enter Into A Three- Year Grant Agreement With Center For Employment Opportunities (CEO), In An Annual Amount Not To Exceed Three Million Seven Hundred Eighty-One Thousand Five Hundred Seventy -Two Dollars ($3,781,572) To Provide Job Placement Services, For A Total Amount Not To Exceed Eleven Million Three Hundred Forty-Four Thousand Seven Hundred Sixteen Dollars ($11,344,716); And
4) Amend The Grant Agreement With CEO To Add A Fourth Year For An Amount Not To Exceed Four Million Three Hundred Thousand Dollars ($4,300,000) If CDCR Awards Additional Funding For A Total Grant Amount Not To Exceed Fifteen Million Six Hundred Forty -Four Thousand Seven Hundred Sixteen Dollars ($15,644,716); And
5) Accept And Appropriate Any Additional Funds That Become Available From CDCR Within The Agreement Terms Of July 1, 2022 Through June 30, 2025, For The Same Purposes, And Amend The Grant Agreement With CEO To Increase The Grant Amount.
Edward D. Reiskin, City Administrator
Subject: Acceptance of CDCR Contract for GSW and Grant Agreement with CEO Date: February 8, 2022 Page 2
City Council
March 15, 2022
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Approval of the proposed resolution to accept funding and enter into agreements with California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) will support the City of Oakland Department of Violence Prevention (DVP) programs. CDCR funding, at an estimated $3,956,522 annually ($11,842,572 over three-years), will support continued implementation of the Golden State Works (GSW) transitional employment program through June 30, 2025. DVP seeks to enter into a grant agreement with the Center for Employment Opportunities (CEO) for implementation of the program.
BACKGROUND/LEGISLATIVE HISTORY
DVP administers funds to support the City’s violence reduction and intervention efforts. Oakland voters passed the Public Safety and Services Violence Prevention Act (Safety and Services Act) in 2014, approving a series of taxes to support public safety and violence intervention objectives. The Safety and Services Act includes funding for programs and services that provide support to high-risk youth and young adults to interrupt the cycle of violence and recidivism.
DVP regularly seeks additional state, federal and philanthropic funding to support the goals laid out in the Spending Plan, most recently approved by City Council in July 2021 (Resolution No. 88795 C.M.S.).
The City of Oakland has partnered with the State of California-Caltrans and CDCR for the past eleven years to provide transitional employment to people on parole while also beautifying the highways in and around Oakland. Since 2011, the GSW partnership had provided over $28 million to support transitional employment for people on parole. (Resolution Nos. 83133; 84437; 84837; 86212; 86615; and 87665 C.M.S.).
ANALYSIS AND POLICY ALTERNATIVES
Implementation of GSW addresses the citywide priorities of holistic community safety and responsive, trustworthy government. The training and employment offered through the GSW model, have successfully reduced recidivism and enhanced community safety. In coordination with Caltrans, GSW crews support clean-up and beautification efforts to address trash and dumping on highways in Oakland and the surrounding region increasing trust in the government’s ability to maintain safe highways.
Since May 2011, Human Services Department (HSD), and now DVP, have successfully implemented the GSW program, which assists people on parole with successful reintegration into the Oakland community upon release from state prison through immediate connection to transitional employment coupled with career counseling and job placement and retention in an effort to reduce recidivism and increase public safety. HSD/DVP and CDCR partnered with Caltrans to develop and support this work crew model for individuals on parole to do litter abatement and other maintenance work on Caltrans right-of-ways in and around Oakland while receiving Edward D. Reiskin, City Administrator
Subject: Acceptance of CDCR Contract for GSW and Grant Agreement with CEO Date: February 8, 2022 Page 3
City Council
March 15, 2022
supportive job development services. Work crews teach participants soft skills needed for success in the workplace and the value of earning a daily paycheck, which helps to stabilize the individual upon release. Roughly $5 million of the contract funds go directly to participant paychecks, most of whom reside in Oakland.
G
SW serves people on parole. Due to the disparate racial impact of the criminal justice system, the majority of people on parole in Oakland are Black and Latinx. Month to month, approximately 60% of participants in the GSW program identify as Black or African-American and 20% identify as Latinx. Participation in the GSW program provides access to transitional employment and job coaching to support a pathway out of the criminal justice system and reduced recidivism. The average wage, once placed in a job is close to $18 per hour.
The proposed resolution further authorizes the City Administrator to enter into an agreement with CDCR to accept funding for the GSW program from July 1, 2022 through June 30, 2026 and to award a grant agreement to Center for Employment Opportunities (CEO) to continue providing GSW program services uninterrupted during the new grant period for fiscal years FY 2022-2023 through 2024-2025.
T
he GSW program model was detailed in the Oakland Unite Request For Proposal (RFP) for FY 2019-22 services. For GSW, CEO was the sole proposal received. Following review by a panel of experts in the field of reentry and workforce development, the review panel determined that CEO is highly qualified to implement the GSW program.
C
EO continues to meet or exceed all required deliverables and reporting requirements, and maintains strong, positive relationships with Caltrans field supervisors. From July 2019 to December 2021, 725 participants completed Pathways to Employment, a life-skills and pre- employment workshop series. Over 600 participants worked on a transitional work crew that removed close to 122,000 bags of debris from Caltrans right of ways in and around Oakland In addition, 407 GSW participants were placed in permanent, unsubsidized jobs. A total of 343 participants reached 90-days of job retention, 282 met 180-days of job retention, and 250 achieved 365-days of job retention. Also, CEO innovated to add training options not required by CDCR and 402 GSW participants completed industry-recognized training. In light of the continued strong performance on behalf of Oakland’s residents on parole, the DVP seeks to continue partnering with CEO to deliver the GSW program in Oakland.
FISCAL IMPACT
The CDCR GSW funds align with the City of Oakland’s Spending Plan for violence intervention programs, which focus on the citywide goal of reducing shootings and homicides in Oakland and improving outcomes for formerly incarcerated youth and adults.
Approval of this resolution will authorize the City Administrator to accept and appropriate up to $11,842,572 from the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation over three years, and, pending available funding, accept and appropriate a fourth year of funding from Edward D. Reiskin, City Administrator
Subject: Acceptance of CDCR Contract for GSW and Grant Agreement with CEO Date: February 8, 2022 Page 4
City Council
March 15, 2022
CDCR in an amount up to $4,500,000. The funds will be appropriated in the California Board of Corrections Fund (2152), Oakland Unite (70211), Fiscal Year (FY) 2022- 2025 CDCR/GSW Project (TBD), FY 2022-2025 Caltrans Project (TBD), and Fostering Safe and Healthy Communities Program (SC22).
The resolution authorizes the City Administrator to enter into grant agreements with CEO in an amount not to exceed $3,781,572 annually to implement the GSW program through fiscal year 2024-2025. The resolution authorizes the City Administrator to accept and appropriate any additional funds from CDCR for the GSW program within the grant term, and amend the grant agreements to increase the grant amount if additional funding becomes available from CDCR There is no impact to the City's General-Purpose Fund for these grants, GSW funds are fully cost covering.
PUBLIC OUTREACH / INTEREST
GSW is a collaborative effort with DVP and C DCR as primary partners working closely with Caltrans. DVP is in regular communication with CDCR.
COORDINATION
DVP is in regular communication with CDCR and has regular r eview meetings t o analyze progress and program implementation.
This report and legislation have been reviewed by the Budget Bureau, Department of Workplace and Employment Standards, and Office of the City Attorney.
PAST PERFORMANCE, EVALUATION AND FOLLOW -UP
DVP will track program performance through a database and will conduct regular monitoring.
CDCR funding does not provide for evaluation of the GSW model in Oakland. However, tracking of all the contract benchmarks is required which in addition to the number of participants enrolled, include the number who worked transitional jobs, the number placed in permanent jobs, and retention at 90, 180 and 365 days after placement. Of those served, 96% were male and 4% were female, over 411 were younger than 36 years old and over 314 participants were 36 years or older.
As stated above, GSW performance since CEO became a partner in July 2014 has exceeded contract requirements. From Ju ly 2019 to December 2021, 725 participants completed Pathways to Employment life-skills and pre-employment education, 621 worked on a transitional work crew. The GSW work crews removed over 121,876 bags of debris from Caltrans right of ways. In addition, 407 GSW participants were placed in permanent, unsubsidized jobs at an average wage of $17.86. A total of 343 participants reached 90-days of job retention, 282 met Edward D. Reiskin, City Administrator
Subject: Acceptance of CDCR Contract for GSW and Grant Agreement with CEO Date: February 8, 2022 Page 5
City Council
March 15, 2022
180-days of job retention, and 250 achieved 365-days of job retention. Also, 402 clients completed industry-recognized training.
In addi
tion to the performance benchmarks, monthly reports are required on several outcomes including (but not limited to) daily work crew attendance rate, number of interviews created by job developers per month, and the average wage at placement.
SUSTAINABLE OPPORTUNITIES
Economic: Providing stable employment and strong retention support will enable formerly incarcerated individuals to successful transition and become economically self-sufficient members of our local community.
Environmental: GSW work helps support the integrity of Caltrans soil banks, prevents trash runoff from impacting local waterways, beaches and coastlines, and contributes to the beautification of local highways.
Race & Equity: This program will provide skill development, subsidized employment, and job placement for individuals on parole many of whom are people of color due to the disproportionate impact of criminal justice policies and practices.
ACTION REQUESTED OF THE CITY COUNCIL
Staff Recommends That The City Council Adopt A Resolution To Authorize The City Administrator To:
1) Enter Into A Three-Year Agreement With California Department Of Corrections And Rehabilitation (CDCR) And Accept And Appropriate Approximately Three Million Nine Hundred Fifty -Six Thousand Five Hundred Twenty -Two Dollars ($3,956,522) Annually To Implement Golden State Works Transitional Employment And Job Placement Services For Oakland Residents On Parole; And
2) Renew The Agreement With CDCR And Accept And Appropriate Up To Four Million Five Hundred Thousand Dollars ($4,500,000) For A Fourth Year Of Funding If Available; And
3) Enter Into A Three-Year Grant Agreement With Center For Employment Opportunities (CEO), In An Annual Amount Not To Exceed Three Million Seven Hundred Eighty-One Thousand Five Hundred Seventy-Two Dollars ($3,781,572) To Provide Job Placement Services, For A Total Amount Not To Exceed Eleven Million Three Hundred Forty -Four Thousand Seven Hundred Sixteen Dollars ($11,344,716); And
4) Amend The Grant Agreement With CEO To Add A Fourth Year For An Amount Not To Exceed Four Million Three Hundred Thousand Dollars ($4,300,000) If CDCR Awards Additional Funding For A Total Grant Amount Not To Exceed Fifteen Million Six Hundred Forty-Four Thousand Seven Hundred Sixteen Edward D. Reiskin, City Administrator
Subject: Acceptance of CDCR Contract for GSW and Grant Agreement with CEO Date: February 8, 2022 Page 6
City Council
March 15, 2022
Guillermo Cespedes (Feb 24, 2022 10:39 PST)
Dollars ($15,644,716); And
5) Accept And Appropriate Any Additional Funds That Become Available From CDCR Within The Agreement Terms Of July 1, 2022 Through June 30, 2025, For The Same Purposes, And Amend The Grant Agreement With CEO To Increase The Grant Amount.
For questions regarding this report, please contact Guillermo Cespedes, Chief of Violence Prevention at (510) 238-2916.
R
espectfully submitted,
GUILLERMO CESPEDES
Chief, Department of Violence Prevention
Prepared by:
Jessie Warner, Planner