City Council
June 7, 2022
AGENDA REPORT
TO: Edward D. Reiskin FROM: Alexa Jeffress
City Administrator Director Economic and
Workforce Development
Department
SUBJECT: Summer Youth Employment
Contracts
DATE: May 11, 2022
City Administrator Approval Date:
RECOMMENDATION:
Staff Recommends That The City Council Adopt A Resolution Authorizing The City Administrator To:
1. Apply For, Accept, And Appropriate Grants And Contributions And To Allocate Any Additional Funds Raised For The City’s Summer Youth Employment Program And Services Of The Oakland Workforce Development Board Without Returning To The City Council; And
2. Negotiate And Execute Grant Agreements For The 2022 Summer Youth Employment Program Between The City Of Oakland And: Lao Family Community Development, Inc., Youth Employment Partnership, Inc., And Trybe, Inc. Pursuant To A Request For Proposals For Fiscal Years 2022-2025.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Staff recommends that the City Council approve funding to provide Summer Youth Employment Program opportunities for Fiscal Years 2022-25 to the following three (3) nonprofit organizations: Lao Family Community Development, Inc., Youth Employment Partnership, and Trybe Inc. Funding recommendations are made with consideration to location of services, service to priority populations, strategic alignment, past performance, and reasonableness and feasibility of budget and activities. Grant agreements between the City and each provider would be for a term of one year with two (1) one-year extensions. Funding is allocated per year based on funding availability.
The Oakland Workforce Development Board (OWDB) partnered with Oakland Fund for Children and Youth (OFCY) on a joint 2022-2025 Request for Proposals (RFP) to leverage and align funding of summer youth employment programs and services and streamline program implementation. Four (4) applicants submitted proposals for funding for the OWDB Summer Youth Employment Program. Three (3) of those applicants were qualified based on the eligibility criteria after a review by OFCY staff, the OFCY Planning and Oversight Ad-Hoc Review Subcommittee, OWDB staff, and an outside group of readers and reviewers. In addition to May 26, 2022
Edward D. Reiskin, City Administrator
Subject: General Fund Contract Extension to WIOA Adult and Youth Service Providers Date: April 27, 2022 Page 2
City Council
June 7, 2022
OWDB funding recommendations of $262,572, OFCY through a separate action, will be recommending funding of $300,000 to the organizations listed above for a combined funding amount of $562,572 for summer youth employment program and services. Table 1 outlines the recommended funding amounts.
Table 1: OWDB and OFCY Funding Recommendations for Summer 2022 Agency Name OWDB
Recommended
Funding Amount
OFCY
Recommended
Funding Amount
Total Funds
Requested
Youth
Served
Lao Family
Community
Development, Inc.
$125,000 $125,000 $250,000 85
Trybe, Inc. $12,572 $50,000 $62,572 20
Youth Employment
Partnership, Inc.
$125,000 $125,000 $250,000 100
TOTAL $262,572 $300,000 $562,572 205
This funding represents the amounts requested by the providers in their RFP responses and does not fully utilize the budgeted funding available to support the Summer Youth Employment Program this year. At the time of this report, staff are in discussion with the service providers listed above and exploring options to expand summer jobs programming to fully expend available funds. All remaining funds as well as additional funds raised through ongoing fundraising efforts will be distributed to these organizations in a manner consistent with the Summer Youth Employment Program goals and service providers’ organizational capacity.
BACKGROUND AND LEGISLATIVE HISTORY
History of the Summer Youth Employment Program
The City of Oakland (City), along with partners from the public, private, and nonprofit sectors, has had a longstanding commitment to providing summer jobs and other work-based learning opportunities for Oakland youth for more than four decades. The cornerstone of this effort focuses on investing in the Summer Youth Employment Program, which provides funds to subsidize paid jobs and work experience opportunities sponsored through local nonprofit organizations. The level of direct investment in this program varies from year to year, while the funding to support it has historically come from public, private, and philanthropic sources.
The Summer Youth Employment Program prioritizes services for Black, Latinx, Native American, and Pacific Islander opportunity youth not connected to the traditional school system.
Services focus on youth aged 16-21 who are not working, have little to no work experience, and reside in East Oakland, Fruitvale, and West Oakland. The Summer Youth Employment Program provides Oakland youth with opportunities to earn money, gain meaningful work experience and improve their job-readiness skills. The City contracts with local youth-serving organizations to:
• Recruit and enroll youth in the program
• Provide youth with high-quality job-readiness training • Identify organizations to serve as work sites for youth Edward D. Reiskin, City Administrator
Subject: General Fund Contract Extension to WIOA Adult and Youth Service Providers Date: April 27, 2022 Page 3
City Council
June 7, 2022
• Act as the employer-of-record/fiscal sponsor for youth whose wages are subsidized through the program
Partnership with OFCY on Joint Request for Proposals
Since 2019 OFCY and the OWDB have partnered to coordinate and align the summer youth employment program model, leverage opportunities to engage, support, and provide technical assistance to contract youth service providers, and align reporting requirements. The partnership with OFCY co-funds nonprofit service providers through a joint RFP to deliver summer programming. The programs include job readiness training, 100 hours of paid (minimum wage) work experience, and financial literacy support. Over the years it has supported hundreds of youths to gain first- time job experience and provided hundreds of thousands of dollars directly to youth through earnings.
OFCY partnered with the OWDB again this year to issue a joint RFP for summer job services for 2022-2025, providing high school youth aged 16-21 with first time job experience during the summer months to gain experience and earn a wage between the school years. This coordinated approach allows the City to widen its network of funded youth service providers with an emphasis on serving priority youth populations and priority service locations and implement intentional models to provide programming that meets youth at various stages of work readiness. The OWDB is fostering additional partnerships to implement a summer conversation strategy, offering resources and support to connect to youth participants to permanent employment at the completion of their engagement in the summer program.
The joint OFCY and OWDB RFP was released January 10, 2022, and applications were due February 22, 2022. More information is available at:
https://www.oaklandca.gov/projects/rfp-for-
2022-2025-summer-services
Oakland Workforce Development Board Discussion and Approval
At a Special Meeting on May 12, 2022, the OWDB considered and approved the 2022 Summer Youth Employment funding recommendations outlined in this report. For more information, see:
https://www.oaklandca.gov/meeting/special-oakland-workforce-development-board-meeting-4
Updated Summer Youth Employment Website
For Summer 2022 staff have improved the existing online platform that will centralize and increase exposure to donors and businesses and help establish credibility and longevity for the Summer Youth Employment Program. The recently updated website makes it easier to navigate and connect young people to the organizations providing the job opportunities. Visit:
https://
oaklandca.gov/wdb
ANALYSIS AND POLICY ALTERNATIVES
In the OWDB Local Plan (2021-2024)1, a focus area is working with public, private, and community-based organizations on local initiatives to empower disconnected young people in the City of Oakland through employment opportunities. The Summer Youth Employment
1 https://www.oaklandca.gov/topics/2021-24-local-plan
Edward D. Reiskin, City Administrator
Subject: General Fund Contract Extension to WIOA Adult and Youth Service Providers Date: April 27, 2022 Page 4
City Council
June 7, 2022
Program is a key program offering youth employment opportunities bringing together multiple resources from public, private, and community-based organizations.
Currently the estimated funding available to support the 2022 Summer Youth Employment Program, including funding for the programs run by both OWDB and OFCY, is as follows:
Table 2: FY 2022 Funds Available for Summer Youth Employment Program Revenue Sources OFCY OWDB TOTAL
Private Fundraising (anticipated) $100,000 $100,000
Measure HH
Sugar-Sweetened Beverage Tax
$350,000 $350,000
OFCY Funds $300,000 $300,000
TOTAL $300,000 $450,000 $750,000
For the 2022 Summer Youth Employment Program RFP, a total of three (3) organizations submitted qualified applications to operate subsidized summer jobs, requesting $562,572 in total, as referenced in Table 1.
In reviewing the applications, the OWDB considered social, racial, and economic equity in the distribution of funds in accordance with the Oakland Equity Indicators Report and the OWDB Racial Equity Analysis. After review, it was determined that all three of the applicants have well developed and described program models, have the capacity to be an employer of record for youth participants, are within an acceptable range of costs per participant and have employer connections to place youth in work experience opportunities and jobs as designed under the current configuration of the Summer Youth Employment Program. This model includes pre- employment and job retention training, paid work experience at the City’s new minimum wage rate of $15.30/hour or higher, and ongoing case management.
OWDB recommended funding to support the three (3) recommended organizations at their requested levels, with funding totaling $262,572 consistent with Table 1. In addition, the OFCY Planning, and Oversight Committee recommended separate funding to also support the three (3) recommended organizations, with funding totaling $300,000 in OFCY funding. Combined this would leverage $562,572 for the 2022 Summer Youth Employment Program.
The additional funding remaining for the 2022 Summer Youth Employment Program, as described in Table 2 above, will be distributed to these organizations in a manner consistent with the Summer Youth Employment Program goals and service providers’ organizational capacity after further discussion with the providers and analysis by staff. This recommendation advances the Citywide goal of economic and cultural security.
FISCAL IMPACT
This request represents a budget that includes $262,572 of Measure HH funding for three organizations for summer youth employment. The 2022 OWDB Summer Youth Employment Program is being supported by the following funding sources:
Edward D. Reiskin, City Administrator
Subject: General Fund Contract Extension to WIOA Adult and Youth Service Providers Date: April 27, 2022 Page 5
City Council
June 7, 2022
• Measure HH: As part of the City’s biennial budget, the OWDB was granted $400,000 annually from Measure HH (sugar-sweetened beverage tax). The goal of this investment is to help connect young people’s summer work experiences to support the primary mission and vision of these funds. A total of $50,000 of Measure HH funding is allocated to staff to administer and monitor the program. Funding is budgeted in Measure HH (SSBDT) Fund (1030), Workforce Development Organization (85311), Various Accounts, Measure HH Healthy Kids Program Project (1003817), Workforce Development Program (SC03).
• Other Funds: The OWDB anticipates securing $100,000 in private grant funds to support a summer employment program for Oakland youth ages 16-21. Most of these funds will go toward paying for the costs of subsidized jobs, with a portion going to the City’s nonprofit partner who is serving as the applicant agency. There are also other fundraising efforts underway that could add to this total. Should additional private funds be secured or not materialize for programming, the provider funding amount will be adjusted accordingly.
Funding is budgeted in Miscellaneous Trust Fund (7999), Workforce Development Org (85311), Various Accounts, Mayor Summer Youth Project (1000500), Workforce Development Program (SC03)
PUBLIC OUTREACH / INTEREST
Organizations being recommended for funding detailed robust outreach and engagement strategies for connecting youth to the program as well as recruiting businesses and organizations to serve as worksites. The organizations outlined recruitment and retention strategies and have a demonstrated record of success in focusing on priority youth populations:
OWDB prioritizes services for African American/Black, Latinx, Native American, and Pacific Islander youth (ages 16–21) residing in East Oakland, Fruitvale, and West Oakland, with an emphasis on serving opportunity youth (i.e., not employed or in school). This action was previously presented for discussion and approval to the OWDB at a Special Meeting on May 12, 2022.
COORDINATION
Workforce Development division staff and the OWDB work closely with OFCY to develop program model and design. Additionally, staff also works closely with the City Attorney’s Office for counsel and advice on matters such as proper noticing, board process, and conflicts of interest and with the Department of Workplace and Employment Standards, which supports contracts and contract amendments. Workforce Development is a division within the Department of Economic and Workforce Development (EWDD).
SUSTAINABLE OPPORTUNITIES
Economic: Oakland’s Workforce Development system provides qualified workers, including youth, for Oakland businesses and prepares Oakland residents for gainful employment and career paths leading to family sustaining jobs.
Environmental: This report does not directly address environmental sustainability.
Edward D. Reiskin, City Administrator
Subject: General Fund Contract Extension to WIOA Adult and Youth Service Providers Date: April 27, 2022 Page 6
City Council
June 7, 2022
Race & Equity: Oakland’s Workforce Development system prioritizes services to targeted populations (African American and Latinx) and geographic areas of Oakland (East and West), that have the highest numbers of residents who face disproportionately high levels of unemployment. Per the 2020 OWDB Race and Equity Analysis, the Workforce Development division identified critical disparities in employment access in Oakland, specifically in “[t]he communities of East Oakland, Fruitvale, and West Oakland, where a high number of Black and Latinx residents live and are unemployed at higher rates than the general population... including the zip codes 94621, 94603, 94605, 94601,94607.”
Edward D. Reiskin, City Administrator
Subject: General Fund Contract Extension to WIOA Adult and Youth Service Providers Date: April 27, 2022 Page 7
City Council
June 7, 2022
ACTION REQUESTED OF THE CITY COUNCIL:
Staff Recommends That The City Council adopt a Resolution Authorizing the City Administrator To:
1) Apply For, Accept, And Appropriate Grants and Contributions And To Allocate Any Such Additional Funds Upon Receipt To The City For The Summer Youth Employment Program And Services Of The Oakland Workforce Development Board Without Returning to Council; And
2) Negotiate And Execute Grant Agreements For The Summer Youth Employment Program Between The City Of Oakland And Lao Family Community Development, Inc., Youth Employment Partnership, Inc., and Trybe, Inc. Pursuant To A Request For Proposals For Fiscal Years 2022-2025
Respectfully submitted,
ALEXA JEFFRESS
Director, Economic & Workforce Development
Department
Reviewed by:
Sofia Navarro, Executive Director, Workforce
Development
Prepared by:
Honorata Lindsay, Program Analyst III
Workforce Development, Economic &
Workforce Development Department