Item 09 - Biennial Modification to the PY 2021-24 Regional and Local Workforce Plan

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Orange RPU 2023 Biennial Modification to PY 2021-24 Regional Plan 32 2) improving the quality of jobs in key sectors where many low-income people work28. The RPU and regional partners understand the importance of developing strategies that accomplish both. Through industry sector work, the RPU is committed to ensuring that workforce development services and job training provide a bridge to greater financial stability. The Orange RPU understands its role in investing in and advocating for quality jobs. The RPU will develop a standard tool for determining job quality to assess what industries, companies, and jobs to target. The region will prioritize working with employers that provide quality jobs and those interested in improving their job quality and being part of moving low-wage workers into better-paying positions. Regional partners are committed to developing protocols that focus on engaging businesses that provide quality jobs or have an interest in improving job quality. The RPU will work with business leaders to ask questions and begin conversations around job quality, helping businesses understand how workforce investments can improve their competitive advantage. Through sector work, the RPU will work with businesses and regional partners to identify entry-level positions and develop career pathways with multiple entry and exit points, ensuring individuals understand their path to self-sufficiency. The region will review high- road employment practices and strategies to design better jobs. The RPU will also target on-the-job and incumbent worker training funding toward quality jobs that provide upward mobility. B. Shared Target Populations and Targeted Service Strategies The one-stop delivery system provides the local boards and partners the framework to continue and advance discussions of how workforce programs can be more effective, efficient, and aligned. The RPU and partner organizations have identified and are currently addressing the needs of shared target populations, including English language learners, justice-involved individuals, individuals with disabilities, veterans, and disconnected and foster youth. During the development of the original PY 21-24 Regional Plan and its 2023 modification, a recurring theme in planning meetings was that organizations seeking to serve these populations would benefit from stronger linkages with other organizations doing the same or complementary work. The RPU has regularly scheduled meetings to address service delivery and performance for these targeted groups. During the regional planning meetings, the local boards and partners shared promising practices to address English language learners’ specific challenges. The group discussed two distinct subcategories, those with low skills and education and those with higher skills and educational degrees from other countries. The RPU and partners committed to reconvene to discuss how we can collectively improve 28 Maureen Conway et al., Sectoral Strategies for Low-Income Workers: Lessons from the Field (Washington, DC: Aspen Institute, October 1, 2007), https://www.aspeninstitute.org/publications/sectoral-strategies-low-income-workers-lessons-field/ EXHIBIT 1