Item 24 - Regional and Unified Local Workforce Plan for PY 2021-24

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moving into employment with family-sustaining wages. Workforce development programs and supports should not be designed as a one-size-fits-all solution. The populations we serve are diverse, and program designs should reflect this diversity if we are going to close the skills gap and combat economic inequality. Career pathways are a service-delivery model that can close achievement gaps and advance racial equity by helping individuals build skills over time. Career pathways are a long-term approach to serving individuals with limited basic skills or other employment barriers that the local boards are committed to developing. Sector partnership work will also provide an opportunity for the RPU to address issues such as degree inflation that tend to exclude minorities from jobs during the hiring process. According to Manjari Raman, director of Harvard Business School’s project on Managing the Future of Work, degree inflation refers to jobs that historically required more than a high school diploma or less than a college degree but now require a college degree 24. Explicitly requiring degrees for positions instead of the jobs’ skills exacerbates the effect of racial disparities in educational achievement and eliminates workers who may have acquired the skills in other ways. Also, through sector partnership work, other hiring practices that disproportionately affect minorities, such as automatically excluding potential employees using criminal background checks and credit checks, can be discussed. Another strategy that the sector partnerships will address is creating work-based learning programs and pre-apprenticeship programs. Pre-apprenticeships can be valuable for people of color who have been historically underrepresented in apprenticeships. Work-based learning programs can provide vital formal access to employers that the population may not have had when relying on their existing professional and social networks. During the regional planning meetings, two general themes surfaced every session. One was how some people lacked access to OC One-Stop services and the second issue was the lack of digital literacy and access to broadband services. These are issues that the pandemic has exacerbated. Attendees discussed how transportation and childcare needs, and a general lack of understanding of the services available, contribute to preventing a large percentage of those most in need of assistance from accessing them. The local boards recognize specific populations require more outreach and require unique methods and strategies for locating, attracting, and retaining their participation in workforce programs. The Orange County Board recently purchased a mobile unit equipped with 12 computers inside and a monitor outside for presentations. The mobile unit is accessible by wheelchair by using the wheelchair lift. The mobile unit will serve as a mobile One-Stop Center for the Orange County community. During the regional planning meetings, the local boards discussed options for deploying the mobile unit to low-income communities, areas not close to a comprehensive One-Stop Center, and partner locations to increase access and awareness of services. Also, the partners will explore developing and using outreach and communication responsive to the targeted populations. The boards and partner agencies will also explore additional referral agreements and referral processes with 24 Morgan, Kate. “'Degree Inflation': How the Four-Year Degree Became Required.” BBC Worklife, BBC, 28 Jan. 2021, www.bbc.com/worklife/article/20210126-degree-inflation-how-the-four-year-degree-became- required#:~:text=Cornett%20is%20a%20victim%20of,Managing%20the%20Future%20of%20Work. EXHIBIT 1