ORANGE COUNTY CONSERVATION CORPS - 2008

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Orange County Conservation Corps Santa Ana Workforce Investment Board Request for Proposal The Youth Service Provider Network PY 2008/2009 Carry-in: 6 0 0 0 6 Total Served: 22 The OCCC plans to recruit and enroll 13 WIA eligible participants before the end of the second quarter of the program year. Therefore 80% of total new enrollments (13 of 16) for PY 2008-09 will be enrolled before the end of the second quarter. The remaining 3 youth wilt be enrolled before the end of the third quarter of the program year. Under this plan the OCCC will have recruited and served 86% (19 of 22) of the total youth to be served for the program year by the end of the second quarter, allowing sufficient time for youth to be served during the program year. The OCCC serves all youth, not just WlA-eligible youth. For the FY 2007-08, as of April 2008, the OCCC served a total of 235 youth county-wide including 59 Santa Ana youth. 26 of the Santa Ana youth (44%) were served using WIA funds. These 59 Santa Ana youth were recruited and served through 4 OCCC funding sources; • Santa Ana WIA; • National Emergency Grant; • Department of Conservation, Division of Recycling; • OCCC contracts for those not meeting eligibility for the above 2 contracts. To meet these contract demands the OCCC employs a variety of recruitment strategies. On the April 2007 survey referenced above, corpsmembers were asked to list all the ways they have heard or learned about the OCCC and listed the following; friends (26), Probation/Parole (15), family (9), Community partners (6), walk-ins (2), job fairs (2), and street outreach (1). In addition to the normal recruitment strategies of job fairs, partner networks, and presentations to and referrals from local groups and organizations, the OCCC employs "street outreach" to recruit out-of-school youth. Street outreach involves handing out flyers with the OCCC toll-free telephone number (888.641.2677) and website address (www.hireyouth.or~), and interacting with youth where youth "hang out" in Santa Ana such as parks, malls, food courts, week-end community events, and sometimes walking local neighborhoods. Historically the OCCC's most effective recruitment strategy has been referrals from former and current corpsmembers, their family, and friends. Describe collaborations/partnerships that will assist in recruitment. The OCCC participates in more than 40 community events each year and attends a variety of ongoing partner meetings with various agencies county-wide such as the O.C. Workforce Investment Board, the Santa Ana WIA Providers Network and the Youth Leadership Academy. Other agencies would include, but are not limited to, Corrections, Probation, and various Social Services agencies both public and nonprofit such as Olive Crest. Therefore any staff member attending a meeting with other agencies or provider networks (i.e. Corrections, Probation, Social Services Agency) in other parts of the county will be recruiting for all OCCC programs including Santa Ana WIA. It is not uncommon to get a referral from someone who attended an Page 6 of 24