ORANGE COUNTY CONSERVATION CORPS (2) - 2009

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Exhibit A Orange County Conservation Corps Santa Ana Workforce Investment Board -The Youth Service Provider Network Request for Proposal PY 2009/201 D PROPOSAL NARRATIVE I. ABOUT OUR PROGRAM A. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The Orange County Conservation Corps (OCCC) is a nonprofit, certified local conservation corps, one of 12 certified local conservation corps in California. As a certified local conservation corps, the OCCC operates under the California Public Resources Code which mandates several program components including paid work experience job training, education, life skills and pre-employment training. The OCCC must maintain its certification each year through an annual certification review. The OCCC incorporates a variety of youth and workforce development best practices into its program design. The OCCC has been recognized by two national youth serving organizations for demonstrating best practices. The OCCC was one of 14 organizations to be recognized in 2002 by The Corps Network (TCN), formally The National Association of Service and Conservation Corps (NASCC), for "Excellence in Corps Operations" (ECO). This was a four year award from 2001-2005 that was recently renewed for 2006-2010. In 2003 the OCCC was recognized by the National Youth Employment Coalition and was selected as a PEPNet Awardee for 2003-2007 for "Demonstrating Effective Practices in the Field of Youth Employment and Development". The OCCC was also recognized by the Orange County League of Conservation Voters as the Orange County Environmental Education Program of the Year for 2005. Our Mission: The Orange County Conservation Corps serves young, at-risk adults through employment, training and educational programs that build self-sufficiency and benefit the community through conservation-related projects. The OCCC normally employs more than 280 youth each year from throughout Orange County to work on projects developed by the OCCC for local cities, county agencies, and other nonprofit agencies in the county. As a transitional work and job training program, the OCCC recruits and employs 18-25 year old young adults, and trains them to carry out the job duties needed to complete a variety of OCCC projects, primarily inhabitat/trail/park restoration, construction, and recycling. These work projects, along with other OCCC program components and activities, are designed to fulfill OCCC's mission. The various OCCC program components provide OCCC participants (corpsmembers),tyith paid work experience to learn work skills and develop a work ethic while developing a sense of community responsibility and leadership skills. The OCCC also requires corpsmembers to be enrolled in an education program to further their formal education. The OCCC is affiliated with theJohn Muir Charter5chool, which is chartered and administered by the Nevada County, CA, Superintendent of Schools. OCCC corpsmembers who do not have a high school diploma are enrolled in the OCCC/John Muir Charter School to acquire credits and meet other requirements to earn their high school diploma, including the successful passing of the California High School Exit Exam. Those corpsmembers that have their high school diploma at the time of hire, or those that earn their high school diploma while working at the OCCC, are required to enroll in some form of post-secondary education; community college, Regional Occupation Programs (ROP), or local trade schools to continue their education. Page 1 of 21