ORANGE COUNTY CONSERVATION CORPS (4) -2010

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Orange County Conservation Corps Santa Ana Workforce Investment Board - The Youth Service Provider Network Request for Proposal PY 201012011 PROPOSAL NARRATIVE FOR YSPN MEMBERSHIP 1. About the Program The Orange County Conservation Corps is a nonprofit, certified local conservation corps, one of twelve certified local conservation corps in California. As a certified local conservation corps, the Orange County Conservation Corp 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 Corp must maintain its certification each year through an annual certification review. The Orange County Conservation Corps incorporates a variety of youth and workforce development best practices into its program design; and the Corp has been recognized by two national youth serving organizations for incorporating best practices into their programs. The Orange County Conservation Corps was one of 14 organizations to be recognized in 2002 for "Excellence in Corps Operations" by The Corps Network (TCN). This was a four year award from 2001-2005 and it was recently renewed for 2006-2010. In 2003 the Corps was recognized by the National Youth Employment Coalition and was selected as a PEP Net Awardee for 2003-2007 for "Demonstrating Effective Practices in the Field of Youth Employment and Development". The OCCC mission is: 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. Currently, the Orange County Conservation Corps administers an employment, education and training program and will enroll more than 200 youth/young adults from throughout Orange County. The youth/young adults enrolled in the Corp are designated as Corpsmembers. As a part of their training, Corpsmembers are placed in work experience training for on-the-job training, and they are paid for the work they do. These paid work experience placements have been developed by the Corp to assist local cities, county agencies, and other nonprofit agencies with their conservation needs. The Orange County Conservation Corps work projects are environmentally-based and benefit the community, such as: • Beverage container recycling • Green construction, such as solar panel installation • Water conservation efforts, including synthetic turf installation • Fuel load reduction and reforestation • Urban tree planting and environment enhancement • Transportation enhancement and other infrastructure projects • Construction and maintenance of park facilities • Energy conservation and alternative energy retrofits page 1 of 23 EXHIBIT A