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4 <br />of the Accountant, and additional in -kind staffing support provided by the Program Manager, <br />Director of Strategic Partnerships, Director of Finance and Administration, Executive <br />Director, and support from our Youth Program Coordinators and county - funded WIA <br />program staff. OCAPICA leverages additional support from Wells Fargo, County of Orange, <br />Health Care Agency, Southern California Edison, and College Access Foundation to <br />continue to support adequate staffing. <br />E. Since 2010, OCAPICA has been operating an OC W113-funded Youth Employment Program. <br />Staff members (both funded and in -kind) have extensive experience in delivering WIA <br />services to the youth population in Orange County. If funded, OCAPICA is proposing to <br />dedicate two experienced staff members to serve Santa Ana youth, each of whom have <br />served as WIA case managers. Additionally, these staff members are bilingual in either <br />Spanish or Vietnamese. <br />III. PROBLEM STATEMENT <br />A. OCAPICA has found a high concentration of youth and young adults who are trying to move <br />beyond their barriers and challenging histories that sometimes prevent them from finding and <br />obtaining higher wage career opportunities. These young adults have a past history that <br />makes it challenging to enter into a new profession. Their opportunities are limited resulting <br />in a variety of negative outcomes including remaining in non - living wage jobs, returning to <br />gang life, homelessness, dropping out of school, and unemployment. <br />IV. BARRIERS <br />A. OCAPICA will focus this program upon serving low- income young adults aged 16 through <br />21. Among this population, OCAPICA will focus on: <br />Foster and /or Emancipated Youth: OCAPICA currently works with Rising Tide from the <br />Orangewood Children's Foundation to provide a coordinated service approach. OCAPICA staff <br />maintain regular communication with Rising Tide staff to ensure that services and activities from <br />each agency complement each other. In addition, OCAPICA participates on the Department of <br />Social Services ERDD (Eliminating Racial Disparities and Disproportionality) Advisory Group <br />to address the issue of minority children in the Social Service system and networks with these <br />partners to receive additional referrals. <br />Youth with Disabilities: OCAPICA receives referrals from and works with the <br />workability programs at various schools and colleges, and partners with the Department of <br />Rehabilitation to serve this population. OCAPICA staff coordinate with school and Rehab staff <br />to ensure that the participants are receiving coordinated and complementary services from each <br />agency. <br />Youth on Probation: In the past two years of the Youth Employment Program, OCAPICA <br />has worked very closely with the Orange County Probation Department. In particular, <br />OCAPICA staff members, including the Youth Employment Program Manager, serve on the <br />Department's Juvenile Detention Alternatives Initiative (JDAI), a proven method of assigning <br />the least restrictive community-based rehabilitative alternatives for low -risk offenders who do <br />not pose a risk to public safety. OCAPICA receives referrals directly from Probation <br />Department programs such as the Center for Opportunity, ReEntry, and Education (CORE) and <br />EXHIBIT A <br />25D -43 <br />