Agenda

Return

C.42

To:	Board of Supervisors
From:	Joe Valentine, Employment & Human Services Director
Date:	November 8, 2011

Contra

Costa

County

Subject:

Subsidized Employment Program Worksite Agreement

APPROVE	OTHER
RECOMMENDATION OF CNTY ADMINISTRATOR	RECOMMENDATION OF BOARD COMMITTEE

Action of Board On: 11/08/2011

APPROVED AS RECOMMENDED

OTHER

Clerks Notes:

VOTE OF SUPERVISORS

AYE:

John Gioia, District I Supervisor
Gayle B. Uilkema, District II Supervisor
Mary N. Piepho, District III Supervisor
Karen Mitchoff, District IV Supervisor
Federal D. Glover, District V Supervisor

Contact:

Wendy Therrian, 313-1593

I hereby certify that this is a true and correct copy of an action taken and entered on the minutes of the Board of Supervisors on the date shown.
ATTESTED: November 8, 2011
David Twa,

BY:	, Deputy

RECOMMENDATION(S):

APPROVE and AUTHORIZE the Employment and Human Service Director, or designee, to implement the CCWORKS (Contra Costa Works) Subsidized Employment Program process of reimbursement for employees participating in the program and enter into the worksite contractual/financial agreements with employers to reimbursement up to $8 per hour for those CalWORKS clients placed with the employers.

FISCAL IMPACT:

$750,000, AB 98 and CalWORKs Single Allocation (85% Federal, 15% State), to be used for subsidized wages for up to 80 CalWORKs participants who will be engaged in the CCWORKS program from October 2011 through June 2012. Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA) number 93.558. (No County match)

BACKGROUND:

Based upon the success of subsidized employment programs operated under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) and in response to Senate Bill (SB) 72 which expanded upon State reimbursement to counties for subsidized employment programs authorized by Assembly Bill (AB) 98, the Department has developed a subsidized employment program, known as CCWORKS (Contra Costa WORKS).

Following the guidelines and funding options of SB 72 and building upon the success of our previous Subsidized Employment and Training (SET) program operated under ARRA, the CCWORKS progam has been designed very similarly to other successful subsidized employment programs in the Bay Area. CalWORKS participants will be screened into the program and placed with local employers (for profit, non-profit, and public agencies) which will be responsible (under contractual/financial) worksite agreements for the payroll, associated taxes, and workers compensation for each CCWORKS program participant approved and worksited within their organization.

The employers will be hiring the eligible CalWORKS CCWORKS participants up front and will train the participants to the appropriate skills for the position in which they are placed. CCWORKS participants will receive a wage comparable to those workers performing the same or like duties at the employer worksite.

A worksite agreement (attached) will be signed by the Department with the employer for each participant placed at that employer's worksite. Under the CCWORKS program, the Department will reimburse up to $8 an hour for a minimum of 20 hours weekly to a maximum of 40 hours weekly (no overtime will be subsidized). The individual contracts with each employer will state the reimbursement process and those reimbursements will not exceed $9,000 per participant over the contractual timeline of six months.

Monthly reimbursement invoices will be submitted by participating employers for each client employed through the CCWORKS program. The invoices will be reviewed by program staff for accuracy and submitted to the Employment and Human Services Department's Fiscal Unit for payment issuance.

CONSEQUENCE OF NEGATIVE ACTION:

If not approved, there will be a delay in the implementation of the CCWORKS program and already developed work opportunities for eligible CalWORKS clients with local employers who have urgent staffing needs will be adversely impacted.

CHILDREN'S IMPACT STATEMENT:

Not applicable.