Agenda

Return

C. 23

To:	Board of Supervisors
From:	Marla Stuart, Employment and Human Services Director
Date:	May 10, 2022

Contra

Costa

County

Subject:

Contra Costa Works (CCWORKS) Subsidized Employment Program

APPROVE	OTHER
RECOMMENDATION OF CNTY ADMINISTRATOR	RECOMMENDATION OF BOARD COMMITTEE

Action of Board On: 05/10/2022

APPROVED AS RECOMMENDED

OTHER

Clerks Notes:

VOTE OF SUPERVISORS

AYE:

John Gioia, District I Supervisor
Candace Andersen, District II Supervisor
Diane Burgis, District III Supervisor
Karen Mitchoff, District IV Supervisor
Federal D. Glover, District V Supervisor

Contact:

Stan Hakes (925) 608-4845

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: May 10, 2022
Monica Nino, County Administrator

BY:	, Deputy

RECOMMENDATION(S):

APPROVE and AUTHORIZE the Employment and Human Services Director, or designee, to continue the process of reimbursement to those employers participating in the Contra Costa Works (CCWORKS) Subsidized Employment Program whereby the Employment and Human Services Department (EHSD) will enter into worksite contractual/financial agreements with employers to allow for reimbursement of at least $15 per hour but not to exceed $20 per hour for those CalWORKs clients placed with employers during the period July 1, 2022 through June 30, 2023.

FISCAL IMPACT:

CalWORKs participant wage reimbursements are funded with $857,533 CalWORKs Single Allocation. (94% Federal and 6% State revenue). (CFDA #93.558)

BACKGROUND:

Based upon the success of the subsidized employment programs operated in response to Senate Bill 72 which extended the State reimbursement to counties for subsidized employment programs as authorized by Assembly Bill (AB) 98 (now Assembly Bill 74), the Employment and Human Services Department developed and implemented the subsidized employment program known as Contra Costa Works (CCWORKS).

Following the guidelines and funding options of AB 98 and building upon the success of previous Subsidized Employment and Training (SET) programs operated under the American Recovery and Reimbursement Act (ARRA), the CCWORKS program has been designed very similarly to other programs operated in the Bay Area. CalWORKs participants will be screened into the program and placed with local employers (for-profit, non-profit, and public agencies) who, under contractual/financial worksite agreements, will have the responsibility for the payroll, associated taxes, and workers compensation for the CCWORKS program participant approved and placed within their organization.

The employers will hire the eligible CalWORKs CCWORKS participants upfront and will train the participants to 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 worksite.

The worksite agreement will be signed with the employer for each participant that is placed at the employer's worksite. Under the CCWORKS program, EHSD will reimburse at least $15 per hour and not to exceed $20 per hour (due to the anticipated increase in minimum wage) for a minimum of 20 hours per week to a maximum of 40 hours per week. No overtime will be subsidized. The individual contracts with each employer will state the reimbursement process and those reimbursements will be paid on the contractual timeline of six (6) months.

Monthly reimbursement invoices will be submitted by participating employers for each client employed through the CCWORKS program. The invoices will be reviewed by EHSD CCWORKS staff and submitted to the EHSD Fiscal Unit for payment.

CONSEQUENCE OF NEGATIVE ACTION:

Without approval, the CCWORKS program participants will have fewer employment opportunities and federal and state dollars intended for this purpose will remain unspent.