Agenda

Return

C. 76

To:	Board of Supervisors
From:	Kathy Gallagher, Employment & Human Services Director
Date:	June 11, 2019

Contra

Costa

County

Subject:

Contra Costa Works (CCWORKS) Program

APPROVE	OTHER
RECOMMENDATION OF CNTY ADMINISTRATOR	RECOMMENDATION OF BOARD COMMITTEE

Action of Board On: 06/11/2019

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:

Elaine Burres 608-4960

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: June 11, 2019
David Twa,

BY:	, Deputy

RECOMMENDATION(S):

APPROVE and AUTHORIZE the Employment and Human Services Director, or designee, to enter into worksite contractual/financial agreements with employers participating in the CCWORKS (Contra Costa Works) Subsidized Employment Program, whereby participating employers are reimbursed no more than $13 per hour (and no more than $20 per hour if employer pays above minimum wage) for those CalWORKs (California Work Opportunity and Responsibility to Kids) clients worksited with the employers, during the period July 1, 2019 through June 30, 2020.

FISCAL IMPACT:

CalWORKs participant wage reimbursements are funded with CalWORKs Single Allocation, which is 85% Federal and 15% State funds. Cumulative reimbursements are not to exceed total program reimbursements of $960,666.

BACKGROUND:

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

Following 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, the CCWORKS program has been designed very similarly to other programs in the Bay Area. CalWORKs participants will be screened into the CCWORKS program and placed with local employers (for-profit, non-profit, and public agencies) who will have the responsibility for, under a contractual/financial worksite agreement, the payroll, associated taxes, and worksite compensation for participants approved and worksited within their organization.

Employers will interview CCWORKS participants upfront and, if they meet the criteria for the position, will hire and train them in skills appropriate 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 placed at the employers worksite. Under the CCWORKS program, EHSD will reimburse no more than $13 per hour to employers that pay minimum wage and no more than $20 per hour to employers that pay above minimum wage, for a minimum of 20 hours per week and at a maximum of 40 hours per week. No overtime will be subsidized. The individual contracts with each employer will state the reimbursement process and the reimbursement will be paid on the contractual timeline of six months.

Monthly reimbursements 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 will continue reliance on public benefits.