The Foundation for California Community Colleges (FoundationCCC), in partnership with the California Workforce Development Board (CWDB), is pleased to announce the availability of up to $4,200,000 in funding through the Breaking Barriers to Employment Initiative (Breaking Barriers).
Donor Name: California Workforce Development Board (CWDB)
State: California
County: All Counties
Type of Grant: Grant
Deadline: 12/08/2023
Size of the Grant: Up to $500,000
Grant Duration: 1 year
Details:
The initiative aims to ensure that individuals from target populations receive the necessary supplemental, supportive, remedial, and wraparound services they need to successfully enter, participate in, and complete workforce and education programs and enter, be retained, and advance in the labor market.
This initiative focuses on innovative approaches to, and proven practices for, addressing racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic disparities in the labor market. Successful projects will create pipelines to quality jobs, upward mobility, and income security for workers historically excluded from quality jobs and economic prosperity.
Goals
The primary objectives of Breaking Barriers are:
- Focus on innovative approaches to, and proven practices for, addressing racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic disparities in the labor market.
- Provide individuals with barriers to employment the services and support they need to be successful in entering, participating, and completing broader workforce preparation, training, and education programs within pathways aligned with regional labor market needs. Those who complete these programs should have the skills and competencies necessary to successfully enter the labor market, retain employment, and earn wages that lead to self-sufficiency and, eventually, economic mobility, and security.
- Deliver services through collaborative partnerships between mission-driven communitybased organizations and local workforce development boards with experience providing services and relevant relationships to target populations.
Funding Information
- Grant Award Amounts Applicants defined as small community-based organizations (annual budgets less than or equal to $1.5M) may request up to $300,000 in grant funds to complete proposed grant activities.
- Applicants with annual budgets exceeding $1.5M may request up to $500,000 in grant funds to complete proposed grant activities.
- The estimated contract term will be May 1, 2024 – April 30, 2025.
Eligible Activities
Eligible activities for initiative and grant funds shall include, but are not limited to, all the following:
- English language improvement training
- Culturally and linguistically relevant academic enrichment, basic skills training, tutoring, and adult education
- High school diploma and GED acquisition and other remedial education and workforce readiness skills training
- Industry certifications
- Skills and vocational training that aligns with regional labor market needs identified as part of the California Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act regional planning process
- Work experience and on-the-job training.
- Stipends and income and language supports for trainees
- Earn and Learn training, Apprenticeships, and Pre-Apprenticeship programming offered in a manner that is consistent with the requirements of Unemployment Insurance Code Section 14230, regardless of whether the pre-apprenticeship program funding source includes California Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act funds.
- Mentoring
- Entrepreneurial training and support for small business development
- Know-your-rights training
- Supportive services
- Mental health services, trauma-informed care, and wraparound support services
- Employer education
- Activities undertaken pursuant to Unemployment Insurance Code Section 14033(d)
Eligibility Criteria
Applicants must align with the mission of this initiative and, at a minimum, must include a designation of either 1) a lead community-based organization (must provide proof of 501c3 status by uploading Form 990 through application uploads) OR 2) local workforce development board as a single fiscal agent with experience in providing services consistent with the objectives of this initiative and to the populations specified. Current recipients of AB 628.
Examples of community-based organizations examples include, but are not limited to:
- Faith-based
- Business-based
- Labor-based (including labor-management partnerships and labor-community partnerships)
- Cultural-based
- Services-based organizations
- Employment social enterprises
- Worker centers
For more information, visit CWDB.
