The California Workforce Development Board (CWDB) is pleased to announce the Helping Justice-Involved Reenter Employment (HIRE) initiative, a new funding opportunity for community-based organizations (CBOs) and other non-profits to provide employment services to justice-involved individuals.
Donor Name: California Workforce Development Board (CWDB)
State: California
County: All Counties
Type of Grant: Grant
Deadline: 07/10/2023
Size of the Grant: Up to $750,000
Details:
Approximately $50,000,000 is available to qualified grantees. The initiative’s objectives are to:
- Increase employment opportunities and job mobility for formerly incarcerated and justice-involved individuals.
- Provide training, reskilling and upskilling, and supportive services to justice-involved individuals to improve employment opportunities and job mobility.
In alignment with these objectives, the HIRE initiative will fund community-based organizations and other non-profits that specialize in serving the reentry population and demonstrate the following:
- Relationships with employers that hire individuals with a criminal record.
- A history of developing training programs with feedback from the reentry population.
Under HIRE, CWDB seeks to fund organizations that advance the goals of its Strategic Plan and build workforce system infrastructure and capacity through:
- Collaboration among partners to develop service delivery strategies and align resources to connect the supervised population to employment.
- Innovation that creates new or adapts existing approaches or accelerates application of promising practices in workforce development and skill attainment.
- System change that utilizes these funds to incentivize the adoption of proven strategies and innovations that are sustained beyond the grant period.
Key program components based on stakeholder feedback that have been integrated into this initiative include:
- A program model and funding structure designed to enhance and/or create partnerships that provide equitable access and support for CBOs to manage state funds.
- A program framework that supports projects that deliver direct participant assistance to program participants including stipends and needs-related payments.
- A unique data collection approach intended to track outcomes beyond traditional workforce development reporting metrics, such as obtaining a driver’s license or moving into housing.
HIRE Project Types
The CWDB has identified four different project types for the HIRE initiative:
- Independent projects
- HIRE Network Hubs
- HIRE Networks Spokes
- Technical Assistance (TA)
Funding Information
- Large CBOs (with an annual budget greater than $1.5 million) applying as a Spoke may request up to $750,000 to complete proposed grant activities.
- Small CBOs (with an annual budget less than or equal to $1.5 million) applying as a Spoke may request up to $350,000 to complete proposed grant activities.
Eligible Activities
HIRE funds will be awarded as a single contract for direct services, supportive services, and needs-related payments to participants. Applicants are encouraged to structure their service strategy to integrate Direct and Supportive Services as well as Needs-Related Payments. Direct Services and Supportive Services
Direct Services under the HIRE initiative include:
- Pre-apprenticeships, apprenticeships, training, customized training, incumbent worker training and on-the-job-training with the reentry population.
- Wages and stipends for trainees, program participation stipends and needs-related payments to support individuals’ reentry and subsequent job search.
- Job readiness and bridge activities that serve as leading to enrollment and completion of training programs for the reentry population, such as obtaining housing and/or a driver’s license.
Supportive Services play a critical role in ensuring participant success as they help to reduce barriers to employment. Supportive services are defined in the Unemployment Insurance Code, Section 14040© as services that are necessary to enable an individual to successfully participate in, or receive, workforce, education, and other related services authorized under Penal Code, Section 1234.4(c), Unemployment Insurance Code, Section 14035, as well as the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) and its corresponding regulations.
Supportive services can include, but are not limited to, assistance with: transportation, childcare, technology, food, housing and other obstacles necessary for program participants to successfully enter and complete training, education, and employment. Note that providing the types of services allowed under WIOA does not make individuals receiving Initiative funds a “reportable” individual for purposes of WIOA performance reporting unless WIOA funds are braided as part of a particular individual’s service package.
Eligibility Criteria
Funds under this Request For Applications (RFA) will be awarded to CBOs and other nonprofit organizations specializing in serving California’s reentry population. Organizations applying must demonstrate both:
- relationships with employers that hire individuals with a criminal record
- a history of developing training programs with feedback from the reentry population Applicants must align with the objectives of this initiative and determine whether they will be applying independently or as part of a network. Organizations seeking to fulfill fiscal agent responsibilities for this grant should have experience providing services consistent with the objectives of this initiative and to the population specified.
Nonprofit organizations must:
- Be registered with the federal government pursuant to either Internal Revenue Code Sections 501(c)3, (c)4, (c)6 or (c)10.
- Be registered in the State of California with the Department of Justice and appear on their Registry of Charitable Trusts.
- If a nonprofit entity is excluded from registering with the Department of Justice, relevant proof must be provided with the application.
All applying organizations must:
- Have been duly organized, in existence, and in good standing for at least six months prior to the date the Grant Solicitation is issued by CWDB.
- Be registered with the California Secretary of State’s Office, with an “Active” status.
- Have a tax-exempt status with both the Internal Revenue Service and the California Franchise Tax Board.
- Have a “Registry Status” of “Current” or “Exempt” with the California Attorney General’s Registry of Charitable Trusts (RCT)11.
- Have any other state or local licenses or certifications necessary to provide the services requested (e.g., facility licensing by the Department of Health Care Services, etc.), if applicable.
- Have a physical address in California.
Examples of eligible CBOs include but are not limited to, those that are:
- Culturally-based
- Employment social enterprises
- Faith-based
- Food banks
- Labor-based (including labor-management partnerships and labor-community partnerships)
- Reentry centers and resource hubs
- Services-based
- Transitional housing providers
- Worker centers
For more information, visit CWDB.
