Agenda Item Wording:
title
Authorization for the City Manager to approve an agreement with Workforce Investment Board of Tulare County to continue the Environmental Clean-Up Opportunities (ECO) Transitional Jobs Program through FY2022/2023 in the amount of $221,847 from the Solid Waste Enterprise Fund.
body
Deadline for Action: 6/30/2022
Submitting Department: Public Works
Contact Name and Phone Number:
Jason Serpa, Public Works Manager, jason.serpa@visalia.city, 713-4533
Wyndi Ferguson, Interim Public Works Director, wyndi.ferguson@visalia.city, 713-4186
Department Recommendation:
Staff recommends that City Council authorize the City Manager to execute an agreement with the Workforce Investment Board of Tulare County (WIB) to continue a Transitional Jobs Program benefitting Visalia’s homeless population in the amount of $221,847, funded by the Solid Waste Enterprise Fund (441), to pay the City’s share of the Environmental Clean-up Opportunities (ECO) program costs.
Background Discussion:
In 2017, the City of Visalia and the Workforce Investment Board of Tulare County (WIB) established a program that would allow members of Visalia's homeless and low-income population to acquire the work skills necessary to obtain gainful employment while simultaneously addressing a community need, cleaning up illegally dumped material. Program participants are vetted and referred to the program by community partners, such as the Rescue Mission.
Upon entry to the program, participants spend up to three months working as part of a Community Services and Employment Training, Inc. (CSET) work crew, and are guided by a crew supervisor who helps prepare the participants for their transition to regular employment. Work assignments focus on picking up trash or illegally dumped material in the City right-of-way and other public areas. During this time, participants learn basic job skills such as arriving to work on time, working with others, accepting, and executing instructions, etc.
After successful completion of the initial Level I work-skills training portion of the program,
participants begin working alongside City employees in the solid waste division as a CSET level II participant under general Solid Waste Department supervision. Here, they learn to work with less direct supervision and more accountability. Work includes assembling residential trash cans, helping with deliveries, and other related duties. After acquiring skills and experience, the goal is for the participant to obtain outside employment. Since the start of the program, the City has hired 7 level II participants as hourly employees. Of those 7, 4 are still employed with the City, 2 have moved on to better opportunities, and 1 participant is currently going through the hiring process.
Current Fiscal Year Outcomes
From July 2021 through March 2022, the ECO Program has had the following results:
Homeless Individuals:
• Referred to ECO: 200
• Attended Orientation: 78
• Completed Job Readiness: 42
Level I Crew Members:
• Hours Worked: 4,446
• Total Wages Earned: $73,384
• Avg Wage Earned: $2,347
Level II Crew Members:
• Hours Worked: 1,398
• Total Wages Earned: $22,919
• Avg Wage Earned: $2,291
Level I ECO Material Count (Litter Abatement)
• Total pounds of trash and misc. debris removed: 143,720
• Average month pounds of trash/misc. removed: 15,969
Goal versus Actual number of participants
|
|
Goal |
Actual FY20/21 |
Actual FY21/22 (July - March) |
|
Level I |
40 |
48 |
42 |
|
Level II |
20 |
16 |
13 |
|
Employment |
24 |
28 |
28 |
ECO participants are obtaining employment at a higher rate as compared to FY20/21. While it is excellent that these individuals are obtaining employment sooner, the ECO Program experienced a challenge in transitioning Level I individuals to Level II this year, especially through the winter months of the COVID pandemic. It appears that all is starting to normalize, and individuals are once again transitioning at a rate that ensures the program will be able to use all the available hours in the budget.
Fiscal Impact:
Funding for this program is partially offset from the Solid Waste Enterprise Fund (441) Bottle Bill Revenues (Approximately $30,000) and savings from the four Solid Waste hourly positions that are held vacant since the work is performed through the ECO program. In addition, the Solid Waste Enterprise Fund realizes savings from the illegal dumping that is picked up throughout the City. Not only does this bring down the total tonnage cost of pickups, but it also decreases the number of times the City uses the contractor for illegal dumping.
The City of Visalia’s portion of the program is $221,847. This is $18,000 less than the previous year and primarily pays for operational costs of the program including vehicles, supplies, the crew supervisor, and program coordinator. The total budget reduction is due to the reduced need in hours for participants from 12,000 total program hours to 10,400 hours as proposed by the Workforce Investment Board.
The proposed budget is as follows:
Project Costs
City of Visalia $221,847
Workforce Investment Board $221,847
Total Cost $443,694
Prior Council Action:
March 6, 2017 - Initial Program authorization
June 18, 2018 - Program reauthorization for FY 18/19
June 3, 2019 - Program reauthorization for FY 19/20
June 5, 2020 - Program reauthorization for FY 20/21
June 7, 2021 - Program reauthorization for FY 21/22
Other:
N/A
Alternatives:
Decline reauthorization and discontinue program. This alternative is not recommended as the program provides tangible benefit to the City at a reasonable cost.
Recommended Motion (and Alternative Motions if expected):
recommendation
I move to authorize the City Manager to execute an agreement with the Workforce Investment Board of Tulare County to continue a Transitional Jobs Program (ECO) in the amount of $221,847.
end
Environmental Assessment Status:
N/A
CEQA Review:
N/A
Attachments:
FY22-23 Draft MOU