Agenda Item Wording:
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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 FY 2023/2024 in the amount of $230,000 from the Solid Waste Enterprise Fund.
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Deadline for Action: 5/15/2023
Submitting Department: Public Works
Contact Name and Phone Number: Jason Serpa, Public Works Manager, jason.serpa@visalia.city, 713-4533 Nick Bartsch, Public Works Director, nick.bartsch@visalia.city, 713-4052
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 the community through more clean-up and recycling and Visalia's homeless population through job training and opportunities. The amount of the contract is $230,000, 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 and recycling appropriate materials. 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...
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