June 15, 1999

The David and Lucile Packard Foundation has been an integral part of the development of the Career Ladders project. In September 1997, the David and Lucile Packard Foundation provided $125,000 as seed money to develop Career Ladders, a labor market information report for Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, San Mateo, and Monterey Counties. In the past two years, NOVA has collaborated with four neighboring PICs to develop the research model and establish a report format that is accessible and appropriate for the given audience.

Staff recommends that the City Council, on behalf of the six-city NOVA consortium, concurs with the NOVA Private Industry Council and authorizes the submission of a proposal, not in excess of $225,000, to the David and Lucile Packard Foundation for continuance of the Career Ladders Welfare-to-Work labor market information project.

The David and Lucile Packard Foundation approached NOVA in 1997 to develop a practical, tangible reference tool to assist families involved in the Welfare-to-Work transition, as well as other economically disadvantaged individuals within our community, on the road to self-sufficiency. The goal of the Career Ladders project is to provide clear and accurate data to employment training counselors, their clients, and various third-party agencies to foster effective career and training decisions. The project was developed to support the concept that assisting economically disadvantaged families to become more independent and self-reliant means much more than funneling these individuals into low-skill, minimum-wage jobs. Additionally, Career Ladders can be used by those desiring to identify careers that allow for advancement through training and/or education.

Career Ladders is the result of research conducted in each of the four following counties: Santa Clara, Monterey, San Mateo, and Santa Cruz. Career Ladders provides 60 profiles (15 per county) of 29 different, yet accessible, occupations. The occupations represent a wide spectrum of career opportunities, all of which offer promising opportunities for families seeking self-sufficiency. The information contained in each profile includes the job description, education and training requirements, wages, growth expectations, and desirable soft skills. The research identifies "career ladders" and provides details on wages and the necessary training and skills for each advancing "rung." The profiles also include first-hand accounts of individuals in the given position—what they currently do and how they achieved that particular job title.

The project produced 1,000 Career Ladders binders and a total of 60,000 four-color copies of the Career Ladders Occupational Profiles, all of which were debuted at four successful public presentations across the represented region. The four counties have distributed all or nearly all of their allocated binders with continued requests for more.

Through Career Ladders, employment training counselors and their clients have gained access to information on entry level career options available to them, as well as how skill enhancement and education can provide additional career opportunities. For families seeking self-sufficiency, there is now a reference tool to provide current vital information for a unique segment of the population.

Since 1983, the City of Sunnyvale has been a partner in a consortium of cities that make up the North Valley Job Training Consortium: Cupertino, Los Altos, Mountain View, Palo Alto, Santa Clara and Sunnyvale. A Joint Powers Agreement vested the City of Sunnyvale to act on behalf of the consortium and administer Job Training Partnership Act (JTPA) funds to provide employment and training programs for eligible adults and youth. NOVA has worked closely with the County to provide similar services to individuals on welfare within these six cities. The County has funded these activities to supplement funds received through JTPA. These services have been provided by NOVA under contract with the County since 1993.

The proposed activities are consistent with the City of Sunnyvale’s Socio-Economic Goal 5.1F: Provide job training and employment services, within constraints of operative Federal regulations and available Federal funding to address the locally-determined employment and training needs of economically disadvantaged residents and others with special needs.

In addition, the provision of job experience to qualified welfare recipients through NOVA was included as a recommended and approved action in Report to Mayor and Council No. 97-499, issued by the City Manager and reviewed at the Council meeting of December 16, 1997.

The Career Ladders has become an essential component of the labor market information services provided by NOVA. Career Ladders has allowed NOVA to develop labor market information for a segment of our community which we were not previously able to support. Prior to receiving funding from the Packard Foundation, NOVA’s LMI projects either were developed for the general public through the California Cooperative Occupational Information System or focused on the needs of dislocated workers through our Labor Market Information Plus (LMI+) project. Packard’s support has made possible the development of an LMI product specifically targeting the needs of those involved in the transition from welfare to work and, ultimately, for those families characterized as the working poor.

The initial printing of Career Ladders, in circulation for a little over three months, has been surprisingly well-received with all 1000 copies distributed throughout the four counties. This unexpected demand for the binders has created the need for a second printing of the Santa Clara County edition. Agencies and organizations within Santa Clara County, including the Department of Social Services, local schools, and libraries, have requested a total of 400 additional binders.

In light of the initial success of the project, NOVA staff, in consultation with the Packard Foundation, has developed a plan for the continued development of Career Ladders. The essential elements of this plan will be set forth in a proposal for funding to the Packard Foundation. Should the Council approve the submission of this proposal, and should it receive funding, the further development of Career Ladders would begin in mid-September culminating in the publication of a second edition next summer.

The proposed program would include the following elements:

Sufficient resources will be made available through this grant to cover all anticipated expenditures.

Staff recommends that the City Council, on behalf of the six-city NOVA consortium, concurs with the NOVA Private Industry Council adopt alternative #1 and authorizes the submission of a proposal, not in excess of $225,000, to the David and Lucile Packard Foundation for continuance of the Career Ladders Welfare-to-Work labor market information project.

Prepared by:

Rob Gamble
Employment Training Mgr.

Reviewed by:

Michael J. Curran
Director

Approved by:

Robert S. LaSala
City Manager