BILL NUMBER: AB 857 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 14, 2009
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Members Galgiani and Mendoza
FEBRUARY 26, 2009
An act to amend Section 14230 of add
Section 14236 to the Unemployment Insurance Code, relating to
workforce development.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 857, as amended, Galgiani. Workforce development: one-stop
career center systems.
The federal Workforce Investment Act of 1998 provides for
workforce investment activities, including activities in which states
may participate. Existing law contains various programs for job
training and employment investment, including work incentive and
employment training outreach programs. Existing law, the California
Workforce Investment Act declares that it is the intent of the
Legislature to deliver comprehensive workforce services to
jobseekers, students, and employers through a system of one-stop
career centers to, among other things, make job outreach, intake, job
search and placement assistance, and other related services
available in one location.
Existing law provides for the payment of unemployment compensation
benefits to eligible unemployed persons during the period that the
person is unemployed, and requires the Employment Development
Department to implement and administer the unemployment compensation
program.
This bill would make various nonsubstantive, technical
changes in those provisions relating to the intent of the Legislature
concerning one-stop career center systems require the
department to provide in-person unemployment benefit assistance at
all state one-stop career centers, as prescribed . The
bill would require that the unemployment benefit assistance services
required to be provided at these one-stop career centers be funded
with existing moneys available to the department for the
administration of the unemployment compensation program.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: no
yes . State-mandated local program: no.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Section 14236 is added to the
Unemployment Insurance Code , to read:
14236. (a) Notwithstanding any other law, the department shall
provide in-person unemployment benefit assistance at all state
one-stop career centers, as follows:
(1) The department shall ensure that customer service personnel at
those career centers are fully trained regarding the policy, laws,
and regulations governing eligibility, claims processing, and
procedures for the payment of unemployment compensation benefits to
eligible individuals.
(2) Printed information regarding eligibility and the process for
filing claims for unemployment compensation benefits shall be made
available at all one-stop career centers.
(b) The unemployment benefit assistance services required to be
provided at one-stop career centers pursuant to subdivision (a) shall
be funded with existing moneys available to the department for the
administration of the unemployment insurance compensation program.
SECTION 1. Section 14230 of the Unemployment
Insurance Code is amended to read:
14230. (a) It is the intent of the Legislature that:
(1) California deliver comprehensive workforce services to
jobseekers, students, and employers through a system of one-stop
career centers.
(2) Services and resources target high-wage industry sectors with
career advancement opportunities.
(3) Universal access to core services shall be available to adult
residents without regard to income, education, employment barriers,
or other eligibility requirements. Core services shall include, but
not be limited to:
(A) Outreach, intake, and orientation to services that are
available through the one-stop delivery system.
(B) Initial assessment of skill levels, aptitudes, abilities, and
supportive service needs.
(C) Job search and placement assistance.
(D) Career counseling, where appropriate.
(E) Provision of labor market information.
(F) Provision of program performance and cost information on
eligible providers of training services and local area performance
measures.
(G) Provision of information on supportive services in the local
area.
(H) Provision of information on the filing of claims for
unemployment compensation benefits and unemployment compensation
disability benefits.
(I) Assistance in establishing eligibility for welfare-to-work
activities pursuant to Section 11325.8 of the Welfare and
Institutions Code, and financial aid assistance.
(4) State and federally funded workforce education, training, and
employment programs shall be integrated in the one-stop delivery
system to achieve universal access to the core services described in
paragraph (3).
(5) Intensive services shall be available to individuals who have
completed at least one core service, have been unable to obtain
employment, and who have been determined, by the one-stop operator,
as being in need of more intensive services, or who are employed but
in need of intensive services to obtain or retain employment to
achieve self-sufficiency. Intensive services may include
comprehensive and specialized assessments of skill levels and service
needs, including learning disability screening, the development of
individual employment plans, counseling, career planning, and
short-term prevocational services to prepare an individual for
training and employment.
(6) Training services shall be made available to individuals who
have met the requirements for intensive services, have been unable to
obtain or retain employment through these services, and who, after
an interview, evaluation, or assessment, are determined to be in need
of training, and have selected a program of services directly linked
to occupations in demand in the local or regional area. Training
services may include:
(A) Occupational skill training including training for
nontraditional employment.
(B) On-the-job training.
(C) Programs that combine workplace training with related
instruction.
(D) Training programs operated by the private sector.
(E) Skill upgrading and retraining.
(F) Entrepreneurial training.
(G) Job readiness training.
(H) Adult education and literacy activities, including vocational
English as a second language, provided in combination with
subparagraphs (A) through (G), inclusive.
(I) Customized training conducted by an employer or a group of
employers or a labor-management training partnership with a
commitment to employ an individual upon completion of the training.
(7) As prescribed in the Workforce Investment Act of 1998, when
funds are limited, priority for intensive services and training
services shall be given to adult recipients of public assistance and
other low-income adults, such as CalWORKs participants.
(b) Each local workforce investment board shall establish at least
one full service one-stop career center in the local workforce
investment area. Each full service one-stop career center shall have
all entities specified in Section 14231 as partners and shall provide
jobseekers with integrated employment, education, training, and job
search services. Additionally, employers will be provided with access
to comprehensive career and labor market information, job placement,
economic development information, performance and program
information on service providers, and other such services as the
businesses in the community may require.
(c) Local boards may also establish affiliated and specialized
centers, as defined in the Workforce Investment Act of 1998, which
shall act as portals into the larger local one-stop system, but are
not required to have all of the partners specified for full service
one-stop centers.
(d) Each local board shall develop a policy for identifying
individuals who, because of their skills or experience, should be
referred immediately to training services. This policy, along with
the methods for referral of individuals between the one-stop
operators and the one-stop partners for appropriate services and
activities, shall be contained in the memorandum of understanding
between the local board and the one-stop partners.
(e) In light of California's diverse population, each one-stop
career center should have the capacity to provide the appropriate
services to the full range of languages and cultures represented in
the community served by the one-stop career center.