• The City's delivery of workforce development services is fragmented and lacks central planning and coordination, which results in inadequate policy and management oversight and inefficient delivery of services with deficient measurement of performance effectiveness. Workforce Investment San Francisco, the City's local workforce investment board established by the federal Workforce Investment Act and appointed by the Mayor, has provided planning and oversight of programs funded by the Workforce Investment Act but has not provided such oversight for the $14.5 million in locally-funded programs provided by City departments.

• In FY 2007-2008, the Department of Economic and Workforce Development's Office of Workforce Development plans to reconstitute the membership of Workforce Investment San Francisco, the governing board for programs funded by the Workforce Investment Act, increasing participation from the business community, and spearheading a new strategic planning process, required by the Workforce Investment Act. Workforce Investment San Francisco and the new strategic plan need to encompass all City workforce development resources and programs. In order to do so, the Board of Supervisors should amend the Administrative Code, to define Workforce Investment San Francisco's role in planning and coordinating locally-funded as well as federally-funded programs.

• The Workforce Investment Act authorizes the Mayor to appoint members to Workforce Investment San Francisco to oversee programs funded by the Workforce Investment Act. The Board of Supervisors plays a key role in creating and directing the City's workforce development policies and programs. In amending the Administrative Code, the Board of Supervisors should define their role in providing policy oversight of the City's workforce development programs, including appointing designated members to Workforce Investment San Francisco, and approving workforce development programs funded by local, state and federal revenues subject to applicable federal and state law.

To ensure coordination of workforce development programs and resources, Workforce Investment San Francisco should develop an annual work plan to complement the strategic plan and identified funding in the fiscal year which would then be subject to the Board of Supervisors appropriation authority.

The City's workforce development programs have been decentralized among several City departments and agencies with inconsistent planning and coordination of resources and services. Under the 1998 federal Workforce Investment Act, the local workforce investment board, Workforce Investment San Francisco, has been responsible for planning and the Private Industry Council as the fiscal agent has been responsible for implementing programs funded by the Workforce Investment Act. The Human Services Agency has operated the One-Stop Centers, career centers funded partially by the Workforce Investment Act, as well as work participation programs for recipients of cash aid and other federally- and locally-funded programs. Other City departments and agencies have implemented job training and workforce development programs, funded by federal and local funds.

In FY 2006-2007, the City began a more formal process of coordinating workforce development programs. Previously, the Private Industry Council, as the fiscal agent for Workforce Investment San Francisco, had responsibility for coordinating programs funded by the Workforce Investment Act as well as other City programs. However, many department programs remained outside the purview of the Private Industry Council. In the FY 2006-2007 budget, the Board of Supervisors approved the creation of the Office of Workforce Development in the Department of Economic and Workforce Development. According to the Department of Economic and Workforce Development, the Office of Workforce Development serves as the oversight and policy-making body for employment and training programs and services in San Francisco, including implementation of a comprehensive City -wide workforce strategic plan that will coordinate all City department resources connected to workforce development.

During FY 2006-2007, the Office of Workforce Development developed an initial policy overview, including:

• Better services and outcomes for job seekers and employers;
• Increased coordination, efficiency, and effectiveness of the City's workforce development system; and
• Improved system responsiveness and capacity.

The Office of Workforce Development assumed responsibility for supporting Workforce Investment San Francisco and developing the five-year strategic plan, required by the Workforce Investment Act. With the dissolution of the Private Industry Council on June 30, 2007, the Office of Workforce Development assumed responsibility for Workforce Investment Act funding and programs.

During the FY 2007-2008 budget review, the Board of Supervisors approved a six month reserve on the Human Services Agency's Workforce Development Division's salaries and fringe benefits, pending a proposal to transfer these functions to the Department of Economic and Workforce Development. Under this proposal, the Office of Workforce Development would become responsible for operating workforce development programs currently operated by the Human Services Agency as well as providing policy oversight and strategic planning to City departments as a whole.

Coordinating the City's Workforce Development Programs

Creation of the Office of Workforce Development and the ongoing discussion of its role in planning, coordinating, and overseeing workforce development programs result from the current lack of coordination among City departments and agencies in funding and implementing programs. An initial step of the Office of Workforce Development was to survey City departments, identifying funding and programs. To date, no comprehensive information exists on what constitutes workforce development programs, the various funding sources, the populations served, and the outcomes. Developing comprehensive data is hampered by incompatible information systems among different agencies, and insufficient or differing performance standards and measurements.

In 2004, America Community Partnerships wrote an assessment of San Francisco's workforce and economic development system for the Walter and Elise Haas Fund. The purpose of the assessment was to provide information on how to best organize, restructure and/or merge functions across City and County agencies in order to create a coordinated workforce development system that is linked to the City's economic development goals.

Among other conclusions, the report found that San Francisco lacks a coordinated Citywide policy and that no one person or office is responsible for ensuring that workforce and economic development programs are effective. City departments essentially operate on their own in making funding, policy, and programmatic decisions related to workforce development, unless provided with such direction from the Mayor's Office, Board of Supervisors, or other entity.

The City's Strategic Planning Process

One of the findings in the American Community Partnerships' report was that San Francisco has not fully realized the Workforce Investment Act's focus on stimulating economic development through the creation and provision of a well-trained workforce, as well as help jobseekers find secure employment. Rather, Workforce Investment San Francisco developed a five-year strategic plan in 2000 that emphasized services to residents with multiple barriers to employment and vulnerable populations. According to the Department of Economic and Workforce Development, the Office of Workforce Development will re-build Workforce Investment San Francisco to increase participation from the business community and develop a new five-year strategic plan.

The Workforce Investment San Francisco Five-Year Strategic Plan

Workforce Investment San Francisco is beginning the process of developing a new five-year strategic plan, replacing the original five-year strategic plan adopted in 2000. Under the Workforce Investment Act, the local strategic plan is to include identification of:

• The workforce investment needs of businesses, jobseekers, and workers in the local area;
• The current and projected employment opportunities in the local area; and
• The job skills necessary to obtain such employment opportunities.

The local plan is also to provide descriptions of:

• The one-stop delivery system and how Workforce Investment San Francisco will ensure that providers meet the employment needs of local employers and participants;
• Performance measures used to evaluate the local fiscal agent, service providers, and the one-stop delivery system;
• The type and availability of adult and dislocated work employment and training activities in the local area; and
• The type and availability of youth activities in the local area, including an identification of successful providers of such activities.

The 2000 strategic plan ensured universal access to the one-stop system with special commitment to serving individuals with multiple barriers to employment. Under the plan, the one-stop system delivers core employment assessment and support, more intensive services to address special needs, and job training. The 2000 strategic plan also provided for youth employment programs, including links between school and job programs.

The five-year strategic plan that was adopted by Workforce Investment San Francisco in 2000 focused on services provided through the one-stop delivery system and funded by federal Workforce Investment Act monies. The goal was to use available funding to provide support services, such as childcare, transportation and housing support to jobseekers not eligible for such support from other sources, as well as job training to low income residents, assisting their entry into the workforce.

Update to the 2000 Workforce Investment San Francisco Strategic Plan

In 2005, Workforce Investment San Francisco developed a two-year update to the strategic plan in compliance with the Workforce Investment Act reauthorization. The two-year update identified internal and external goals and objectives that addressed some of the issues in Citywide coordination of workforce development programs, including:

• Coordinating all City resources;
• Developing system-wide performance outcomes;
• Implementing workforce best practices and contracts; and
• Identifying workforce opportunities within City departments.

The two-year strategic plan update also established a goal of increasing business leadership in Workforce Investment San Francisco and identifying additional funding opportunities, including private funding.

Developing the Strategic Plan in FY 2007-2008

Although the 2005 strategic plan update addressed the need to coordinate all City resources, San Francisco's workforce development programs are decentralized among multiple City departments and agencies. As discussed in Section 2 of this report, the current decentralized system has resulted in both inefficient duplication of services to some communities and populations and gaps in services to others.

In FY 2007-2008, the Department of Economic and Workforce Development intends to rebuild Workforce Investment San Francisco, and manage the strategic planning process to develop a new five-year plan. Additionally, the Department of Economic and Workforce Development has replaced the Private Industry Council in administering Workforce Investment Act funds.

Allocating Financial Resources

The Department of Economic and Workforce Development, in response to the 2005 reauthorization of the Workforce Investment Act and in conjunction with other stakeholders in the City's workforce development system, has identified key policy areas to be addressed in the new five-year strategic plan, reflected in the Department's initial policy overview, discussed above, and the 2005 strategic plan update. The City still needs to address how to integrate City departments' workforce development programs to a Citywide plan and allocate resources accordingly.

As a first step, the City departments' annual funding for workforce development programs needs to be identified. The Department of Economic and Workforce Development surveyed City departments in FY 2006-2007 but variations in program definition and budgeting procedures prevented precise results. The Department should develop a standard definition for workforce development programs, identifying program components, such as job training, childcare assistance, pre-employment skills, and other components. The Department should then work with the respective City departments to develop uniform criteria for allocating administrative and direct costs to workforce development programs and establish budget mechanisms to identify and track such costs.

The creation of the Office of Workforce Development within the Department of Economic and Workforce Development and proposed restructuring of Workforce Investment San Francisco assumes that the new five-year strategic plan will address all City workforce development programs, not just programs funded by the Workforce Investment Act, and that Workforce Investment San Francisco will provide policy direction to all City programs.

The Workforce Investment Act defines the role of Workforce Investment San Francisco in governing programs funded by the Workforce Investment Act and makes the Mayor¹ responsible for appointing members. The Workforce Investment Act requires that the majority of Workforce Investment San Francisco's members be made up of business community leaders with other members coming from organized labor, educational entities, community-based organizations, representatives of disabled and veteran's organizations, public and private economic development agencies, and partners in the one-stop system.

Role of the Board of Supervisors

The Board of Supervisors plays a key role in overseeing the City's workforce development policies and programs. The Board of Supervisors should define the roles and responsibilities of the Department of Economic and Workforce Development's Office of Workforce Development and Workforce Investment San Francisco in overseeing locally-funded programs in the Administrative Code. The Administrative Code should also define the role and participation of City departments providing workforce development programs and how central planning and coordination of workforce development programs shall be implemented by each City department.

Through an Administrative Code amendment, the Board of Supervisors should define their role in overseeing the City's workforce development programs, including (a) the authority to appoint members to designated seats on Workforce Investment San Francisco subject to applicable state and federal laws², and (b) approval of workforce development programs funded by federal, state and local revenues subject to applicable state and federal laws. To ensure full participation in the strategic planning process, the Department of Economic and Workforce Development should provide an initial draft of the new five-year strategic plan to the Board of Supervisors for review and comment.

Annual Work Plan and Budget Oversight

To ensure budgetary oversight, the Department of Economic and Workforce Development and Workforce Investment San Francisco should develop an annual workforce development program plan, in conjunction with the respective City departments, that aligns with the five-year strategic plan. The Board of Supervisors could then adopt annual appropriations for City departments' workforce development programs consistent with the five-year strategic plan and annual workforce development program plan.

Coordination with Communities of Opportunity

The Mayor's Office has established a pilot project, Communities of Opportunity, targeting specific neighborhood street corners and creating an umbrella for programs providing services to the neighborhoods adjacent to these street corners. Among other concerns, these neighborhoods have identified job placement as a high priority. Communities of Opportunity's programs include workforce development services, which need to be included in the annual work plan and budget.

The City's workforce development programs have lacked central planning and resource allocation, resulting in inefficient program delivery and inadequate oversight. In FY 2007-2008, the Office of Workforce Development intends to rebuild Workforce Investment San Francisco and develop a strategic plan. The Board of Supervisors should define the role of Workforce Investment San Francisco in overseeing the City's locally-funded workforce development programs, and define the Board's role in overseeing the City's workforce development programs, including appointing designated members to Workforce Investment San Francisco and approving workforce development programs funded by local, state, and federal revenues subject to applicable state and federal law.

The Board of Supervisors should:

The Director of Workforce Development of the Department of Economic and Workforce Development should:

The Department of Economic and Workforce Development's FY 2007-2008 budget contains resources for the strategic planning process and implementation of these recommendations. Implementation of these recommendations should contribute to increased oversight and more efficient allocation of resources to workforce development programs.

1 The Workforce Investment Act designates the Chief Local Elected Official of the Local Workforce Investment Area as the responsible official, which in the City and County of San Francisco is the Mayor.

2 Under this recommendation, the Department of Economic and Workforce Development will need to work with the City Attorney's Office, the Board of Supervisors, and the Mayor to determine the total number of members to be appointed to Workforce Investment San Francisco. The Board of Supervisors 'will need to work with the City Attorney to define their authority to appoint members to Workforce Investment San Francisco subject to applicable state and federal law.