Section 840.50  Required Program Activities

 

The Clean Jobs Workforce Network Program creates 14 regional Clean Jobs Workforce Network Hubs throughout the State to provide clean energy and related workforce and training opportunities to participants, engage with potential employers, and form partnerships to ensure participants have dedicated and sustained support to build careers in clean energy and related sector jobs. The Clean Jobs Workforce Network Hubs must provide all of the following activities:

 

a)         Outreach services, in coordination with Energy Transition Navigators [20 ILCS 730/5-35] and other community partners across the entirety of all regions the Clean Jobs Workforce Network Hub serves, to recruit and pre-screen eligible populations for the training program;

 

b)         Training, certification preparation, job readiness, and skill development to program participants, utilizing the Clean Jobs Curriculum Framework (described in subsection (j)) to prepare participants for entry-level clean energy jobs. The training will consist of a bridge program (essential employability skills and clean energy basics) and job-specific training options, selected by each Clean Jobs Workforce Network Hub and based on local clean energy workforce needs.  The entities providing the Program training must be approved to provide training services by all appropriate accrediting bodies;

 

c)         Develop partnerships with entities that provide clean energy jobs, including businesses, nonprofit organizations, and worker-owned cooperatives, to ensure Program participants have priority access to employment training, work-based learning opportunities, and hiring activities;

 

d)         Deliver or provide access through referrals for wrap-around and other supportive services to mitigate challenges participants may face in accessing and completing the training. Clean Jobs Workforce Network Hubs must offer to Program participants at a minimum access to all of the support and transition services detailed in this subsection (d), but may offer others as needed. The funding source for these services will either be through the Program funds or from the Energy Transition Barrier Reduction Program (see Section 840.60), which will be determined by the Department depending on the availability of funds and the needs of the participants See 20 ILCS 605/605-1075(b).

 

1)         Wrap-around Support Services:

 

A)        Transportation costs, including car repairs, gas cards, or bus passes;

 

B)        Childcare or family care;

 

C)        Driver's education and driver's license fees;

 

D)        Personal health services, including dental, vision and mental health care;

 

E)        Emergency bill payments, rental assistance or emergency housing;

 

F)         Referrals for other services (e.g., food, housing, rental assistance, substance use treatment); and

 

G)        Legal assistance, including record expungement.

 

2)         Student Support Services:

 

A)        Tutoring;

 

B)        Make-up classes;

 

C)        Re-testing;

 

D)        Educational enrichment;

 

E)        Technology assistance for virtual learning; and

 

F)         Expenses related to certifications, testing or applications.

 

3)         Transition Support Services:

 

A)        Mentoring and coaching;

 

B)        Job exploration, search and placement services;

 

C)        Resume writing and mock interviews;

 

D)        Job fairs with clean energy employers;

 

E)        Follow-up support services for at least one year after job placement, as needed;

 

F)         Education or training costs associated with entering an apprenticeship program or employment; and

 

G)        Other wrap-around supportive services needed to obtain or retain employment;

 

e)         Deliver transition services to participants following training completion to help participants find jobs, succeed in the workplace, and build their careers;

 

f)         Collaborate and coordinate with the Department as well as the grantees and administrators of all programs created by CEJA, including the following:

 

1)         Energy Transition Navigators Program [20 ILCS 730/5-35];

 

2)         Illinois Climate Works Pre-apprenticeship Program [20 ILCS 730/5-40];

 

3)         Clean Energy Contractor Incubator Program [20 ILCS 730/5-45];

 

4)         Returning Residents Clean Jobs Training Program [20 ILCS 730/5-50]; and

 

5)         Clean Energy Primes Contractor Accelerator Program [20 ILCS 730/5-55];

 

g)         Coordinate with local and regional workforce entities, building trades, industry contractors, contractor associations, community colleges, community-based organizations, and secondary schools for Program elements and to develop structured pathways for Program graduates to transition successfully into clean energy jobs following Program completion;

 

h)         Use a program model that upholds the core values of diversity, inclusion, accessibility, and equity. These core values should inform all aspects of the program, including, but not limited to, recruitment, partnerships, training, transition services, and barrier reducing supportive services;

 

i)          Distribute stipends to Program participants to encourage participation and retention that are based on participant training attendance and performance;

 

j)          Follow the requirements and guidelines provided in the Clean Jobs Curriculum Framework (incorporated by reference) ("Curriculum Framework"), developed by the Department and its partners through a stakeholder process, to identify the career pathways and training curriculum needed for participants to be skilled, work ready, and able to enter clean energy jobs.  The Curriculum Framework includes requirements for training and training instructors, certification preparation, job readiness, and skill development, including soft skills, math skills, technical skills, certification test preparation, and other development needed;

 

k)         Implement a system to track data elements required by the Department and report this information to the Department quarterly.  The Department will publish an annual CEJA report for the workforce training programs that will include summaries of this data.  The information that Clean Jobs Workforce Network Hubs will be required to track, includes, but is not limited to, the following:

 

1)         Demographic data, including racial, gender, residency in eligible communities, and geographic distribution data, on participants who enter the Program and graduate from the Program;

 

2)         Demographic data for Program participants who are placed in employment, including the percentages of participants by race, gender, and geographic categories in each individual job type or category and whether employment is union, non-union, or non-union via temporary agency;

 

3)         Participant job acquisition and retention statistics, including the duration of employment (start and end dates of hires) by race, gender, and geography;

 

4)         Hourly wages, including hourly overtime pay rate, and benefits of participants placed into employment by race, gender, and geography;

 

5)         Percentage of jobs by race, gender, and geography held by Program participants or graduates that are full-time equivalent positions, meaning that the position held is full-time, direct, and permanent based on 2,080 hours worked per year (paid directly by the employer, whose activities, schedule, and manner of work the employer controls, and receives pay and benefits in the same manner as permanent employees);

 

6)         Qualitative data, as needed by the Department, to determine program success, consisting of reporting on pertinent issues affecting the program including, but not limited to, qualitative descriptions accompanying metrics or identifying key successes and challenges;

 

7)         Job retention rates of Program graduates for at least two years after job placement as required by the Department; and

 

8)         Any additional information required by the Department;

 

l)          Construct an assessment that will be used to evaluate the effectiveness of the Clean Jobs Workforce Network Hub's program and how this information will be used to improve program delivery and improve the training program in a continuous manner; and

 

m)        Cooperate with external evaluation efforts, as directed by the Department.