The Sacramento City Council Tuesday unanimously approved a $15 million plan to provide job training, paid internships and workforce readiness training to thousands of Sacramento residents — most between the ages of 16 and 30.
The plan, set to start running in September, focuses on the most economically marginalized and at-risk young people in Sacramento and builds off the lessons learned and successes achieved with the City’s workforce training plan previously funded by CARES Act federal stimulus funds.
It will include intensive job coaching, paid internships and job placement in the construction trades, the public sector, urban agriculture and clean, high-growth job sectors. Neighborhood career navigators working out of public libraries will help connect people to services, training and jobs.
“The City’s workforce development investments have the rare opportunity, with one-time funding, to change the economic trajectory of many of our marginalized and vulnerable communities that are still struggling to maintain,” said Kriztina Palone, the City of Sacramento’s Workforce Development Manager, during her presentation to Council.
Approximately $7 million for the workforce plan will come from the state’s new Californians For All program, which aims to provide pathways and opportunities for young people to work in public service and in the non-profit sector.
About $5 million previously set aside from the mid-year budget will go toward career exposure, life skills, and training, case management, and paid teen internships overseen by the City such as #SacYouthWorks and Thousand Strong. Another $2.75 million in remaining American Rescue Plan funding will be used for skill assessments, adult retraining, and placement for adults.
“The more capacity we have to invest in young people, the more we will be able to grow and expand what we know works. And that’s our goal,” said Mayor Darrell Steinberg.
City staff will be issuing requests for proposals over the summer to select the best training providers.