California Air Resources Board

I. Objective

The California Air Resources Board (CARB) is responsible for developing guidance for agencies administering programs funded by the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund referred to as California Climate Investments. The goal of this contract is to develop a comprehensive understanding of the workforce supported by California Climate Investments projects and provide recommendations to bolster workforce development efforts across the portfolio. The contractor will produce a Guidebook for State agencies that administer California Climate Investments on how to uplift job quality and increase access to training, particularly to members of priority populationsand individuals with employment barriers, women, and people from underserved or underrepresented populations.1

II. Background

California Climate Investments puts billions of dollars of Cap-and-Trade auction proceeds to work reducing greenhouse gas emissions, strengthening the economy, improving public health and the environment, and providing meaningful benefits to the most disadvantaged communities and low-income communities and households.  CARB provides guidance and support to over 80 programs administered by 24 California State agencies (administering agencies).

Senate Bill 862 (Committee on Budget and Fiscal Review, Chapter 36, Statutes of 2014) requires CARB to develop overarching guidance on investments for administering agencies. CARB provides guidance related to guiding principles, expenditure requirements, policy objectives, reporting and quantification requirements, and statutory requirements in the Funding Guidelines for Agencies that Administer California Climate Investments (Funding Guidelines). Assembly Bill (AB) 680 (Burke, Chapter 746, Statutes of 2021) requires CARB to update the Funding Guidelines by July 2025 to include six workforce standards required for applicants to programs utilizing continuously appropriated funds.

There is a need to evaluate barriers that administering agencies and grantees may face in implementing workforce standards and provide administering agencies with strategies and resources to uplift job quality in new or existing programs and projects.

California Climate Investments projects employ people to complete projects across multiple sectors, and the programs covered by AB 680 do not represent a comprehensive list of programs that directly support a project-level workforce. CARB seeks to bolster workforce development across the California Climate Investments portfolio to incorporate workforce standards that uplift job quality and increase access to jobs for members of priority populations and individuals with employment barriers, women, and people from underserved or underrepresented populations. As a separate effort, CARB is exploring how to better track jobs information from California Climate Investments programs, including tools we can create to better support programs in this work.

III. Scope of Work

All tasks will culminate in a final Guidebook. The Guidebook will contain three distinct narrative sections and an appendix containing a Workforce Services Data Table. The final Guidebook may contain an additional appendix containing supplemental materials, if deemed necessary.

Task 1 - Conduct a landscape analysis of the workforce supported by California Climate Investments

Task 1 will include working with CARB staff to become familiar with the California Climate Investments portfolio, including workforce development statutory requirements and broader policy goals, and current job reporting requirements. The contractor will use existing CARB reports and other materials to determine which programs support direct jobs and what sectors those jobs are occurring in.

The contractor, in consultation with CARB, will select the sectors and associated programs that will serve as the focus for the contract’s work. This process will involve identifying programs with projects that directly hire people. The contractor will work with CARB to identify programs to be included, which include programs with an AB 680 compliance obligation and programs that fund projects in sectors with known opportunities to improve job quality.  Available labor market data may be used to determine where current disparities in job quality exist. The contractor will provide CARB a methodology substantiating the selection of the programs that will serve as the focus of this work.

The contractor will coordinate with CARB staff to identify the workforce standards required by AB 680 and the broader workforce policy objectives CARB seeks to support in applicable programs. The contractor may identify additional workforce standards that are feasible to implement in applicable programs.

Task 2 - Evaluate barriers California Climate Investments programs may face implementing workforce standards and recommend strategies to overcome those barriers.

Task 2 involves interviewing staff from administering agencies and others associated with project implementation for applicable programs identified in Task 1 to identify the type of jobs completed at the project-level, current practices related to the project’s workforce, and to understand gaps and barriers program staff may face in implementing workforce standards, tracking job quality, and completing reporting requirements.

The contractor will use the results of these interviews to categorize jobs and provide a breakdown of job types by program for selected programs. The contractor will coordinate with CARB staff and provide a methodology for the job categorization process. The contractor will provide CARB staff a draft questionnaire with interview questions and a list of the types of interviewees to be interviewed. Interviewee types may include administering agency program staff, grantees, contractors or subcontractors, and project workers.

The contractor will develop the first draft of section one of the Guidebook, which will evaluate barriers CARB and applicable administering agencies may face when implementing the identified workforce standards, as well as opportunities to support high-quality jobs and target access to priority populations, individuals with employment barriers, women, and people from underserved or underrepresented populations. The evaluation should identify gaps and barriers in current processes based on the feedback collected during the interview process.

The job categorization and gaps and barriers identified during the interview process will be used to inform the development of recommendations in Task 4.

Task 3 - Determine and interview relevant workforce development parties to identify services that applicable California Climate Investments programs can leverage.

Task 3 involves researching the State and private workforce development infrastructure and identifying pathways for applicants to California Climate Investments programs to partner with or otherwise leverage the services of workforce development organizations. The focus should be placed on opportunities for partnership with training providers and supportive services providers that have expertise serving members of priority populations and individuals with employment barriers, women, and people from underserved or underrepresented populations.

Research methods may include interviews and literature review, among other information gathering activities. The contractor will provide CARB staff a draft questionnaire(s) with interview questions and a list of organizations to be interviewed, if this method is utilized. Organizations may include state and local workforce development agencies, training providers in sectors relevant to applicable California Climate Investments programs, industry groups, community-based organizations that support workforce development, local government workforce and business development agencies, or others. Organizations interviewed should represent a variety of geographic regions and economic sectors throughout the State.

The contractor will develop the first draft of a Workforce Services Data Table containing relevant workforce services providers, relevant sectors, location of services, training certifications supported, services provided, and other information deemed to be necessary. This table will be finalized as an appendix in the Guidebook.

Task 4 - Evaluate opportunities California Climate Investments can take to improve implementation of identified workforce standards.

Task 4 involves developing sections two and three of the Guidebook. The focus in these sections should be on increasing access to high-quality jobs in California Climate Investments programs to members of priority populations and individuals with employment barriers, women, and people from underserved or underrepresented populations. 

Section two of the guidebook will synthesize work completed in Tasks 1-3. The contractor will  build off of the Workforce Services Data Table identified in Task 3, which will outline the existing State and private workforce development infrastructure to provide recommended actions CARB staff, administering agencies, and applicants to programs can take to leverage existing services; and to provide recommended actions administering agencies can take to incentivize grantees to implement the identified workforce standards that support high-quality jobs and reduce barriers to implementing the identified workforce standards.  

Section three of the Guidebook, which will simulate pathways administering agency program administration staff may take to overcome barriers identified in Task 2 to implement workforce standards. In this section of the Guidebook, the contractor will synthesize work completed in Tasks 1-4 to crosswalk connections between the existing workforce development infrastructure and California Climate Investments programs to serve as a resource for administering agencies.

Task 5 - Develop supplemental materials.

The contractor shall develop supplemental materials, if deemed necessary by CARB staff, to facilitate implementation of the recommendations. Supplemental materials will be included as an appendix in the Guidebook and may include template documents and language that will support realization of the recommended actions in the Guidebook, among other possible resources. This task shall not exceed more than 10% of the budget.

Task 6 - Finalize and present the Guidebook.

The contractor will compile a final version of the deliverables indicated in Tasks 1-4 into a formal digital Guidebook for CARB staff, administering agencies, and prospective project applicants. The Guidebook will include the three identified sections, the Workforce Services Data Table, and any supplemental materials determined to be necessary. The contractor will present the final Guidebook at up to three meetings with CARB and administering agency staff, at CARB’s discretion.

IV. Deliverables

The project must include but is not limited to the following deliverables:

• Draft questionnaire for administering agencies and list of programs to be interviewed.
• Final questionnaire for administering agencies and list of programs to be interviewed.
• Draft questionnaire for workforce development parties and list of organizations to be interviewed.
• Final questionnaire for workforce development parties and list of organizations to be interviewed.
• Draft Workforce Services Data Table
• Final Workforce Services Data Table
• Draft Guidebook
• Final Guidebook
• Supplemental materials, as needed.

During Active Contract Period

• Quarterly Progress Meetings
• Informal monthly progress update meetings with CARB contract manager.
• Participation in up to three meetings organized by CARB staff
• Work with CARB staff at the beginning of the project to create a 1-page plain-language outreach deliverable for the public describing the project’s goals, process, and planned deliverables (available in multiple languages, template will be provided).

Prior to Contract Close

• Draft Questionnaires*
• Final Questionnaires
• Draft Workforce Services Data Table*
• Final Workforce Services Data Table
• Draft Guidebook*
• Final Guidebook
• Supplemental materials, as needed
• Participation in up to three meetings organized by CARB staff.

* CARB will provide up to 2 revisions on draft versions of this deliverable.

NOTE: the contractor will be responsible for ensuring their documents comply with accessibility standards in Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.0 or subsequent version.

Additional deliverables to be determined in consultation with CARB staff.

V. Timeline

It is anticipated this project will be completed in 24 months from the start date (start date is estimated to be in early 2025). The estimated budget for this project is up to $375,000.

Scoring Criteria

1. RESPONSIVENESS TO THE GOALS AND OBJECTIVES OUTLINED IN THE PROPOSAL SOLICITATION (30 POINTS)

The proposal should explain—in adequate detail and clear, understandable language—how the proposed project satisfies the project objectives. This proposal should identify how the applicant will:

• Synthesize the job types supported and sectors impacted by California Climate Investments programs;
• Identify gaps in implementing and tracking workforce standards at the program and project levels;
• Identify opportunities to build on existing administering agency and CARB efforts to implement workforce standards including legislative mandates and reporting requirements to improve implementation;
• Identify statewide workforce services that California Climate Investments can leverage to improve implementation of workforce standards;
• Identify connections between the existing workforce development infrastructure and California Climate Investments programs.

2. WORK EXPERIENCE AND SUBJECT MATTER EXPERTISE (20 POINTS)

The proposal should demonstrate that the proposers have the work experience or subject matter expertise required to successfully carry out the proposed project as described. Additionally, the proposal should describe how the project will build upon previous relevant work that was funded by CARB, other regional, state, and federal agencies.

3. EXPLANATION OF TECHNICAL OR METHODOLOGICAL APPROACH (20 POINTS)

The proposal should clearly explain the logic and feasibility of the project’s methodology, spell out the sequence and relationships of major tasks, and explain methods for performing the work. The proposal should include a clear description and plan for how each task will be completed and how the proposer will approach collecting information that may not be found in published works (i.e., how the proposer will identify and engage with specific administering agencies, employer or industry groups, and workforce development and training organizations to learn about the hiring processes and opportunities to increase capacity).

4. EXPANDING EXPERTISE (15 POINTS)

The proposal should explain how the project team expands expertise such as by incorporating multidisciplinary expertise or perspectives, including members from various public universities, non-academic institutions, workforce development and training organizations, industry groups, or community-based organizations, or providing opportunities to build skills and expertise for individuals from underrepresented groups.

5. LEVEL AND QUALITY OF EFFORT AND COST EFFECTIVENESS (15 POINTS)

The proposal should describe how time and resources will be allocated and demonstrate how this allocation ensures the project’s success. Proposal reviewers will evaluate, for example: if the objectives of the project can be met given this allocation, if there is adequate supervision and oversight to ensure that the project will remain on schedule, if time and cost are appropriately divided across different project tasks and stages.

• 1Unemployment Insurance Code section 14005 defines individuals with employment barriers and states that strategies to achieve economic growth, economic equity, shared prosperity, and clean environment include interventions that improve job quality and job access to women and people from underserved and underrepresented.