Item 08 Regional and Unified Local Workforce Plans for Program Years (PY) 2025-2028 as R

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Orange County WDBs PY 2025-28 Unified Local Plan 33 | Page V. STAKEHOLDER INPUT AND CONSIDERATIONS FOR PY 2025-2028 The development of the Local Plan was guided by an inclusive and collaborative approach, ensuring that key workforce stakeholders and community representatives had meaningful opportunities to provide input. The Santa Ana, Anaheim, and Orange County Workforce Development Boards engaged diverse partners, including residents, employers, labor organizations, education providers, human services agencies, and community-based organizations (CBOs) that serve populations with barriers to employment. To ensure broad participation, the local boards hosted eight stakeholder meetings, four in-person and four online. These meetings provided a platform for direct engagement with workforce system partners, job seekers, and employers, facilitating discussions on workforce challenges, service delivery improvements, and strategies for expanding equitable access to employment and training opportunities. Additionally, an online form was made available for individuals and organizations unable to attend the meetings, ensuring that all interested parties had a chance to contribute their insights. Throughout the stakeholder engagement process, input was sought from organizations and representatives serving key workforce populations, including English language learners, justice-involved individuals, refugees, older adults, veterans, people with disabilities, and historically underserved communities such as BIPOC, Latinx, and LGBTQ+ individuals. Invitations were extended to organizations specializing in worker rights, worker centers, and advocacy groups to ensure diverse perspectives addressing systemic employment barriers were considered. The feedback collected from these engagement efforts has been instrumental in shaping the priorities and strategies outlined in the Local Plan. By fostering collaboration with a diverse array of stakeholders, the local boards remain committed to a person-centered approach that aligns workforce investments with the needs of both job seekers and employers while ensuring equitable access to resources and opportunities across the region. The stakeholder meetings identified key priorities for improving workforce services, emphasizing referral processes, training, outreach, service delivery, collaboration, and targeted support for specific populations. Referral System Improvements: There is a need to streamline and standardize referral processes across workforce agencies. The current reliance on paper-based referrals and challenges using CalJOBS for tracking require exploring alternative digital solutions such as a unified referral form or Microsoft Forms. Additionally, enhancing two-way referrals between AJCCs and partners and addressing barriers to CalJOBS account creation were noted as areas for improvement. EXHIBIT 2