Subject:
Title
Interlocal Agreement between Hillsborough County Board of County Commissioners and Pinellas County Board of County Commissioners to establish the Hillsborough/Pinellas Workforce Development Consortium.
label
Recommended Action:
Recommended Action
Approval of an Interlocal Agreement between Hillsborough County Board of County Commissioners and Pinellas County Board of County Commissioners to establish the Hillsborough/Pinellas Workforce Development Consortium.
• The Reimagining Education and Career Help Act that became law in June 2021 initiated a study that was completed in February of 2023, which ultimately determined that CareerSource Pinellas and CareerSource Hillsborough must be consolidated into one entity.
• The recommendation was affirmed by the Governor with an effective date of July 1, 2024.
• This agreement delineates the roles and responsibilities of each County in the administration and operations of the publicly funded workforce development programs within the required multi-jurisdictional Regional Workforce Development Area (Hillsborough/Pinellas Workforce Development Consortium) for the period of December 1, 2023, to June 30, 2025.
• Under this Interlocal Agreement, the Pinellas County Board of County Commissioners delegates their responsibilities as the Chief Local Elected Official for the Region 14 Local Workforce Development Area to the new consortium.
• Each county board will appoint two members to the consortium.
• There is no financial impact to the County associated with this agreement.
Body
Strategic Plan:
Prosperity and Opportunity
Summary:
Summary
This Interlocal Agreement between Hillsborough County Board of County Commissioners and Pinellas County Board of County Commissioners will establish the Hillsborough/Pinellas Workforce Development Consortium as required by State law and direction of the Governor’s Reimagining Education and Career Help Act Office.
Body
Background Information:
In June 2021, the Governor signed HB1507 into law and established the Reimagining Education and Career Help (REACH) Act. One of the major actions of the REACH Act was a review of all twenty-four (24) Local Workforce Development Boards (LWDB’s) throughout the State of Florida in order to eliminate multiple layers of administrative entities to improve coordination, establish consistent eligibility standards across the state to improve the accountability of publicly funded workforce development programs, and provide greater flexibility in allocating resources to maximize the funds directed to training and business services.
At their February 2023 meeting, the CareerSource Florida Board of Directors (CSF Board) provided their recommendations to the Governor, with one of the recommendations being realignment and consolidation of Region 14 LWDB (CareerSource Pinellas) and Region 15 LWDB (CareerSource Tampa Bay) into a new multi-jurisdictional Regional LWDB, comprised of Pinellas and Hillsborough counties. This recommendation was affirmed by the Governor in May 2023 with an effective date of July 1, 2024.
Since that time, Pinellas County staff, as designated by the County Administrator, have established a working group with Hillsborough County staff, CareerSource Pinellas staff, and CareerSource Tampa Bay staff, to effectuate a consolidation of the two Regions by the effective date. The work included review of best practices from other Florida regions that have done similar consolidations and input from CareerSource Florida and the Florida Department of Commerce.
Based on the results of this review, the recommendation from this bi-County working group is for the Pinellas County Board of County Commissioners and Hillsborough County Board of County Commissioners to enter into an Interlocal Agreement to establish the Hillsborough/Pinellas Workforce Development Consortium (Consortium) and delineate the roles and responsibilities of each County in the administration and operations of the publicly funded workforce development programs within the new multi-jurisdictional Workforce Development Area (Hillsborough County and Pinellas County).
Under this Interlocal Agreement, each Board of County Commissioners (BOCC) will delegate their responsibilities as the Chief Local Elected Official (CLEO) for their Region to the Consortium. This Interlocal Agreement shall automatically renew for additional one-year terms commencing on July 1 and ending on June 30, unless any party provides written notice to the other party of its intent not to renew no later than ninety (90) days before July 1 of any extension period.
Examples of key roles and responsibilities and components of this Interlocal Agreement includes: 1) each BOCC receives two (2) seats on the Consortium to be filled by sitting Commissioners, 2) guidelines for the Consortium to meet no less than quarterly, 3) assignment of County staff to serve as staff to the Consortium to include the County Administrator (or designee) and the County Attorney (or designee), 4) approval and oversight of the Regional LWDB budget, 5) selection of an administrative entity and fiscal agent for the Regional LWDB and establishment of a process to select the Chief Executive Officer of this entity, 6) establishment of Bylaws for the Regional LWDB and a process for appointment of members to the Regional LWDB, 7) submission of 4-year strategic plans and respective 2-year plan modifications to the Florida Department of Commerce, and 8) oversight of the one-stop workforce delivery system.
The agenda for the November 15, 2023 Hillsborough County Board of County Commissioners Meeting will include review of this Interlocal Agreement. Staff recommends approval of the attached Interlocal Agreement. The Interlocal Agreement will be administered by the Economic Development Department.
Fiscal Impact:
N/A
Staff Member Responsible:
Kevin Knutson, Assistant County Administrator, County Administration
Partners:
CareerSource Pinellas
Hillsborough County
CareerSource Tampa Bay
Attachments:
Consortium Interlocal Agreement