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Testimony of Evette Banfield, VP, Economic Development Policy Coalition for Nonprofit Housing & Economic Development Before the Committee on Labor and Workforce Development Budget Oversight Hearing on Workforce Investment Council Thursday, June 3, 2021 Virtual Good afternoon, Chairperson Silverman, and members of the Committee on Labor and Workforce Development. I’m Evette Banfield, Vice President of Economic Development Policy and Wealth Building Strategies at the Coalition for Nonprofit Housing and Economic Development (CNHED). CNHED is an association of 140 members working to foster just and equitable community development solutions that address the needs and aspirations of low- and moderate-income District residents. CNHED is looking to Council to ensure that the District’s FY 2022 workforce development budget reflects the needs of thousands of low-income, unemployed and unskilled residents. The path forward to eradicating the persistent high unemployment rate and poverty associated with low-wage jobs is to train and upskill Black and Brown residents in the District’s high demand sectors. Drastically moving the needle will require investment in and strategic engagement of community-based workforce development organizations partnering with the District as well as residents. In FY 2020-21, the District successfully launched the Healthcare Workforce Partnership, committing $250K to fund this effort. We ask Council to make a second-year reoccurring allocation of $250K to continue the support of this timely and innovative initiative. Create equity and access by investing and making digital literacy and occupational training an integral part of workforce development training and closing the digital divide. Digital occupational training should be expanded, and proficiency should be a workforce development requirement. CNHED is asking Council that the District’s public libraries have sufficient funding for adult digital literacy training in FY 2022. Now is the time to advance bold and innovative ideas to provide a fair shot for the District’s low-income, long-term and newly, unemployed Black and Brown residents, and those in entry-level skill jobs. CNHED is recommending that the Council fund in FY 2022 the exploration of the creation of an IT Workforce Partnership. Testimony of Evette Banfield, CNHED 6-3-21, page 2 It is essential that the District invest and figure out how to increase the reading and numeracy skills for District residents testing below the 6th grade reading and math. This is a significant impediment to upskilling and retraining residents relegated to entry-to- intermediate skill, low-wage jobs. We need to set an ambitious goal to close the gap in GED completions, and increase the CASAS testing levels from 6th to 9th grade reading and math if the District is committed to provide employment opportunities in high-demand industries. CNHED is asking Council to create a fund similar to the Career Pathways Innovation Fund (CPIF), supporting the capacity building of local adult charter schools and other qualified adult high school credentialing programs, to improve, scale-up and expand training offering of nonprofit community-based workforce training organizations. The District needs to be aggressive in its efforts to make the shift to a system-wide, phased adoption of an Integrated Education and Training Model. Capacity building grants will help to facilitate this change. The District should also continue investing in the Career Pathways Innovation Fund, and this model should be used to support the implementation of approaches and best practices that demonstrate positive results for nonprofit workforce training providers. In closing, CNHED wants to acknowledge the leadership and vision of the Executive Director of the Workforce Investment Council (WIC), Ahnna Smith, and her team. The Mayor’s budget priorities for jobs and economic opportunity are ambitious given the current capacity and outcomes of the District’s workforce system. At this pivotal time, it is essential that the District increase the capacity of the WIC in FY 2022 for the challenging work ahead. Thank you for this opportunity to testify. 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