March 31, 2025
Learn how a California grant program serving workers from groups facing barriers to employment generated population-specific solutions and cross-cutting strategies for program design and systems change. By integrating population-specific solutions into a broader economic and workforce development agenda, leaders have an opportunity to expand access to quality jobs for those who stand to benefit the most.
For Daniel Allen, being a Buffalo Crew Member with the Forestry and Fire Recruitment Program (FFRP) is more than just a job—it’s a mission. As a former participant in FFRP’s Career Training Program focused on preparing formerly incarcerated Californians for careers as firefighters and forestry technicians, he understands the power of second chances. As a crew member, he now participates in fire prevention and fire suppression projects throughout the western United States. He also trains future crew members, continuing to inspire and mentor others who have faced similar barriers. This work has been transformative for Allen and many others. “I literally love what I do because it changes lives,” he says.
Across California, workforce organizations are transforming lives by implementing population-specific strategies that connect people facing barriers to stable, high-quality jobs. For FFRP, the values of community-centered work and honoring lived experiences are central to their mission. By providing training, skills, and resources for people with records of incarceration, FFRP helps them transition into stable jobs as firefighters and forestry technicians, all while fostering a culture of inclusion and respect for their unique experiences.
I literally love what I do because it changes lives.
Daniel Allen, Buffalo Crew Member, The Forestry and Fire Recruitment Program
The work that Allen and FFRP are doing is one example of California’s innovative workforce training programs supported through the Equity Target Population Fund (ETPF) initiative. This recent two-year grant program aimed to improve preparation and access to quality jobs for people from groups facing barriers, including young people disconnected from work and school, veterans, people with disabilities, and people with records of incarceration.
The people-centered and novel approaches implemented by the nine ETPF grantee organizations are captured in JFF’s new publication Advancing California’s Workforce Equity Through Population-Specific Strategies: A Framework for Program Design and Systems Change. This framework, designed in collaboration with ETPF grantee practitioner leaders, staff, and participants, distills key insights from the initiative. The core idea: by advancing targeted support for populations facing barriers to economic mobility and applying successful strategies that have proven successful for other population groups facing high barriers, workforce organizations can identify shared solutions and drive systemic changes that bring benefits for all.
The Equity Target Population Fund (ETPF) was a two-year initiative of the California Employment Development Department supported by Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act Title I Governor’s discretionary funds in Program Year 2022-23. The ETPF invested in nine innovative projects statewide designed to improve outcomes for four populations that face significant barriers to employment: young people who are not working or in school, veterans, people with disabilities, and people with records of incarceration. Grantee organizations included the Asian American Drug Abuse Program (AADAP), Forestry and Fire Recruitment Program (FFRP), Goodwill San Francisco Bay, Interfaith Community Services, JVS SoCal, Sacramento Employment and Training Agency (SETA), and the West Oakland Job Resource Center.
JFF was charged with providing technical assistance and leading a peer learning community for ETPF grantees in partnership with Engage R+D.
Together, the ETPF grantee organizations served approximately 1,200 Californians through programs that featured responsive population-specific strategies, cross-sector partnerships, comprehensive wraparound supports, and career training in pathways leading to in-demand jobs.
JFF launched this framework at a culminating symposium in Sacramento on March 4, 2025, bringing together workforce practitioners, California state agency leaders, and funders with a shared focus on implementing, scaling, and sustaining responsive solutions for workers facing barriers to advancement. The challenges and strategies surfaced in this publication and through the subsequent in-person event remain relevant for California and nationwide leaders committed to maximizing the impact of economic and workforce development investments through population-specific strategies.
Building inclusive approaches to meeting a state’s workforce needs requires solutions not just designed for the most affected populations, but by them. JFF’s technical assistance approach is rooted in the belief that the most effective solutions emerge from the expertise of those most affected. The framework is a testament to this principle: It is not just a policy document but a collaboratively developed and validated resource, informed and curated by practitioners—many of whom come from the populations these strategies aim to serve.
The JFF technical assistance team utilized various strategies as part of this human-centered approach, including:
The result? A practical, action-oriented resource featuring a unifying theory of change, cross-cutting strategies for workforce initiatives, population-specific considerations, case studies, and sustainability recommendations.
Through this collaborative process, we identified five recurring strategies to which ETPF leaders and participants attributed their program success. Effective programs apply these strategies to improve equitable access to workforce training and job placement for people facing barriers to economic advancement, while tailoring their implementation to the needs of specific population groups. These strategies are divided into five themes:
The lessons from programs like ETPF are more critical than ever as California leaders look to shape inclusive economic and workforce development at the local, regional, and state levels. Governor Newsom’s California Jobs First Economic Blueprint, released in February 2025 and informed by regional plans developed over the past three years, presents a community-led vision for growth and resilience. The blueprint is accompanied by $245 million in new funding for workforce training grant programs shaped by the California Master Plan for Career Education. Together, these plans and investments represent a bold bet in the state’s potential to drive innovation and increase access to jobs paying family-sustaining wages. But these goals cannot be achieved without responsive workforce strategies for the millions of Californians from populations facing barriers to advancement.
However, as Abby Snay, Deputy Secretary of the California Labor and Workforce Development Agency, urged attendees at JFF’s recent symposium in Sacramento:
It’s an important time to stay involved and advocate for people facing systemic barriers in local, regional, and state planning conversations, so that we don’t lose focus on those who stand to benefit the most.
Abby Snay, Deputy Secretary for Workforce Strategy, the California Labor and Workforce Development Agency
Snay and Deputy Director Javier Romero of the California Employment Development stressed that population-specific initiatives like ETPF are central to the state’s theory of change for preparing more workers for quality jobs.
To ensure the long-term impact of population-specific workforce strategies, we must move beyond one-time investments like ETPF and embed these practices into broader workforce planning efforts. Field leaders must champion this work to prioritize populations facing barriers.
The new regional investment opportunities create an opening to:
As Louis Lewis, Employment Access Director at AADAP, urged symposium attendees:
Be an advocate. Learn the systems that [populations facing barriers] are caught up in, help them navigate through these systems, and develop allies. We can go further when we go together.
Louis Lewis, Employment Access Director, the Asian American Drug Abuse Program
Realizing the promise of one-time initiatives like ETPF requires a commitment to scaling and institutionalizing best practices as core components of future investments. In the case of California, this means leveraging the unique opportunity to integrate population-specific workforce strategies as a core component of local, regional, and state planning and investments.
To sustain this momentum, leaders at all levels of the workforce ecosystem must take action:
By working together, workforce leaders can commit to scaling proven approaches and creating systems that empower every worker, regardless of their demographic background or life experiences, to access quality jobs.
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