SACRAMENTO, Calif. — A new training plan passed by the Sacramento City Council could give thousands of people in Sacramento new skills to get back into the workforce.
Because of the coronavirus, many Sacramentans are without jobs because their places of work had to close.
According to Sacramento Mayor Darrell Steinberg, the plan is not only going to help boost the economy, but help families and people regain their footing in the economy as well.
"We could've tried creative ways to plug holes in our city budget, or we could intentionally invest the money in our communities, especially our disadvantaged communities," said Steinberg. "We have clearly chosen the latter."
The new workforce training plan will take $10.1 million of CARES Act funding and put it into training programs for construction trades, public health and technology, and digital fields.
Steinberg mentioned how public health jobs are needed, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic, and he said there needs to be more outreach and help in the lower-income communities and Latino and Black communities because of how disproportionately they are affected by the virus. He wants to bring people into those communities to understand them in order to advise and help them.
City Councilmember Eric Guerra agreed, saying that employment is limited for lower-income families because of a lack of training, and the jobs they know how to do are less likely to have the ability to work from home.
"We already knew about the issues affecting our community, but we have the opportunity to fix those gaps," said Guerra.
For construction jobs, the workforce plan gives people opportunities to go through apprenticeship programs. Similarly, for the public and community health job training, people will get to take courses through a partnership with Sacramento City College.
"It's exciting to get Sacramento back to work," said Guerra.
