(a) (1) Commencing with the 2019-20 fiscal year, as a condition of receipt of an apportionment of funds from this program for a fiscal year, the members of a consortium shall have a consortium-approved three-year adult education plan that addresses a three-year fiscal planning cycle. The plan shall be updated at least once each year based on available data pertaining to the requirements of subdivision (b).

(2) For the 2018-19 fiscal year, as a condition of receipt of an apportionment of funds from this program, the members of a consortium shall have a consortium-approved adult education plan that satisfies subdivision (c).

(3) (A) Before establishing a career technical education training program, each member of a local adult education consortium, or the consortium as a whole, shall conduct a job market study of the labor market area in which it proposes to establish the career technical education training program or rely upon the most recent job market study of the labor market area conducted by the local workforce development board. The study shall use local labor market information and consider a supply analysis of existing career technical education training programs for adults maintained by high schools, community colleges, and other postsecondary educational institutions in the geographic area to ensure that the anticipated employment demand for adults enrolled in the proposed training program justifies the establishment of the proposed courses of instruction.

(B) After completing the job market study and before establishing the career technical education training program, the governing body of a member of a local adult education consortium, or the consortium as a whole, as applicable, shall determine if the job market study justifies the proposed career technical education program.

(b) An adult education plan shall include all of the following:

(1) An evaluation of the educational needs of adults in the region.

(2) A list of the following:

(A) Entities that provide education and workforce services to adults in the region.

(B) Entities that are impacted by, or that have a fundamental interest in, the provision of those services.

(3) A description of the services provided by entities listed pursuant to paragraph (2).

(4) An evaluation of current levels and types of education and workforce services for adults in the region.

(5) An evaluation of the funds available to the members of the consortium and the entities listed pursuant to paragraph (2), including funds other than those apportioned pursuant to this article.

(6) Actions that the members of the consortium will take to address the educational needs identified pursuant to paragraph (1).

(7) Actions that the members of the consortium will take to improve the effectiveness of their services.

(8) Actions that the members of the consortium, the entities listed pursuant to paragraph (2), and other interested parties will take to improve integration of services and to improve transitions into postsecondary education and the workforce, including actions related to all of the following:

(A) Placement of adults seeking education and workforce services into adult education programs.

(B) Alignment of academic standards and curricula for programs across entities that provide education and workforce services to adults.

(C) Qualifications of instructors, including common standards across entities that provide education and workforce services to adults.

(D) Collection and availability of data.

(9) A description of the alignment of adult education services supported by this program with those described in other education and workforce plans guiding services in the region, including plans pertaining to the building of career pathways and the employment of workforce sector strategies and those required pursuant to the federal Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (Public Law 113-128).

(10) A description of the ways in which each of the entities identified in paragraph (2) contributed to the development of the plan.

(c) For the 2015-16, 2016-17, 2017-18, and 2018-19 fiscal years, a regional plan developed pursuant to Section 84830 shall satisfy the requirements of this section.

(Amended by Stats. 2021, Ch. 666, Sec. 100. (AB 486) Effective January 1, 2022.)