The California EDGE Coalition has released a new issue brief, High Road Training Partnerships and the Future of Workforce Funding, exploring how California can build on the progress of High Road Training Partnerships (HRTPs) while strengthening the state’s workforce funding system for the long term. The brief examines opportunities to expand access to high-quality training, better support learners, improve how outcomes are measured, and ensure effective workforce partnerships can be sustained. Launched in 2017 as a state demonstration project, HRTPs bring together employers, labor, education and training providers, community organizations, and public agencies to align training with real industry demand while advancing job quality, equity, worker voice, and climate resilience.
The brief acknowledges the successes of the current HRTPs structure, including recommendations to sustain labor-management partnerships as a valuable workforce model, while also proposing the creation of parallel funding opportunities for other high-quality training providers that meet clear quality expectations and demonstrate strong outcomes. We outline what a stronger, more stable funding strategy could look like and pose six key questions to guide the next phase of policy design, from sustaining effective models beyond one-time funding to defining quality and outcomes across different training approaches.
Read the full High Road Training Partnerships and the Future of Workforce Funding issue brief here.