Potential Strategies and Solutions

1. Metro North Regional Employment Board Quarterly Meeting – September 25, 2013The Challenges Posed byYouth Unemployment Potential Strategies and Solutions

2. Meeting goals • Identify new/additional approaches to the problem of youth unemployment that can be implemented in Metro North • Identify new/additional strategies for linking youth to priority industries/STEM occupations (linking to strategic plan goals)

3. Which Youth? • In-School Youth • Youth in high school Out-of-School Youth • Youth in alternative education programs, e.g., GED programs planning to enter post-secondary education/training or employment • Disconnected Youth • Youth with barriers to education or employment, e.g., DYS-involved, homeless, DCF-involved, etc.

4. Factors Contributing to Youth Unemployment • Lack of job openings or job openings are filled by adults and older workers • Barriers to work • Stricter application requirements, e.g., > 18 years old, CORIs, work authorization • On-line applications • Transportation to scarce jobs • Work hours for youth who are in school • Lack of experience; employer hiring criteria • Lack of work readiness skills/job search skills • Lack of basic education skills, e.g., reading, writing, math, English • Lack of exposure to job/career options; lack of knowledge of current labor market • Lack of occupational skills

5. Metro north Youth Characteristics • Total Population in Metro North: 761,431 • Total Labor Force in Metro North: 424,262 • Total 2012 Metro North Employment: 401,621 • Total Metro North Youth Ages 16 – 21: 55,814 • Total Metro North Youth Employed (26% est): 14,512 • Total Economically Disadvantaged Youth: 10,030

6. YouthWorks • Goals: Provide subsidized employment and work readiness training to youth (low-income, age 14-21, youth with barriers to employment) in targeted cities • Summer: Cambridge, Chelsea, Everett, Malden, Revere, and Somerville • # Placed: 629 • Year-Round: Cambridge, Chelsea, Malden, Revere and Somerville • # Placed: 70 (estimated) • Outcomes: Subsidized Employment, Work Readiness, Career Exposure • Challenges: • Meaningful employment opportunities (currently primarily public sector) • Identifying opportunities for youth with multiple barriers to employment, e.g., DYS-connected, youth with disabilities

7. Connecting Activities • Goals: 1) Place youth in unsubsidized jobs, with emphasis on priority industries • Introduce youth to work through workshops, speakers and job shadows • # Placed:100 youth from six high schools • Schools:Chelsea, Everett, Revere, Malden, Somerville and Woburn • Services: 1) Coaches at schools outreach to youth, handle school logistics • 2) Career center staff connect youth to specific internships/jobs , deliver workshops, develop Work- Based Learning Plans, assist with resume development, arrange tours and job shadows • Outcomes: Contribute to long-term success (academic and career) through early introduction to the employment world • Challenges: • Employer participation and involvement, especially in priority industries • Employers hiring only age 18+

8. WIA Youth (Low-Income; barrier) • Out of School Youth: • Goals: GED Attainment, Transition to Post-Secondary Education or Employment • # Served: 101 • Providers: • American Training (LARE) - 3 Programs • Mystic Learning Center • Just-a-Start • Wakefield Public Schools • In-School Youth: • Goals: Drop-out Prevention, Transition to Post-Secondary Education or Employment • # Served: 63 • Providers: • Bay Cove • Cambridge Housing Authority • Just-a-Start • Malden YWCA • Woburn Housing Authority • Mystic Learning Center

9. WIA Youth (Continued) • Providers: • Education • Career exploration/exposure or occupational training (in some cases) • Work experience (summer jobs—primarily for in-school youth) • Mentoring • Counseling/case management/job search (shared with career center) • Career Center Services: • Intake, eligibility/assessment, pre- and post-testing • Counseling, case management , job search (shared with provider) • Orientation/tour of career center • Information sessions on priority industries (healthcareand STEM) • Tailored services (selected workshops) focused on work readiness • Challenges: • Student engagement; attendance at program • Financial and family issues • Employer engagement (for summer youth and other work experience)

10. WIA Youth Transition Services • Goal: Successfully outreach to disconnected youth in the community and connect them to WIA services or employment opportunities • # Served: 700; average of 3.9 visits each • Services: Career centers provide a variety of workshops at non-profits and other community-based organizations and alternative schools and refer interested youth to further services • Challenges: • Gaining and maintaining youth commitment to participate • Assisting youth in envisioning potential futures

11. AMP It Up! • Goals: • Introduce youth enrolled in GED programs to opportunities in manufacturing through hands-on exposure • Create a new, accurate image of what it means to work in manufacturing; present it as a positive career choice • Activities: • Conducted four orientations (about 50 youth) • Provided two hands-on workshops (about 10 youth total) • Currently preparing online materials/resource to introduce youth and adults to the opportunities in the manufacturing sector • Challenges: • Finding an effective way to encourage youth and adults to consider careers in a complex array of manufacturing environments

12. Other youth activities • MCAS Pathways (The Career Place): 40 • MassGrad (The Career Place): 30 • Total Youth Served by Career Centers FY’13: 1,741

13. Youth Council • Goals: • Coordinate a broad array of youth services in the region • Convene youth-servicing representatives bi-monthly to support on-going youth activities provided by the REB and career centers • Review and recommend proposals for WIA funding • Sponsor events, e.g., STEM events. • Participation: Membership includes representatives from youth vendors, employers, REB members, local government, and nonprofits. • Challenge: • Employer engagement/participation

14. Discussion: how can we best address: • Lack of job openings – Are there ways to create new ones? • Lack of experience – Are there alternative methods to meet experience requirements? • Lack of work readiness skills/job search skills – Are there methods that might be more palatable to youth/more effective? • Lack of exposure to job/career options; lack of knowledge of current labor market – How can we maximize exposure to possible careers? • Lack of basic education skills – Are there better methods than the traditional classroom? • Lack of occupational skills – How can we provide this with limited funding available? • Barriers to work (age, CORIs, transportation, work hours, online access) • How can we link these strategies to, or embed them in, our priority industries/STEM occupations?