* WARNING: THIS IS AN UNOFFICIAL, INTRODUCTORY COPY OF THE BILL.
THE OFFICIAL COPY CONSIDERED BY THE CITY COUNCIL IS THE FIRST READER COPY.
INTRODUCTORY*
CITY OF BALTIMORE
COUNCIL BILL R
(Resolution)
Introduced by: Councilmember Welch
A RESOLUTION ENTITLED
A COUNCIL RESOLUTION concerning
title
Establishing a Permanent Fund-raising Committee for YouthWorks
FOR the purpose of calling on the Mayor and the Director of the Mayor's Office of Employment Development to establish a dedicated permanent committee to expand fund-raising and job placement for YouthWorks in order to allow the program to expand and improve it's effectiveness.
body
Recitals
A June hearing called by the City Council to review the state of the YouthWorks program as it nears three decades of existence allowed administrators to provide the Council with a great deal of helpful information. In the wake of this hearing, a number of innovative ideas for improving YouthWorks going forward have been raised. Some of these ideas include expanding YouthWorks into a year-round program, automating the registration process, and more systematically evaluating the job skills needed and gained by YouthWorks participants.
Although the current funding model has allowed YouthWorks to continue successfully for decades, implementing the above ideas while continuing to expand the number of participants in YouthWorks is likely to require new funding approaches as well. Expanding job placement throughout the year and during the traditional summer period will require increases in both funding and job sites. Currently, 90% of those supporting YouthWorks are long time donors. However, meeting the needs of expansion will require expanding the donor base by bringing in new supporters.
Rather than relying exclusively on time limited yearly fund raising campaigns by officials with many other concerns on their plates, YouthWorks should look into establishing a permanent steering committee to focus exclusively on raising funds for YouthWorks and finding suitable sites for the placement of participants year-round.
An independent steering committee would also provide a body to more systematically assess the job related skills of YouthWorks participants as they enter and exit the program. Making these types of assessments would allow YouthWorks to better understand both what the true training needs of participants are, and which job placements are most effective at meeting these various needs. With this data, particularly effective conditions at some sites could be replicated in other areas. Better matches could also be made between the specific needs and offerings of employers and young employees.
Implementation of some or all of the suggestions being raised to improve YouthWorks would help to ensure that it becomes even more effective at helping Baltimore's youth become productive and successful members of the workforce for years to come. One of the most important ways to do this would be to create a new body focused solely on YouthWorks. This would put the program onto the firm financial footing that it needs to both continue the current level of service and seriously consider meaningful expansion.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF BALTIMORE, That the Council calls on the Mayor and the Director of the Mayor's Office of Employment Development to continue to establish a dedicated permanent committee to expand fund-raising and job placement for YouthWorks in order to allow the program to expand and improve it's effectiveness.
AND BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That a copy of this Resolution be sent to the Mayor, the Director of the Mayor's Office of Employment Development, and the Mayor's Legislative Liaison to the City Council.
dlr 11-2520(c)~intro/10Aug11
ccres/YWcmte/tw
dlr 11-2520(c)~intro/10Aug11
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ccres/YWcmte/tw