* 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
Expanding YouthWorks into a Year-Round Program
FOR the purpose of calling on the Mayor and the Director of the Mayor's Office of Employment Development to add a year-round component to YouthWorks in order to allow it to better meet the needs of Baltimore's young people.
body
Recitals
Through last year's summer YouthWorks program, as has been the case every summer for nearly three decades, thousands of Baltimore City youth received their first introduction to the working world and thousands more added vital job skills and experience to their resumes.
As we reflect on the continued success of the YouthWorks program it is also appropriate to consider how the program could be expanded and improved to continue building on these successes. One question that springs to mind concerns the end date for the annual YouthWorks program; or, rather, why it should have a fixed end date at all.
YouthWorks offers jobs to youth ages 14 to 21, a demographic currently suffering with a staggering 30% unemployment rate. This intimidating job market does not magically improve every year as summer mellows into fall. Many student's seeking after-school work, or young people looking for their first positions as their school days draw to a close, could benefit from the entry and training level positions provided by YouthWorks just as much in September or January as in June and July.
The dangers inherent in jobless frustration and forced idleness - and the needs of local businesses for productive, motivated, and pre-screened part-time help - similarly do not disappear the moment the calendar rolls over into August. Extending YouthWorks in some form into a year round program could continue to provide benefits to young job seekers, local employers, and the City as a whole throughout the year.
Broadening the program's focus to encompass the entire year would help to ensure that YouthWorks becomes even more effective at helping Baltimore's youth become productive and successful members of the workforce for years to come.
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 add a year-round component to YouthWorks in order to allow it to better meet the needs of Baltimore's young people.
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.
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