January 31, 2018 Developing Opportunities for Youth and Young Adults Who Are Jobless and Out-of-School *Policy, Program and Finance Committee

Policy, Program and Finance Committee

Audience

Members of the State Task Force Policy, Program and Finance Committee and Staff. The public is welcome to attend.

Date/Time

January 31, 2018
10:00am 

Location

  • Youth Connection Charter School
    10 W 35th St. 11th Floor
    Conference Room II
  • Conference Call in:800-930-8721/Code:5884128#

Agenda

  1. Call to Order
  2. Roll Call
  3. Discussion of Task Force Duties
  4. Outline Ideas 
  5. Next Steps
  6. Next Meeting  
  7. Adjourn

Minutes

  1. Call to Order
    Meeting was called to order at 10:06am. 
  2. Roll Call
    Paul Vallas; Karina Ayala-Bermejo, Instituto Del Progreso Latino; Sheila Venson, Youth Connection Charter School; Andrew Wells, Chicago Urban League; Martrice Manuel, Alternative Schools Network; Cozette Buckney; Cozette Buckney * On call-in: Katie Johnson, Senator Chuck Weaver; Caitlyn Barnes, Illinois Community College Board; Karrie Rueter, Illinois Dept. of Human Services.
    Not attending nor on call: David Whittaker, Chicago Area Project, Reyahd Kazmi, National Youth Advocate Program.
  3. Discussion
    1. What programs are effective in terms of education and employment for out of school and jobless youth. Measurements should be used to determine effectiveness. Programs can be in Chicago, Illinois or anywhere across the country.
    2. What policies assist the development of employment and education programs for out of school and jobless youth. c. What methods of financing can assist developing effective programs for out of school and jobless youth. Look at policies locally, in the state and across the country at the municipal, county and state level and nationally. Do we need a subgroup working on each of these three areas above?
    3. There was a general discussion about two groups of students to focus on.
      1. Those that have a post-secondary degree/high school diploma;
      2. Students who do not have a diploma and linking educational skills development and work related certificates in addition to their earning a high school diploma. The discussion also focused on the need to link high school credits and certifications.
    4. Outline ideas in these three areas:
      1. What programs are effective in terms of education and employment for out of school and jobless youth. Measurements should be used to determine effectiveness. Programs can be in Chicago, Illinois or anywhere across the country.
      2. Chicago Urban League (CUL) has an Opportunity Works program for 18 - 24 year olds who have been out of work for a year. The program spends 2 to 3 weeks on soft skills training and has staff who could provide clinical support through cognitive behavioral therapy to deal with the participants' trauma. CUL also has an employment specialist that supports short term, micro training courses, CED preparation courses and 8 standard work certificates. CUL links participants to technical training by other groups. The program has placed 522 people since July with Amazon. Amazon comes regularly to CUL for interviews and assessment.
      3. Katie Johnson discussed WIOA funding that it is consistent, has data measures, best program practices and coordinated services for out of school youth. 80% of the WIOA funds must now be spent on programming for out of school youth.
      4. Paul Vallas mentioned seven community groups that he was working with through Chicago State University to provide training for people ages 17 to 40 years old. These training sites do assessment, evaluation and training and provide a safe zone for the participants.
      5. There was discussion looking at reentry grant programs with a focus also at getting to youth and young adults at the front end in terms of diversion as well as reentry.
      6. What policies assist the development of employment and education programs for out of school and jobless youth.
      7. What methods of financing can assist developing effective programs for out of school and jobless youth. Look at policies locally, in the state and across the country at the municipal, county and state level and nationally.
      8. Andrew Wells discussed the need for flexibility funding and in running their program, they have been learning and innovating through continuous program improvement driven by the needs of the youth and young adults they are working with.
      9. Sheila Venson suggested extending young adults getting a high school diploma to the age of 24 and that there be funding through the K12 system. This exists in Indiana and California. Sheila Venson also described various issues challenging the students they worked with including mental health, trauma and special education. Do we need a subgroup working on each of these three areas above?
      10. Katie Johnson discussed the need for a universal database. HUD has some sort of database like that for homeless. The problem is that there is not a uniform set of data coming from various funders. There was a discussion of looking at a policy for information sharing of data amongst various programs. Katie Johnson also suggested to look at justice, reentry and workforce programming through ICJIA.
      11. Paul Vallas, the Chair, discussed building a state infrastructure of education and training for youth and young adults. His work has been to develop this in other parts of the country and his work in Chicago in the past two years was to develop what he calls a fourth tier of education and training blended into the programs that exist and to develop new programs that are comprehensive providing skills, credentials and educational credentials.
      12. Sheila Venson suggested extending young adults getting a high school diploma to the age of 24 and that there be funding through the K12 system. This exists in Indiana and California. Sheila Venson also described various issues challenging the students they worked with including mental health, trauma and special education.
  4. Next Steps
    See Comments Above
  5. Next Meeting 
    The next meeting will be February 16th at 12PM at Youth Connection Charter School, 10 W. 35th St., 11th Floor, Conference room 2. Call in number - 800-930-8721 and use code 5884128#
  6. Adjourn