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APPROVE MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING BETWEEN THE CITY OF STOCKTON AND THE SAN JOAQUIN COUNTY EMPLOYMENT AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENT FOR A SUMMER YOUTH EMPLOYMENT AND TRAINING PROGRAM
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RECOMMENDATION
It is recommended that the City Council adopt by motion action a Memorandum of Understanding between the San Joaquin County Employment and Economic Development Department (WorkNet) and the City of Stockton to provide $100,000 in funding for a distinct element of their Summer Youth Employment and Training Program (SYETP).
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Summary
The City of Stockton proposes to partner with WorkNet to offer additional support to their SYETP by providing $100,000 to create employment opportunities for youth from the community. Funding is available for this project due to vacancy savings in the Office of Violence Prevention for fiscal year 2014-15.
DISCUSSION
Background
The long-term goals of the City's Office of Violence Prevention include facilitating and developing a broad network of support services for at-risk youth and young adults in the community. While the initial emphasis of the Office of Violence Prevention has been developing core support services tailored to Operation Ceasefire clients, vacancy savings in fiscal year 2014-15 have created a unique opportunity to advance a strategic priority sooner than expected. The 2014-15 budget for the Office of Violence includes program funding for workforce development, outreach efforts and client incentives. However, due to limited funding, these program dollars have been strategically allocated to those at most risk. It is the greater than anticipated vacancy savings that have made available a sufficient amount of funding to make this significant investment in a summer youth employment program.
WorkNet has a proven track record of implementing a successful SYETP. For more than 30 years, WorkNet has offered summer youth employment and has the expertise and infrastructure to solicit, process, train and place summer youth employees. The City of Stockton is not in a position to carry out this same program with equal efficiency and expertise. WorkNet is the community organization best suited to carry out this program and is the only community organization with the capacity to take on additional youth employment applicants in the short time frame available. A key principle of the Marshall Plan on Crime is to build stronger collaboration amongst regional partners and build upon their strengths. The collaborative efforts between the City and County on this project will help support the Council's strategic targets of youth, public safety, and economic development.
Present Situation
WorkNet is prepared to provide the services needed to implement the Summer Youth Employment and Training program. WorkNet will conduct outreach, intake/preliminary eligibility review and job matching. They will also provide worksite development, participant and supervisor orientation, worksite monitoring, payroll services, job coaching and guidance counseling and provide technical assistance activities. In addition, WorkNet will provide financial and participation reporting, which will include site placement and assignments. The City will provide $100,000 to fund this program for the summer of 2015. It is worth noting that the City intends to continue to support this program in future years with modifications based on the results found in WorkNet's final reports.
Youth who participate in 2015 will need to meet criteria to be eligible. They must be a City of Stockton resident and between the ages of 14-21. The assignments will range between 6-8 weeks, up to 5 days per week, 4-6 hours per day. Each participant will be paid the current minimum wage as salary. Priority will be given to youth that are low income, at-risk and reside in underserved areas of the City. The core mission of the WorkNet SYETP is to provide employment to a high volume of low-income youth through State and County funding. The WorkNet SYETP typically employs approximately 1000 youth each summer. While the funding provided by the City will not provide a similar number of jobs, the intent with City funding is to focus on those youth at greater risk or those youth that do not qualify for the existing SYETP. By providing additional funding, the City will give WorkNet the ability to strategically target this investment and fill in existing service gaps. It is anticipated that the funding provided by the City will result in the placement of 35 summer youth employees.
FINANCIAL SUMMARY
As noted above, the funding for this project is available as a result of vacancy savings in fiscal year 2014-15 from the Office of Violence Prevention. Sufficient funds are available in the General Fund Office of Violence Prevention account number 014-0138-530.
Attachment A - Memorandum of Understanding