Youth Works Employment Program

The primary objective of the Hampden County YouthWorks year-round program is to provide strucurured, well supervised work experience for low-income, disengaged youth, 16-21 years of age residing in the neighborhoods of Springfield for 10 weeks from October 2008 to June 2009.The goal is to pair the youth participant up with an organization that can provide workforce development to ensure the youths' employability after the program.

A substantial body of research supports the importance of work experience for youth and there is ample evidence that early work experience, like schooling, can have significant long-term impacts on future labor market outcomes. Work experience helps youth develop many of the skills and behavioral traits; teamwork, communication, cooperation, and the like, that are highly prized by employers. Such experiences can also provide youth some of the information they need to make critical decisions about education and career planning, and help them develop expected occupational proficiencies.

The program is designed for:

Out-of-school (drop-out or has diploma/GED
Drop-out who has re-enrolled in school or in a GED program
DYS Youth in the process of transitioning to home community
DSS youth who is aging out of foster care, not yet attained sufficient educational levels or work experience to be independent
Truant youth with poor attendance and/poor grades and not likely to be served by an in-school career specialist

Services Offered:

Work Readiness Certificates
Personal/Professional Development (life skills workshops)
GED/Vocational Training if needed
Job Placement
Sign-up with local temp agency/union
Portfolio: resume, cover letter performance evaluation, 2 recommendation letters

Hours worked

Youth will be hired to work 10 or 15 hours per week Enrollment process: 4 to 5 youth will be placed at a work site every month until the projected enrollment amount has been met and sustained.

Collaboration efforts: P21 Providers (Futureworks), Shannon Grant Partners