To expand opportunities for youth workers across the nation and improve their employment outcomes, the U.S. Department of Labor has selected the first nine communities and their associated partners in its Youth Systems Building Academy. The nine chosen “communities” held their first in-person session from March 7-9, 2023, and will collaborate online before the academy convenes again in the summer of 2023.
Administered by the department’s Employment and Training Administration, the Youth Systems Building Academy was established in December 2022 to provide training and technical assistance to workforce systems and their community partners to help them explore, design, test, implement or expand approaches to attract young workers and support them once they join the workforce. The academy seeks to strengthen local organizations’ ability to serve young people between 16 to 24 years of age who are disconnected from school and the workforce, and those in marginalized and underrepresented communities.
Through the academy, workforce systems’ “communities” will exchange knowledge and ideas, address common challenges, share best practices and receive ongoing consultation and technical support to develop strategies that improve youth employment outcomes.
The initiative aligns with the department’s Youth Employment Works strategy, announced March 9, 2023, and will build on the strategy’s “No Wrong-Door” approach that supports policies, partnerships and strategies to provide equitable access for all young people to prepare for high-quality career paths.
As part of the strategy, the department issued a national Call to Action inviting stakeholders and partners in the field to participate in advancing this effort.
CommunityCityStatePartner OrganizationsAlaska Workforce Investment BoardAnchorageAKAlaska Job Corps Center, Cook Inlet Tribal Council,and Covenant House AlaskaWorkforce Boulder CountyBoulderCOBoulder County Department of Community Services Community Action Program and its Department of Housing & Human Services’ Colorado WorksLake County Workforce Development DepartmentWaukeganILCollege of Lake County’s Indiana, Illinois, Iowa Foundation for Fair Contracting, International Union of Operating Engineers Local 150, and Lake County’s Regional Office of Education and its Workforce Development BoardSouth Central Iowa Local Workforce Development BoardOttumwaIACity of Ottumwa, First Church of the Open Bible.Iowa Workforce Development, Legacy Foundation,Ottumwa Community School District, and Ottumwa Job Corps CenterGeauxJobsHammondLANorthshore Regional STEM Center, Southeastern Louisiana University, Northshore Technical Community College, Tangipahoa Chamber of Commerce, Tangipahoa Parish Economic Development, and Tangipahoa Parish School SystemBuffalo and Erie County Workforce Investment BoardBuffaloNYCommunity Foundation of Greater Buffalo, Erie County Department of Social Services, Service Collaborative of WNY Inc.New York City’s Office of Talent and Workforce DevelopmentNew YorkNYCity University of New York, New York City Public Schools, and New York City’s Department of Social Services-Human Resources Administration, Department of Youth and Community Development, and Workforce Development BoardWorksystemsPortlandORMultnomah County, Portland Opportunities Industrialization Center, and Rosemary Anderson High SchoolRegion III Workforce Development Board of Kanawha CountyCharlestonWVBridgeValley Community & Technical College, Human Resource Development Foundation Inc., andWest Virginia Division of Rehabilitation Services
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