November 17, 1999

To: Community Services Committee

From: Commissioner of Community and Neighbourhood Services

Subject: The Youth Employment Job Development Grants Program

Purpose:

This report presents the recommended allocations for the Youth Employment Job Development Grants Program (previously known as the Y.E.C.C. Employer Outreach Grant). Names of agencies being recommended can be found in Appendix "A".

Financial Implications and Impact Statement:

Sufficient funds exist within the 1999 approved consolidated grants budget for the allocations recommended.

Recommendations:

It is recommended that:

(1) the attached allocations totalling $117,000.00 for six agencies described in Appendices "A" and "B" be approved; and

(2) the appropriate City Officials be authorized and directed to take the necessary action to give effect thereto.

Background:

The City has been contributing to Youth Employment Counselling Centres located in the former City of Toronto since 1985. City funds are specifically provided for Job Development activities. In 1998 these funds were budgeted in the City of Toronto Planning and Development Department.

Through the 1999 budget process, this program was moved to the Community and Neighbourhood Services Department and is administered by the Co-ordinator of Youth Programs in the Social Development Division.

The term "Job Development activities" encompasses all those activities undertaken by Youth Employment Programs to place clients in employment, to identify potential new employers and to maintain and strengthen relationships with past and present employers of their clients. This entails the production of promotional materials, direct mail and telemarketing solicitation, 'in-person' consultations and the participation and/or creation of job fairs.

The Youth Employment Programs provide their clients with training in job search skills and conduct follow-up with both clients and employers.

These Youth Employment Programs receive their core funding from the Provincial Ministry of Education and Training and/or the Federal Department of Human Resources Development Canada.

In 1999, program eligibility remained limited to those agencies that were funded in 1998.This has been the process applied due to the short turn around time between the Community and Neighbourhood Services Department obtaining this grant program and the need to get the grants out in a timely fashion. The department will conduct a review of this program with the participation of all youth employment program providers in the new City in the year 2000.

As in previous years, the agencies delivering these Youth Employment Programs submitted comprehensive applications with statistics on their placement rate and samples of materials they use for marketing their services and their clients. Some include letters of support from satisfied businesses that utilised their services.

Comments:

The rate of unemployment among young people in Toronto remains high despite the recent improvements in the economy. In the October 1999 Statistics Canada labour force survey, the rate of unemployment for the general population was 6.9 percent. For youth aged 15 to 24 the unemployment rate was considerably higher at 13.7 percent. Educational achievement is also a factor in determining employability. The unemployment rate for young people who graduated from college was 6.2 percent and graduates from university was 3.3 percent, whereas the rate for those who had not completed high school was significantly more at 21.5 percent.

A large percentage of the youth who accessed the youth employment programs in this grants program over the last few years are young people who have not completed a high school education. In addition to this employment barrier they also serve youth who have been in conflict with the law, or have learning disabilities. As many as 80 percent of clients at some agencies are members of visible minorities and newcomers to Canada. A large percentage of the youth served are social assistance recipients. The one thing these youth all have in common is the eagerness to work and the ambition to reach their personal goals.

These youth employment programs match youth that are ready for employment with employers in the community. They assist these youth in developing a job search plan and provide links to employers through their job development activities.

Over the past year these youth employment programs served thousands of young people. All of these agencies have outcome evaluation processes in place and report their outcomes each year in their grant submissions.

The additional resources obtained from this grant support the agencies work in job development activities. This provides greater staff time to provide the intensity of support required assisting these young people in locating employers. Last year the six agencies combined were able to place 1,040 young people in jobs through this program. A variety of methods were used by these staff to achieve this. These methods ranged from direct telephone contact to prospective employers to job fairs. In addition, assistance was provided once the young person has successfully obtained a job to support them in maintaining their job.

This grants program differs from the other Provincial and Federal grants programs in that this grant is to be exclusively utilised to support the job development activities in their existing youth employment programs.

Conclusions:

The Youth Employment Programs listed in this report are providing critical assistance to young people in attaining employment opportunities. Despite the encouraging signs that the economy is recovering, youth still are at a clear disadvantage in the market place. The rate of unemployment for those young people who face additional barriers to employment is even more alarming. This latter group of youth typify the young people being served by the employment agencies who have received this grant in the past and who are submitting their proposals for refunding.

The submissions received from these six agencies meet the City's standards and policies. It is recommended that the Youth Employment Job Development allocations be approved as outlined in this report.

Contact:

Geraldine Babcock, Co-ordinator of Youth Programs

Tel.: 397-1750

Fax: 392-8492

E-mail: gbabcock@toronto.ca

Commissioner of Community and Neighbourhood Services

List of Attachments:

Appendix "A": List of Agencies who applied for the Youth Employment Development Grant

Appendix "B": Summary sheets on each agency recommended for the Youth Employment Job Development Grant