Gov. Jay Inslee recently joined employers and youth to spotlight successful youth career readiness projects and announce the winners of a new round of funding to help thousands of youth across Washington prepare for meaningful, living-wage careers and the education opportunities necessary to attain them.
The YouthWorks grants, totaling nearly $2.2 million, will provide internships and other work-based learning experiences for thousands of youth and help re-engage those who have dropped out or are at-risk of not graduating from high school.
“It is inspiring to see these young people and their business mentors working together to create exciting new aspirations and futures,” Inslee said. “The numbers speak for themselves. This effort is successfully helping young people plan for their futures and get ready with top-quality job-skills and mentors.”
Since the program began in 2013, YouthWorks has doubled the number of young people doing internships at local employers, doubled the number of youth matched with employer mentors and tripled the number of youth who designed a specific career plan at YouthWorks sites across Washington.
YouthWorks Phase One was a $250,000 pilot program funded by the Employment Security Department and the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction in 2013.
The governor’s office, Workforce Training and Education Coordinating Board, Workforce Development Councils, ESD and OSPI had agreed to use $1.9 million in federal discretionary funding to expand Phase Two of YouthWorks statewide in 2014–15.
Before announcing the 2015–16 grant winners, Inslee recognized two local YouthWorks projects from the 2015-16 funding cycle: ACE mentorships and the Urban Artworks internship.
ACE is an after-school mentor program for high school students who are interested in learning about career opportunities in architecture, engineering and construction management.
Through the YouthWorks Project in Seattle-King County, three Highline Public School students participated in the Urban Artworks Summer 2015 internship. They worked two to four days a week with professional artists and other youth painting colorful murals around Seattle. By the end of the summer, they’d completed six murals.
“We’re changing lives here,” said Tim Probst, director of workforce development and strategic initiatives at ESD. “If you want to help low-income students — or any students — move up in their lives, connect them with a business mentor, internship and a career plan. YouthWorks really works.”
