mayor’s summer youth employment program
TRANSCRIPT
Mayor’s Summer Youth
Employment Program
Just Holm
Preschool Manager
City of Cambridge
Stakeholders
Funding Stream - Office of Workforce Development
Community
Legislature
Background Information
Office of Workforce Development - OWD
Administration - Budget
Cambridge Community Partnership for Children
CCPC - Involving different stakeholders
CAYL/Schott Fellowship -Political Advocacy
Goals Develop a recruitment and training program for male high school students
Community Outreach training through CCPC
Develop preschool sites that;
– Understand the challenges young men have in entering the field
– Are ready to support and train these young men
Develop an ongoing model for the work
“I started with the money.”
Goals
– Raise awareness
– Recruit males
– In-service
– Recruit trainers
– Training topics
– Promotional Material
“Money”
Implementation
– Select sites
– Prepare staff
– Hire male supervisors
– Schedule meetings at the High School
– Review applications
– Select Students
– Track outcome
Community Outreach
CCPC training using – Videos:
• Tough Guise, Raising Cain, Seeing Diversity
– Books and articles: • Michael Thompson’s It’s a Boy
– Discussions: • Froebel: What kind of a garden would a
kindergarten be without male influence?
• George Lakoff: Don’t Think of an Elephant
Don’t think of an Elephant
Moral vision: “Children have right to role models of both gender and experience the nurturing from both male and female perspectives. A child raised through nurturance is a child who has achieved positive internal discipline. To develop a balanced identity they need to recognize themselves in their environment and in the people that take care of them.
Don’t think of an Elephant
Investing in children: “Children are our future and they need to develop into productive members of our society. Caring and responsible people that can be self reliant and protect our freedom, and our prosperity. We need to teach our children to be responsible for themselves and empathetic and responsible towards others. We need to raise them to be strong and well educated enough to carry out their responsibilities.
Students experiences and
comments Classroom management and behavior management
Individual experiences
The “Job”
Why do we have to do all the cleaning?
Why do they expect us to keep the active boys busy?
Why do we have to play all the active games outside?
Why do they say we always get the kids worked up?
Outcomes
Recruitment
Placement
Student Evaluation
Playfulness – I can play
Gender – Pink
– Men choose this because they want it
– Women think it is their birthright….
GIVE THEM THEIR SPACE,
DON’T BE IN THEIR FACE
THERE ARE NO BAD KIDS
Student Evaluation continued
Training
Personal growth – I learned to be patient
– Keeping your personal life at home
– My girlfriend worried…
Career Path – I would like this but the pay is so bad
– Maybe I could be a coach…..
– DUTY - to teach - PROTECTOR of kids
– ROLE MODEL - for kids - Testimonies
STUDENT TESTIMONY
I am going to tell you about my job. “Throughout the summer and as the summer ended I got asked to write a letter about if I would like to work more time during school year. So I decided to write and tell how my experience with the children was and especially what I learned from them.
As a man of color it is my duty to teach and as also giving good advice to young adults like how to respect others, listen, and to be kind.
When I started working with kids 2 years ago, I thought that it was going
to be an easy job. But when I started working I realized that there was more to it
than just looking over the kids and playing with them. I realized at the time that I
was also a “Protector”. I was responsible for these kids. I was to make sure that
each kid was safe and taken care of. I also realized that this job made me feel good.
Just thinking that I am doing something good for these children. Then I thought:
This is why men don’t want to work in child care, because it is hard. When I grew
up I only saw women in early child care and men mostly in middle school or high
school. The reason why I think that men think early child care is hard is because they
think they are just going to make sure the kids are fine. But I feel they are missing
the fact that they could get to know the kids and see what they are thinking. Men
do have a big impact on little kids. I would like to see more men in early childcare. I
feel that men should be in early childcare, because the children need good male role
models. The (men) can teach these kids about reading more, and when they grow up
not to hang out in the street but stay in school to get an education. If the salary
increased maybe more men would join the field. We need money to keep these kids
safe because children are our future.
“I liked my experience working with children. I think it is important to men to be working in day care programs because as a role figure we can teach young ones that men everywhere can be a good influence in their lives, not just women. Also, that color is a factor in being a good role model for not only in the classroom, but also in their community and for their country. The one quarrel I had was that the women were only respected in the eyes of the parents for their hard work, but not the men at all.”
Preschool center evaluation
Training and discussion – Men are much more complex then I/we/women
thought
Career and salary – Increase salary
– Not wanted because men will just take over
Job description – Changing diapers
– Supervision
– Curriculum development
Job diversity – We women can benefit from a diverse workforce
with a variety of skills and interests.
Budget Numbers and Cost of the Mayor’s Summer Youth Program
Total Number of Applicants 865
Total Number of Applicants Placed 813
Total cost of the program $ 915,000
Total cost of wages for participants only: $ 810,000
Cost per applicant:
The applicants provided free “labor” for 6-8 weeks to the various job sites for approx. $160 p. wk.
Program structure
Managed by -OWD
Funded by state, city and federal government
Student placement total 6 - 8 weeks
Student’s family must meet income guidelines
Office of Workforce
Development - OWD
• Goals
• Implementation
Implementation Administration
• Select sites and prepare staff for working with male students
• Hire male supervisors to work with the students
• Schedule informational meetings in the High School
• Review applications from the students
• Select students and match them with preschool sites
• Track the outcome of this project
Workforce Investment Act
Overview of the 3.95 billion provided for workforce Investment Act, for adult, dislocated worker, and youth job training programs, 1.2 billion is designated for youth services, and the bill specifically mentions creating summer employment opportunities for youth.
Massachusetts: Will receive a total of $25.1 million in economic recovery funds for summer jobs for youth, often administered by the Regional Employment Boards.
Thank you