City Connect Urges Detroit Businesses to Commit to Youth Employment

DETROIT, March 1 /PRNewswire/ -- City Connect Detroit, along with the Detroit Youth Employment Consortium, co-sponsored a Youth Employment Summit (Y.E.S.) today, in an effort to inspire city business leaders to provide Detroit's young people with summer jobs and other workforce development opportunities.

The summit, which was held at DTE Energy's headquarters, kicks off City Connect's and the Detroit Youth Employment Collaborative's efforts to place Detroit young people into jobs this summer  to call attention to the need for workforce development opportunities for Detroit youth. The organizations hope to have pledges from area businesses and nonprofits to provide summer work experiences for at least 2,500 Detroit youths.

Last summer, City Connect administered an $11 million grant ($7 million of which was federal economic stimulus funding) that provided work exposure for more than 7,000 14 to 24-year-olds.

"Whether or not we get the same federal support this year, we are calling on Detroiters to make a commitment to our youth again this summer," said City Connect President and CEO Dr. Geneva J. Williams. "Studies show that the longer it takes young people to become constructively engaged in the workforce, the greater their income gap in the long run."

It's difficult – and even controversial – to focus upon youth employment when Detroit's overall unemployment numbers are at a nationwide high, said Williams. "But the fact is that we have to not only address cyclical unemployment in Detroit, but generational unemployment as well."

DTE Energy Chairman and CEO Anthony F. Earley Jr. recognizes the critical role that the city's employers can play in preparing young people for success in the workplace.  "Getting that first job can be extremely difficult for young, inexperienced workers," he said.  "But the lessons that they learn on the job about responsibility, teamwork and their own abilities and talents can help them achieve their full potential as they complete school and enter the workforce full time.  Ultimately, the city's employers and the community at large benefit, too."  

In addition to participation by DTE Energy, the Y.E.S. featured representatives of Bank of America, Wayne County Community College, C.S. Mott Foundation, the City of Detroit and the Skillman foundation.  Dr. Susan Curnan of Brandeis University, who conducted a Department of Labor-funded evaluation of the 2009 Detroit youth employment program, also will participate.

"Last summer, Detroit faced a number of challenges, including an overwhelming number of youth, very little planning time, huge expectations and a huge payroll to manage," said Curnan. "But in Detroit we found highly dedicated people. They realized that for youth, this was not just another job."

That was certainly true for Marvin Ligon, who, at 20, had already become involved with the criminal justice system and was struggling with depression before the youth employment program placed him with a Detroit law firm. There he found not only a job, but a mentor who has encouraged him to stay on track and enroll in college. "It goes to show you that all I needed was a chance and I thank you for that chance," Ligon wrote in a thank you letter to President Barack Obama last summer.

Ligon was one of the panelists at the conference.

Some facts that describe the challenges and benefits of youth employment include:

• Nationally, the recession has hit young African Americans particularly hard. Joblessness among 16-to-24 year-old black males was 34.5 percent in October 2009.
• Those who do not enter the job market as a young person are deprived of the "invisible curriculum" that comes with  learning how to report to work on time, how to respect a supervisor and how to work as part of a team, according to Kristen Lopez Eastlick, senior economic analyst of the Employment Policies Institute.
• A 2001 Employment Policies Institute study showed that teens with prolonged periods of unemployment as more likely to be out of work as adults.

Other speakers and panelists for the conference include:

City Connect Detroit (www.cityconnectdetroit.org) is a 501(c)3 nonprofit, based in Detroit, Michigan. The organization facilitates public and private sector solutions to community problems, and raises funding to support these solutions. Formed in 2001, City Connect Detroit has secured more than $100 million for Detroit area community initiatives supporting a wide array of health and human service and community development projects. In the summer of 2009, City Connect Detroit coordinated the $11.2 million Summer Youth Employment Program which provided nearly 7,000 Detroit youth, ages 14 – 24 with meaningful work experiences.

SOURCE City Connect Detroit