WHAT:   

Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle will join state and local legislative, educational, civic and community leaders for a hearing on youth joblessness. A diverse group of youth will testify on their experiences and the opportunities that employment and education provide. Additionally, education and youth advocacy organizations will testify about programs and policies that could help reduce violence in Chicago-area communities.

Chicago Urban League President and CEO, Andrea L. Zopp, and Jesse Ruiz, chairman, Illinois Council on Re-Enrolling Students Who Dropped Out of School, will open the hearing on behalf of convening co-sponsors which include the Chicago Urban League, Youth Connection Charter School, Chicago Area Project, Black United Fund of Illinois, Westside Health Authority, Chicago Jobs Council and the Alternative Schools Network.

A new report outlining new data on unemployment will be released at the hearing as part of an ongoing series commissioned by the Alternative Schools Network and prepared by the Center for Labor Market Studies at Northeastern University, Boston, Mass.

WHO:     

Panelists will include:

• Illinois Governor Patrick Quinn's Office, Deputy Chief of Staff, Toni Irving

• Illinois Department of Human Services, Director, Michelle Saddler

• Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle

• Cook County Clerk of the Circuit Court Dorothy Brown

• Chicago Board of Education, President, David Vitale

• Illinois State Senator William "Willie" Delgado

• Illinois State Senator Mattie Hunter

• Illinois State Senator Dan Kotowski

• Illinois State Senator Heather Steans

• Illinois State Representative Toni Berrios

• Illinois State Representative Kenneth Dunkin

• Illinois State Representative Mary Flowers

• Illinois State Representative Esther Golar

• Illinois State Representative Lisa Hernandez

• Cook County Commissioner Edwin "Eddie" Reyes

• Cook County Commissioner Robert Steele

• City of Chicago Alderman Walter Burnett, Jr.

• City of Chicago Alderman Will Burns

• City of Chicago Alderman Pat Dowell

• City of Chicago Alderman Leslie Hairston

• City of Chicago Alderman Roderick Sawyer

WHEN:    

9:00 a.m. - 11:00 a.m.

Thursday, January 24th, 2013       

WHERE:  

Chicago Urban League

4510 South Michigan Avenue, Chicago, IL

WHY:     

Since The Great Recession, youth joblessness has continued to hit record highs each year with teen employment rates in Illinois dropping to just 27.8% in 2011-2012. At the same time, the persistent economic challenges in America, coupled with increased violence in Chicago area communities and low projections for teen summer employment in 2013, make it imperative that effective program responses to address joblessness for youth and young adults in the Chicago area be developed in time to impact summer employment needs for 2013.