2012

SUMMER YOUTH

WORK EXPERIENCE

PROGRAM

2

Final Report Content Guide

Page

Opening remarks……………………………………………………………..3

Program review……………………………………………………………….4

Educational Components…………………………………………………5

Summer Youth Trends……………………………………………………..8

Participant data………………….…………………………………………...9

Worksite Data………………………………………………………………..10

Employer Evaluations…………………………………………………….11

Suggested changes for next year…………………………………..12

3

Opening remarks:

As the 2012 Summer Youth Program has come to an end, it is with great pleasure that I have

the opportunity to discuss the events of the summer. As always the main goal of the summer

program is to bridge the gap between Chautauqua County youth and local employers to build

the future workforce. This summer was a huge success, largely in part to the never-ending

dedication of the WIB staff and the employers.

Of the 205 applicants, we were able to place 139 (youth between the ages of 15-20) in entry-

level positions in both profit and non-profit businesses through-out Chautauqua County. The 66

applicants that we were unable to place, all had incomplete applications and our office

assistant made numerous attempts to get them to come in to complete the necessary paper

work to be placed. Of the 139 youth placed in a work experience, 124 youth successfully

completed the program with 59 participants having perfect attendance.

According to the database, we had 87 employers return from previous years to participant

along with 6 new employers. After the conclusion of the program, we had 16 youth hired into

unsubsidized employment by their summer youth employer.

Due to budgeting, we were able to hire 2 retention specialists, an office assistant and a

coordinator that also acted as a retention specialist. Throughout the program the retention

specialist’s task included facilitating educational workshops at orientation and wrap-up as well

as weekly visits to worksites, developing a resume with the youth and ensuring that the

employers needs were being met as well as the youth’s needs. Our office assistant’s duties

included creating and maintaining the youth and employer database, maintaining files on each

youth, as well as bi-weekly payroll and data collection.

The Summer Youth program is dedicated to continuous improvement through feedback. The

goal of the program is to provide youth with a meaningful summer employment experience

from a youthful perspective. The summer youth program is more than a work experience

program: it includes adult support and guidance, engaging activities and input from youth and

employers. Through feedback from the Retention Specialists, youth and employers we hope

continue developing the program and help build a brighter future for Chautauqua County’s

workforce.

4

Program review:

Applications for the 2012 program were released the second week in May. Eligibility sessions

were also scheduled and posted for June 5th at Dunkirk High School and June 7th at Chautauqua

Works in Jamestown; individual eligibility sessions were also available upon request.

Application deadlines were set for June 15th to allow for placements to happen on June 16th.

The following strategies were used to promote the 2012 Summer Youth Program:

Application were sent to each Chautauqua Works location

Applications were sent to High School across the county

Advertisements were placed in the Post Journal

Advertised on the Chautauqua Works website

Applications were sent to CCON, DSS, Probation, COI, YWCA, WIA, and TEAM for

referrals

Contracts and applications were mailed out to employers that had participated the

previous year

As of the June 15th deadline, we had received 135 complete applications and were ready to

start placements. All applicants after that point were placed based on if their files were

complete. Our Office assistant continued to call participants, using their primary contact

number along with all their emergency contacts, to encourage them to make an

appointment to complete their applications. By the end of the program we had worked with

139 youth at one point or another, with 124 successfully completing the program with 16

finding unsubsidized employment.

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

14-1516-17

18 (inschool)

18 (out ofschool)

19-21

12

81

15 10

21 11

73

13

8 19

Beginning of program

End of the Program

5

Educational components:

This summer the youth orientation was held at Chautauqua Works in Jamestown and JCC North

training center in Dunkirk. Due to the number of participants, Kate Piazza, Joy Broadhead and I

presented the orientation collaboratively to the large group. Each orientation consisted of 3

major educational components; sexual harassment prevention, work readiness and logistics.

The sexual harassment prevention component consists of identifying harassment, who to

consult if you see or are being harassed and the consequences of harassing someone. During

the work readiness component youth meet with their Retention Specialist to learn about their

work placement and contact information for their employer. During work readiness we

discussed appropriate work behavior, policies and attire for the each placement. Lastly during

logistics we discuss how to complete a timesheet, New York State labor laws, pay schedule, and

tax forms.

During the program Retention Specialist (RS) visit sites minimally once every other week. If time

allows we recommend the Retention Specialist visit every week, however due to scheduling

sometime RS would have to just call and check on the youth verbally. During the weekly visits

RS are to check in with the youth and the supervisor to ensure that everything is going

smoothly and that labor laws are being followed. RS are also supposed to go over the Youth

evaluation reports submitted by the employer from the previous week.

During the Wrap-up program youth were split into two groups to complete 3 educational

complements; financial literacy, a Career, Education and Services Fair as well as a Resume

writing workshop. After the educational components were complete the Chautauqua

Advancement Project (CAP) interns made a presentation on Chautauqua County followed by a

few activities and drawings for prizes.

The Financial Literacy component was taught by John Felton, CEO of Southern Chautauqua

Federal Credit Union, free of charge. The Youth were briefed on the importance of having an

account, different types of accounts, the importance of credit and comparison shopping. John

6

has also offered to provide other educational services based on financial literacy for

Chautauqua Works as needed.

During the Career, Education and Services fair participants traveled around to room exploring

different opportunities for their future. Each youth engaged in conversations with the

employers as well as gathered relevant materials. Employers and businesses that participated in

the fair were:

Chautauqua Works: Year round youth program

Chautauqua Works: Disability resource coordinator

Home Depot

Cassadaga Job Corps

Jamestown Community College

Jamestown Business College

Chautauqua County Health Network

BOCES

Dream it, Do it

Each youth was instructed by their RS to bring to Wrap-up a resume packet they had been

working on throughout the summer. At the resume workshops the RS’s were to guide the youth

through the resume packet as well as assist them in typing their resumes. Upon completing the

resumes youth were given a flash-drive to save their resume on for future use. Youth were also

informed that if they needed future help with their resume or with a job search they could

make an appointment with the year round staff at Chautauqua Works.

During the Chautauqua Advancement Project (CAP) presentation, youth participants were able

to view the “Discover Jamestown; Up close and

wonderful” video** created by the interns as part of

their community give back project. The video showcased

local businesses as well as interviewed employers from

Jamestown. After viewing the video youth participants

7

admitted that they didn’t realize all of the opportunities

Jamestown had to offer. To conclude the CAP

presentation youth participated in numerous activities

regarding businesses and opportunities in Chautauqua

County and competed for prizes.

**“Discover Jamestown; Up close and wonderful” can be currently viewed on the E-NET Facebook page and will soon

be posted on the Chautauqua Works, Gebbie Foundation and Chautauqua County Visitors Bureau web pages.

8

Summer Youth Trends from 2008-2012

Participation Summary 2012 % 2011 % 2010 % 2009 % 2008 %

Application Received 205 258 106 778 309

Unqualified Applicants 0 0% 5 2% 1 1% 57 7% 32 10%

Incomplete applications 66 32% 33 13% 9 17% 215 28% 104 33%

Participants never showed up on first day 4 2% n/a n/a n/a 6 2%

Total participants 139 68% 179 69% 85 70% 369 47% 158 51%

Participants found unsubsidized Employment 15 11% 7 4% 3 4% 23 6% 8 5%

Terminated Participants 7 3% 12 7% 10 12% 25 7% 26 16%

Participants that quit 10 5% 33 18% 5 6% 32 9% 9 5%

Total participants who quit or were terminated 17 8% 45 25% 15 18% 57 15% 35 11%

Total participants in Educational Activities 139 100% 179 100% 85 100% 369 100% 158 100%

Total participants receiving successful completion bonus n/a n/a 130 73% 70 82% 315 85% 70 44%

Total participants with perfect attendance 59 29% n/a n/a n/a 129 35% 43 27%

Characteristics Summary 2012 % 2011 % 2010 % 2009 % 2008 %

Male 76 55% 89 50% 40 47% 200 54% 91 57%

Female 63 45% 90 50% 45 53% 169 46% 71 45%

Age 14-15 12 9% 12 7% 0 0% 39 11% 6 4%

Age 16-17 81 58% 88 49% 46 54% 138 37% 87 55%

Age 18 15 11% 20 11% 17 20% 41 11% 35 22%

Age 18 (out of School), 19 and 20 31 22% 55 31% 23 27% 120 33% 34 21%

21-24 n/a 4 2% n/a n/a 31 8%

White 71 51% 88 49% 33 39% 207 56% 93 59%

Black 17 12% 24 13% 12 14% 59 16% 31 19%

Hispanic 51 37% 62 35% 34 40% 78 21% 50 32%

Black/Hispanic 0 0% 86 48% 0 0% 0 0%

Asian 0 0% 3 2% 0 0% 0 0%

American Indian 0 0% 0 0% 0 0% 0 0%

Pacific Islanders 0 0% 0 0% 0 0% 0 0%

Indian/Native American 0 0% 0 0% 6 7% 9 2% 6 4%

Asian/Pacific Islander 0 0% 0 0% 0 0% 0 0%

Other Race/Ethnicity 0 0% 1 1% 0 0% 0 0% 5 3%

Unknown 0 0% 0 0% 0 0% 0 0%

Limited English 11 8% 19 11% 14 16% 24 7% 30 19%

Disabled Individuals 4 3% 14 14% 1 1% 30 8% 18 11%

Receiving Cash Welfare 31 22% 22 12% 11 13% 157 43% 57 36%

9

76 63 69

55

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

Males Females

Began

Completed

98

41

83

41

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

City Rural

Began

Completed

Participant data

Gender Comparison

Gender Beginning of program

End of program

Male 76 69

Female 63 55

Demographic Comparison

Demographics Beginning of program

End of program

City 98 83

Rural 41 41

10

16% 15%

16% 43%

10%

Work type

Office

Food Service

Human Service

Physical Labor

Retail/Customer Service

42%

33%

20% 5%

Sectors

Profit

Not for Profit

Public

School

WORK SITE DATA

Work type

Office 15

Food service 14

Human Service 15

Physical Labor 40

Retail/customer service 9

Sectors

Profit 52

Not for profit 41

Public/government 25

School 6

11

Employer Evaluations

Each year following our wrap-up program we mail out employer evaluations to all the participating

businesses to provide feedback on the program and suggestions for future programs. Here are a few

comments the employers had to say about the youth from this summer’s program:

“It was great to see the youth gain skills they could use to get jobs in the future. “

“I enjoyed watching the kids learn and appreciate the work they did. “

“The CW teens were wonderful. Each had a variety of strengths and gifts to share. It was

wonderful to get to know each of them.”

“I enjoyed being a part of the program because it helps kids earn a paycheck and kept them off

the streets.”

“It's great to help youth gain working experience to become productive working adults.”

“This program renewed our faith in young people.”

Every employer that returned the survey expressed their gratitude in the program and are very excited

about participating in next year’s program.

12

Suggested changes for next year

At the end of each program, while debriefing we discuss things we would do differently for future years.

This year was full of wonderful opportunities to work with youth but as always we did see a few areas

that were in need of improvement. Some of the suggestions from this summer’s debrief were:

Have the youth conduct an interview with their supervisor during the first week of employment.

This would help them develop communications skills and hopefully get the youth talking to the

employers more frequently.

Even though it is a larger expense in Jamestown, rent more rooms and have smaller groups for

orientation.

Have a financial literacy piece at orientation too and have a bank come that offers an incentive

for opening an account or setting up direct deposit.

Set up slides in the logistics PowerPoint that goes over step by step the timesheet process;

signing in and out for breaks and correctly calculating hours worked.

Suggestions from the employer surveys:

It would be very helpful if the RS knew about any disability with the youth that they inform

the employer so we can work with him to the best of our abilities.

Possibly have the youth not enrolled in school start earlier or have a longer work

experience.

Provide employers/supervisors with the youth orientation materials so the employer knows

what needs to additional be taught to the participant.

All suggestions are taken into consideration for the following year. Some PowerPoint suggestions have

already been addressed for future years.