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Recognizing and honoring the launch of the 2018 WorkReady Philadelphia Application and the UAC Summer Youth Employment Program.
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WHEREAS, Part-time employment can be beneficial for youth by teaching responsibility, organization, and time management and helping to establish good work habits, experience, and financial stability, and is correlated with higher employment rates and wages in later teen years and lower probabilities of dropping out of high school; and
WHEREAS, To educate youth and families about the benefits of summer employment and facilitate worthwhile opportunities, the Urban Affairs Coalition (“UAC”) has developed the UAC Summer Youth Employment Program and is accepting applications for the 2018 WorkReady Philadelphia Program; and
WHEREAS, UAC is a Coalition of approximately 70 partner organizations – uniting government, business, neighborhoods, and individual initiatives – to improve the quality of life in the region, build wealth in urban communities, and solve diverse issues that immediately affect communities across Greater Philadelphia, including by strengthening nonprofit organizations through fiscal sponsorship, capacity building, and program evaluation; improving life chances for children, youth and young adults; and providing economic opportunity to low-income households, working families, and minority-owned businesses; and
WHEREAS, Through its work, UAC reaches more than 150,000 children, youth, and adults annually; and
WHEREAS, For over 30 years, UAC has managed programs funded through WorkReady including the Summer WorkReady Program, with a consistent record of successfully achieving program outcomes, having placed more than 35,000 youth in summer jobs through the WorkReady System, including 5,000 over the past five years; and
WHEREAS, In 2017 alone, UAC’s Summer Youth Employment Program placed more than 1,400 students in paid summer jobs, who collectively clocked more than 145,000 hours and earned more than $1 million in earnings at over 240 work sites; and
WHEREAS, UAC also uses outcomes, feedback from youth, and research to implement programmatic improvements, amplify successes, and connect with new employers across industries to meet the needs of student employees by matching their interests and their preferred location; and
WHEREAS, The UAC Summer Youth Employment Program has an impact on the youth beyond the immediate money earned, including survey results showing that over 80% of participants indicated they were more interested in pursuing further education, had experiences they would not have had without the Program, and made connections with adults who cared about their success, with student satisfaction ratings historically exceeding 90%; and
WHEREAS, UAC’s longstanding experience in operating the Summer Youth Employment Program, and its success in exposing thousands of youth to career opportunities that have prepared them for the 21st Century workplace through an array of career and academic programming, demonstrate the Agency’s success in developing Philadelphia’s future leaders; now, therefore, be it
RESOLVED, BY THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PHILADELPHIA, That Council does hereby recognize and honor the launch of the 2018 WorkReady Philadelphia Application and the UAC Summer Youth Employment Program.
FURTHER RESOLVED, That an Engrossed copy of this resolution be presented to the Urban Affairs Coalition, evidencing the sincere admiration and respect of this legislative body.
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