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YJC Job Coach Molly Verble Interviewed by Place for People
By: www.placeforpeople.org
Posted by sbenet in Leaders and Organisations on July 15th, 2009 |
As displaced workers fill what used to be considered entry-level positions, young people are having a harder time than ever finding jobs. To cope with the economic downturn, the Youth Job Center of Evanston is turning to creative solutions to help 14-to-25-year-olds get meaningful work experience.
Building relationships with businesses, motivating young people to participate, and providing tools to help them overcome systemic barriers to employment all play a role, said Molly Verble, the Youth Job Center’s Out of School Youth Program Coordinator.
PlaceForPeople: What makes the Youth Job Center unique?
Molly Verble: We’re the only youth agency in Illinois that serves the high school population, age 14 to 18. Most of the other organizations, like Jobs for Youth, start once they’re out of high school.
We have a variety of different types of services. (We have) internship opportunities, summer employment opportunities, and an outpost at Evanston Township High School so kids can come in on their study halls and get services. We do a lot of job readiness workshops, as well.
PlaceForPeople: What is the biggest barrier to employment for the youth you serve?
Molly Verble: There are so many barriers that they face. The biggest one is a lack of basic skills and soft skills. Often, they (also) come to us with unrealistic expectations about a job. (We have to teach) them to start with something they may not actually enjoy, and work their way up through the years.
(We also see) kids who can’t navigate through the Internet-based employment of today’s world. All of these job applications that are more complex, (and) online. And for populations like single mothers, kids who may have been in the criminal justice system, it is more difficult. You have background checks. You have to find child care. All of those factors come into play.
PlaceForPeople: How does poverty affect your clients’ ability to access jobs?
Molly Verble: Kids who’ve grown up in low-socioeconomic status areas often lack the resources to even just get to interviews, (and) to get proper attire for the workplace. For instance, a lot of the warehousing and retail jobs are in Northbrook, because there aren’t a lot of people who are willing to take those jobs up in that direction. We have so many kids here who are interested in those jobs, but there aren’t a lot of good ways to get there. The bus stops running at a certain time, and 95 percent of the kids we work with don’t have a car.
They may also lack the skills that a kid who was in an honors program may have. Maybe they didn’t have access to computer technology. So they’re starting from a skill level way below (that of) the average job-seeker.
PlaceForPeople: What new projects is the Youth Job Center currently starting?
Molly Verble: We were just funded through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act to provide 25 paid work opportunities this summer for youth who are low-income (and have) barriers to employment. They have all started (their jobs) in the last couple of weeks. We were able to use a lot of our venues from our (existing) internship program.
It’s been a great opportunity because right now the youth employment rates are really low. There are very few jobs available for everyone. A lot of the retail and cashier jobs are going to older workers who are out of work.
PlaceForPeople: How do you motivate youth to participate in your programs?
Molly Verble: It will always be a difficult challenge to keep the youth participants engaged. They’re young, and they’ve got a lot of outside things going on. A lot of the kids who come here may be high school dropouts already. They may have a lot of different challenges in their lives. We have a lot of transiency and relocating, and new phone numbers each week. But we try to have procedures in place to check in on them on a bi-weekly basis when they first get employed, and then 30, 60, and 90 days after.
We send little congratulatory postcards after the 30-day mark, and then again at the 60-day mark. At the 90-day mark, they’ll get a little $5 coupon to Dunkin’ Donuts. After a year of keeping a job they’ll get a transportation reward, like a 30-day bus pass. Hopefully that will help, (to know) that we’re watching.
We issue stipends when they complete a classroom component on resume-building, professional development, and workplace behavior. We’ve used things like gift cards to Target, Dominick’s, Jewel, Borders.
PlaceForPeople: What is the Youth Job Center’s main challenge?
Molly Verble: In the past couple years, we’ve had a lot of staff turnover. That’s common in social services, but it’s difficult when you’re working to build relationships with clients and employers.
In the past year, the main challenge has been a lack of jobs. We’ve had to develop alternative strategies — internships, volunteer work experiences — so they could work on their soft skills and have a positive work experience, even though it might not be a paid position.
Employers might be hesitant to work with us. They may be biased against hiring young people. Getting more employers on board, and more jobs available for our large case load, is always a challenge.
PlaceForPeople: In general, what causes high staff turnover at nonprofits?
Molly Verble: It’s a combination of working with a large case load, and getting burnt out by (uncertainty about) funding. And then, because we’re a small nonprofit, benefits (like 401(k)s) are harder to incorporate.
PlaceForPeople: Are you satisfied with your website? What functions would you like it to have?
Molly Verble: In the future, we’re looking at developing ways that clients can sign up for services online. It would be cool to let employers come online and post jobs, or just fill out an employer partner form.
PlaceForPeople: What challenges do you face with fundraising?
Molly Verble: Because we’re an Evanston organization, it sounds like we don’t serve Chicago. But we actually do. There (might be a bias toward) an organization that was in Chicago. (But) sometimes kids come from the South Side for our program, or from Schaumburg. We serve a wide area.
We’ve talked about having a satellite office in Chicago and dropping the “of Evanston” from our name. So that (we seem like) more of a Chicago organization.
PlaceForPeople: What else will help your organization expand and achieve more?
Molly Verble: More jobs. We just were able to hire someone for employer development, who’s going to develop more relationships so our clients have an inside track. We also want to have better retention strategies in place, so that the clients we do get jobs for can stay in those jobs longer and be successful.
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