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Download the resource list (PDF, 4 pages).
Online Communities & Resources
- Sponsored by the Employment and Training Administration of the U.S. Department of Labor, WorkforceGPS provides workforce professionals, educators, and business leaders curated communities of interest, useful training resources, promising practices, and evidenced-based research.
- Summer Jobs Community of Practice provides a space to share promising practices and knowledge and expertise about summer programming.
- Youth Connections Community of Practice is an online learning destination for public workforce system staff and partners who connect youth to employment, training, and educational opportunities.
Finding Resources for Youth
- Map My Community Tool on youth.gov helps locate Federally-funded youth programs in a designated area by ZIP code search.
- Skills to Pay the Bills: Mastering Soft Skills for Workplace Success is a curriculum developed by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Disability and Employment Policy focused on teaching “soft” or workforce readiness skills to youth, including youth with disabilities.
- Museums for All was launched in 2014 as a cooperative initiative between Institute for Museums and Library Services (IMLS) and the Association of Children’s Museums, as a way to reach out to underserved communities and encourage all families to visit museums regularly. The program allows individuals with an EBT card free or reduced (up to $3.00) admission for up to four persons per cardholder during normal operating hours.
Finding Employment Opportunities
- GetMyFuture.org connects young adults to career, education, and job search resources sponsored by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Employment and Training Administration.
Protecting Young Employees
- YouthRules! distributes informational materials on the Federal and State rules governing young workers to increase awareness and compliance with Federal and State laws.
- Wage and Hour Division (WHD) Youth Employment Compliance Assistance Toolkit answers the most frequent questions about Federal labor standards and include posters that meet Federal labor law notice requirements.
- U.S. Department of Labor Factsheet on Internship Programs and the Fair Labor Standards Act (PDF, 2 pages) provides general information to help determine whether interns and students working for “for-profit” employers are entitled to minimum wages and overtime pay under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).
- U.S. Department of Labor Training and Employment Notice on the Framework for Registered Apprenticeship for High School Students (PDF, 9 pages) provides guidance from the Departments of Labor and Education to the public workforce and education systems on components of high quality Registered Apprenticeship programs for high school students.
- The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Adolescent Health has many resources for professionals involved in youth workforce development, including incorporating positive youth development and facilitating mentoring opportunities.
- The U.S. Department of Education funded a brief on Supporting In-School and Out-of-School Youth Experiencing Homelessness through Education and Workforce Partnerships, which highlights how these partnerships can improve coordination and provide more comprehensive supports for youth.
Recruiting & Engaging Young Workers
- Youth Resources on Engagement provides lists of technical assistance resources to help state and local workforce leaders, youth program practitioners, stakeholders and partners get prepared to successfully implement a high-quality summer youth employment programs.
Resources on Work Experiences, Leadership, & Training
- youth.gov Youth Employment page provides research and resources on youth employment from the Interagency Working Group on Youth Programs.
- U.S. Department of Labor’s Paid and Unpaid Work Experiences are planned, structured learning experience that takes place in a workplace for a limited period of time and provides youth with opportunities for career exploration and skill development.
- U.S. Department of Labor’s Leadership Development Opportunities encourages responsibility, confidence, employability, self-determination, and other positive social behaviors.
- U.S. Department of Labor’s Entrepreneurial Skills Training provides the basics of starting and operating a small business.
- U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Skills Training provides vocational skills that lead to proficiency in performing actual tasks and technical functions required by certain occupational fields at entry, intermediate, or advanced levels.
- Our Journey Together: Work Experience Activities Brief provides a summary of the policies and program design considerations to assist local program operators developing work experience activities for Youth program participants.
- U.S. Department of Labor’s Youth Apprenticeships are a valuable work-based learning opportunity that can provide youth with academic and workplace skills that lead to post-secondary education opportunities and careers.
- U.S. Department of Labor’s High School Apprenticeships Website provides information on how apprentices and employers have benefited.
- U.S. Department of Labor’s Guide for Starting Successful High School Apprenticeships Programs (PDF, 16 pages) helps communities prepare high school students for success and ensures businesses have the pipeline of skilled workers they need to thrive.
- Webcast: Summer Employment Webcast Mini-Series informs workforce practitioners about effective practices for operating summer employment programs. The webcasts are snapshots of ideas that workforce professionals may consider when planning their local summer and year-round employment activities.
- Enough is Known for Action Webinar Series: Work Experience highlights innovative approaches taken to implementing work-based learning models into their programming.
- Enough Is Known for Action Webinar Series: Building Registered Apprenticeship Opportunities for Out-of-School Youth. USDOL’s Office of Apprenticeship provides an overview of the Registered Apprenticeship program and discuss efforts to strengthen alignment for out-of-school youth and Registered Apprenticeship placement opportunities.
Financial Literacy
- Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation Youth Employment Resource Center shares FDIC’s resources that support financial education and access to safe, affordable insured accounts for youth participating in employment programs. Resources include:
- Conversation Starters: Ideas for Youth Employment Professionals to Help Youth Access Bank Accounts (PDF, 12 pages) is a brochure to help workforce providers discuss collaborative opportunities with a Federally-insured bank or credit union.
- Money Smart is a comprehensive financial education curriculum designed to help low- and moderate-income individuals outside the financial mainstream enhance their financial skills and create positive banking relationships.
- The Conference of State Bank Supervisors’ Statutory Requirements for Opening Bank Accounts for Minors by State map provides state-specific information regarding statutory requirements for the opening of bank accounts for minors.
- The Youth Banking Resource Center provides resources to encourage banks and schools to work together to improve the financial skills and experiences of youth.
- FDIC’s Model Safe Accounts Template (PDF, 1 page) reflects the guiding principles of transparent rates and fees that are reasonable and proportional to costs, access to banking services that feature FDIC insurance, and the protections afforded by applicable Federal and State consumer protection laws, regulations, and guidelines.
- The Bureau of Financial Consumer Protection’s Developing the Financial Capability of America’s Young Workers (PDF, 17 pages) highlights key insights shared during the Youth Employment Success Roundtable in 2017.
- U.S. Department of Labor’s Financial Literacy resource page provides information on helping youth with the knowledge and skills they need to achieve long-term financial stability and is critical to their success as a working adult whether they are working in the summer or throughout the year.
- Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) 2017 National Survey of Unbanked and Underbanked Households, a review of the UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) Mobile Study, and Youth Employment Programs and Deposit Accounts provides advice and recommendations on initiatives to expand access to banking services by underserved populations.
- The FLEC’s Resource Guide for Financial Institutions Incorporating Financial Capability into Youth Employment Programs (PDF, 6 pages) is aimed at financial institutions interested in enhancing youth financial capability by partnering with youth employment programs. It maps how and why financial institutions can engage in helping young people achieve greater financial well-being and employment success.
- The FLEC’s Resource Guide for Youth Employment Programs Incorporating Financial Capability and Partnering with Financial Institutions (PDF, 7 pages) is aimed at youth employment programs interested in enhancing youth financial capability by partnering with financial institutions. It maps how and why youth employment programs can partner with financial institutions to engage in helping young people achieve greater financial well-being and employment success. This is a companion to the Resource Guide for Financial Institutions noted above.
Summer Meals
- Employers! Don’t Forget to Find Summer Meals for Your Young Employees! This resource encourages businesses to help youth under the age of 18 to save their hard-earned money by eating at meal sites nearby in the community. See if there were meal sites in your community last summer by exploring USDA’s Summer Meals Capacity Builder.
