Youth Job Center, Inc.
Getting a job. Launching a future.
Programs and results
What we aim to solve
Youth Job Center works to address the issue of unemployment or underemployment for youth and young adults throughout the Chicagoland area. According to a recent study titled "The High Costs for Out of School and Jobless Youth in Chicago and Cook County" by Dr. Teresa Cordova, the Director of the Great Cities Institute at the University of Illinois at Chicago, and Mattew Wilson, an Economic Development Planner, also at the Great Cities Institute, there are approximately 90,000 young adults, ages 16-24, in the Chicagloand area who are considered Opportunity Youth, meaning they're disconnected from work and school, with 60,000 in Chicago alone.
Youth Job Center works to address the epidemic of Opportunity Youth by providing programs that are designed to reengage youth who have become disconnected from work or school and prevent youth who are still connected from disengaging in the first place.
Our programs
What are the organization's current programs, how do they measure success, and who do the programs serve?
YJC@
Youth Job Center has six permanent staff in high schools, one each at Evanston Township High School (ETHS), Roger C. Sullivan High School, Gage Park High School, Mather High School, Curie High School, and Wells Community Academy. YJC@ programs provide workshops and training within the school day through seminar and career and technical education (CTE) classes, augmented with additional support after school. Students receive assistance with job searches, resume development, interviewing techniques, and job counseling. YJC@ also provides on site hiring events and postsecondary planning at all grade levels. YJC staff work with not for profit partners and school administrators to develop additional ways to proactively support students in postsecondary planning, particularly those who may not have a solid plan post high school graduation. In addition to the six permanent YJC@ sites, in 2018-19 the agency’s staff provided support and recruited students from across 38 high schools in the Chicagoland region.
Summer Corps
Youth, ages 14-18 are provided a variety of summer work opportunities. YJC prioritizes opportunities for students ages 14 -18 with positions ranging from teacher assistants in Evanston School District 65's summer school program, program aides at McGaw YMCA, tutors for rising kindergarteners and retail and corporate internships. YJC’s expansion into Chicago includes expanded summer opportunities for students in partner schools.
GAP This Way Ahead
This Way Ahead is GAP Inc.'s paid internship program for low income teens and young adults facing barriers to employment. These paid internships are at GAP, Old Navy, and Banana Republic stores. In 2019, YJC trained more than 300 youth ages 16-19 from low income households, successfully placing 167 in internships for the This Way Ahead program. During the internships, YJC staff provides support through follow up with all This Way Ahead interns as well as their supervisors to ensure successful completion of the internship.
Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA)
One of Youth Job Center’s longest running programs, WIOA provides job seekers who face high barriers support to gain the skills and education necessary to obtain and retain employment. The agency has successfully administered this program since 2003, supported by, and in collaboration with the Chicago Cook Workforce Partnership. The program specifically targets individuals who face multiple barriers including poverty, low education levels, unstable housing, criminal backgrounds, single parenting, documented disabilities, and other barriers that affect employment. This WIOA funded Out of School Youth Career Pathways program targets youth ages 16-24.
Career Pathways
YJC implemented its first cohort Career Pathways program in 2014 with 11 participants in a multi week Auto Maintenance and Repair Course. Since that time, YJC, in partnership with Oakton Community College, has provided several multi week training courses in auto, culinary, retail and customer service. The goal of the Career Pathways program is skills-specific training leading to industry recognized certification and resulting in permanent employment in a career track job with advancement opportunities. Training includes development of soft and hard skills, including work ethic, conflict resolution, and professionalism as well as basic computer, communication, and literacy skills. The program also includes subsidized internships to allow participants to practice skills while building them, with a goal of permanent placements for all graduates. YJC is currently building upon this program to develop a customizable Retail Career Pathways that meets the needs of job seekers and employers.
Core Out-of-School Youth Program
Youth Job Center's Core Out-of-School Program works with all adults who are no longer engaged with school. The Core program includes intake and assessment, Work-Readiness Training, personalized career advising, job placement, and retention support. Clients work one-on-one with career advisors to explore career paths, set goals, develop a plan of action, develop hard and soft skills needed for employment, secure employment, and develop a plan for how to advance in their chosen career path.
Where we work
External reviews
Our results
How does this organization measure their results? It's a hard question but an important one.
Evaluation documents
Download evaluation reportsNumber of participants who gain employment
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Type of Metric
Outcome - describing the effects on people or issues
Direction of Success
Increasing
Our Sustainable Development Goals
Learn more about Sustainable Development Goals.
Goals & Strategy
Reports and documents
Download strategic planLearn about the organization's key goals, strategies, capabilities, and progress.
Charting impact
Four powerful questions that require reflection about what really matters - results.
What is the organization aiming to accomplish?
The mission of Youth Job Center is: "Success for young people in the workplace and in life." We envision a future where every young person has the resources and support to build a meaningful career and fulfill their potential. All Youth Job Center programs share the goal of helping young people transition successfully into adulthood and onto the path to a successful career.
Youth Job Center works with two distinct populations: in-school youth (ISY), ages 14-18, and out-of-school youth (OSY), ages 16-25. The ISY Program has two goals: 1) to successfully connect youth to employment opportunities, primarily seasonal and summer jobs; and 2) to provide effective postsecondary planning to ensure a successful transition at graduation. OSY Programs have the goal of lasting and successful placements in jobs with opportunities for advancement.
What are the organization's key strategies for making this happen?
Youth Job Center (YJC) provides a variety of programs at the crossroads of youth development and workforce development. In our 37 years of providing employment related services to youth and young adults we have learned that to address the issue of youth employment and underemployment our work needs to be about more than simply helping young people find a job. If we are going to adequately meet the needs of this population we need to address the underlying causes of poverty and an individuals unemployment in the first place. It is not enough to simply help young people find work, we must provide them with the tools, knowledge, skills, resources, and experience they need to be independently successful. Additionally, through our work with young people, YJC has found that many young people lack information about the breadth of employment options that are available to them, further hampering their ability to successfully pursue a career path that meets their individual needs and interests.
Youth Job Center works to address these issues through a multi-faceted approach that meets youths immediate and long term needs. Our programs use tools such as CASAS testing and a questionnaire to identify participant interests and strengths. Participants are able to explore various career paths, with the assistance of a career advisor, so that they can find the career path that works best for them. Participants receive work-readiness training that helps them develop the skills they need to find and maintain employment. They work with career advisors to develop a detailed plan of action for pursuing their career goals. With the assistance of YJC, participants are able to secure employment, and YJC even continues working with them after placement to ensure that they are able to maintain employment. Throughout this whole process participants develop important skills in researching, planning communicating, and decision making so that when changes or obstacles inevitably occur, they have the tools they need to continue being successful.
YJC also realizes that for many youth, the path to success is much more complicated than simply going from A to B. For youth who have experienced significant barriers to success, which many YJC participants have, the path to success is a long and winding road. YJC programs are designed in a non-linear fashion to reflect that. YJC's process includes revisiting issues and building on youth's successful use of skills or knowledge in their work and career development. YJC also works to helpparticipants overcome issues such as homelessness, a criminal history, lack of education, and other significant issues through our network of agency partners since these issues can have a significant impact on a participants success.
This holistic approach is grounded in experiential learning and is one of the many things that sets Youth Job Center apart from other youth jobs programs.
What are the organization's capabilities for doing this?
Youth Job Center has been successfully providing youth and young people with employment related services for 37 years. We have developed numerous partnerships with employers and other youth serving agencies throughout Chicagoland, providing our participants with access to an extensive network of job opportunities and social service referrals.
YJC has developed a postsecondary planning curriculum and tool that is administered in the classroom by YJC Career Advisors permanently embedded at five school partnership sites in Evanston and Chicago. This works aims to prevent youth from becoming disconnected from work and school by educating them about the options that are available after high school, both education and employment related, and helping them develop a detailed plan for what needs to be accomplished for them to achieve their postsecondary goals.
What have they accomplished so far and what's next?
In FY20 YJC served roughly 1,600 youth and young adults, a significant decline from the roughly 2,000 young people YJC has served on an annual basis in each of the preceding three years which the agency attributes to the outbreak of the COVID-19 Pandemic which led to significant program disruptions for the agency and the young people we serve.
Of those served in FY20, 75% were low low-income (less than 30% of median income), 10% were low-income (less than 50% of median income), 3% were moderate-income (less than 80% of median income), 1% were high- income (80% + of median income), and 11% either didn’t know their income or chose to withhold that information. 34% of clients served were Black or African American, 36% were Hispanic / Latino, 13% were Asian, 4% were two or more races, 5% were White, 2% were American Indian / Alaskan Native, 4% were various other races, and 2% chose to withhold that information. 50.3% were female and 49.3% were male, and .4% were Trans or Nonbinary. 91% of clients served were Chicago residents, 7% were Evanston residents, and 2% were residents of various other suburbs in Cook County. 22% of clients receive some form of Government Assistance, 4% of clients have experienced unstable housing, 3.9% have an IEP (Individualized Education Plan), 2.8% are justice involved, 2.8% have a documented disability, and 1.8% are parents. However, these barriers disproportionately affect Out-of-School Youth (OSY), with 35.7% of OSY receiving some form of Government Assistance, 20.2% having a documented disability, 19% being justice involved, 14.5% experiencing unstable housing, and 12.7% being parents.
During that same period YJC provided 2,660 personalized career advising sessions, served 1,278 youth in Work-Readiness Training, conducted 594 intakes and assessments, assisted youth in obtaining 499 education credentials, assisted 229 youth in developing detailed and actionable goal plans for career advancement, and placed 208 young people in jobs.
Once again, these figures are lower than in previous years due to the impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic and its resulting program disruptions, which took place in the spring and summer, both of which are traditionally busy periods for the agency.
Financials
Unlock nonprofit financial insights that will help you make more informed decisions. Try our monthly plan today.
- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
Want to see how you can enhance your nonprofit research and unlock more insights?
Learn more
about GuideStar Pro.
Operations
The people, governance practices, and partners that make the organization tick.
Connect with nonprofit leaders
SubscribeBuild relationships with key people who manage and lead nonprofit organizations with GuideStar Pro. Try a low commitment monthly plan today.
- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
Want to see how you can enhance your nonprofit research and unlock more insights? Learn More about GuideStar Pro.
Connect with nonprofit leaders
SubscribeBuild relationships with key people who manage and lead nonprofit organizations with GuideStar Pro. Try a low commitment monthly plan today.
- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
Want to see how you can enhance your nonprofit research and unlock more insights? Learn More about GuideStar Pro.
Youth Job Center, Inc.
Board of directorsas of 02/23/2023
Mary Dolan
Pro-Am Team Sports
Term: 2023 - 2026
Board leadership practices
GuideStar worked with BoardSource, the national leader in nonprofit board leadership and governance, to create this section.
-
Board orientation and education
Does the board conduct a formal orientation for new board members and require all board members to sign a written agreement regarding their roles, responsibilities, and expectations? No -
CEO oversight
Has the board conducted a formal, written assessment of the chief executive within the past year ? No -
Ethics and transparency
Have the board and senior staff reviewed the conflict-of-interest policy and completed and signed disclosure statements in the past year? No -
Board composition
Does the board ensure an inclusive board member recruitment process that results in diversity of thought and leadership? No -
Board performance
Has the board conducted a formal, written self-assessment of its performance within the past three years? No
Organizational demographics
Who works and leads organizations that serve our diverse communities? Candid partnered with CHANGE Philanthropy on this demographic section.
Leadership
The organization's leader identifies as:
Race & ethnicity
Gender identity
Transgender Identity
Sexual orientation
Disability
No data
Equity strategies
Last updated: 11/18/2020GuideStar partnered with Equity in the Center - an organization that works to shift mindsets, practices, and systems to increase racial equity - to create this section. Learn more
- We ask team members to identify racial disparities in their programs and / or portfolios.
- We analyze disaggregated data and root causes of race disparities that impact the organization's programs, portfolios, and the populations served.
- We employ non-traditional ways of gathering feedback on programs and trainings, which may include interviews, roundtables, and external reviews with/by community stakeholders.
- We disaggregate data by demographics, including race, in every policy and program measured.
- We have long-term strategic plans and measurable goals for creating a culture such that one’s race identity has no influence on how they fare within the organization.
- We seek individuals from various race backgrounds for board and executive director/CEO positions within our organization.
- We have community representation at the board level, either on the board itself or through a community advisory board.
- We help senior leadership understand how to be inclusive leaders with learning approaches that emphasize reflection, iteration, and adaptability.
- We engage everyone, from the board to staff levels of the organization, in race equity work and ensure that individuals understand their roles in creating culture such that one’s race identity has no influence on how they fare within the organization.