Delete WardWorkforce, Education, Training, and Youth Development Committee Reviews Work Done by Organizations Receiving ARPA Funding
Mar 05, 2024
Cleveland, OH (March 5, 2024) - City Council’s Workforce, Education, Training, and Youth Development Committee, chaired by Majority Whip and Ward 14 Councilwoman Jasmin Santana, met to review the organizations that received disbursements from Cleveland’s revenue recovery funds that impact the education and career opportunities for students and adults in Cleveland.
The agenda for the day included status reports from entities that sought and received more than $16 million in American Rescue Plan Act funding. The organizations appearing included Ohio Means Jobs, the Greater Cleveland Career Consortium, Say Yes! To Education and College Now’s Cleveland College Comeback program which targets residents who started secondary education but stopped for numerous reasons. Committee members also received an update on the initiative to ensure all CMSD students have access to physical and mental health services that includes building three new on-site clinics at schools.
The “Built Environment Workforce Development,” initiative with Ohio Means Jobs has a goal of enrolling 3,000 residents with training providers over the next three years. So far, 241 residents have been enrolled in training programs.
Committee members also received an update from the Greater Cleveland Career Consortium on its Planning and Career Exploration (PACE) program that reported they were ahead of schedule in career advising and out of school engagements for 6th to 12th graders to set them on a career training and/or education path.
The City of Cleveland received the eighth-largest allotment of federal ARPA funds. Councilwoman Santana and the members of the WETYD committee are committed to accountability and learning how the organizations that received disbursements from Cleveland’s allotment are using the funds for the betterment of Clevelanders.
“Clevelanders rely on Council for advocacy and oversight. The American Rescue Plan Act provided a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to use an unprecedented sum of federal funding to bring real and meaningful change to Clevelanders. The Workforce, Education, Training, and Youth Education Committee heard from several organizations seeking portions of that funding. We have some strong, experienced members on this committee who are passionate about education and the workforce. Each of us is committed to using our experiences to examine how the organizations have used the funding to date - and updates on meeting the goals they shared with this committee.”
The Workforce, Education, Training, and Youth Development includes Majority Whip Santana as the Chair, Councilwoman Stephanie Howse-Jones (Ward 7) as Vice-Chair, and Council members Deborah Gray (Ward 4), Charles Slife (Ward 17), Jenny Spencer (Ward 15), Richard Starr (Ward 5), and Joseph T. Jones (Ward 1).
The meeting can be watched online at https://www.youtube.com/@ClevelandCityCouncil.