Background
This ordinance authorizes and directs the City Auditor to transfer and appropriate $419,852.00 from the Department of Finance and Management General Fund 1000 to the Department of Neighborhoods General Fund 1000 and authorizes the Director of the Department of Neighborhoods to enter into a service agreement with various not-for-profit agencies, for the purposes of providing summer youth employment and programming.
The services included in these agreements cannot be provided by existing city employees because these services are beyond the City’s current responsibility and capacity to provide.
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Explanation
The Department of Neighborhoods houses youth engagement initiatives including The Commission on Black Girls (COBG) and My Brother’s Keeper (MBK). Both programs focus on services and support for Black youth, respectively COBG focuses on Black girls and MBK centers is efforts on Boys and Young Men of Color. Additionally, this legislation is important to provide funding for summer programming and internships; because both initiatives prioritize education and employment experiences that not only support youth economically, but also provide safe environments that may deter youth from engaging in behaviors that could negatively impact their futures.
About COBG & MBK
On July 16, 2018, Columbus City Council adopted resolution number 0208X-2018 to create The Commission on Black Girls (The Commission or COBG). The creation of COBG was led by former Councilmember Priscilla R. Tyson. The impetus for creating The Commission was the disparities that Black women experience in several areas including but not limited to: homelessness, eviction, infant mortality, maternal mortality, and the wage gap. To change this trajectory, the intent was to start at earlier stages of development and focus on girls. Charged with studying the quality of life of Black girls in Columbus, The Commission released a report in July 2020 with 18 recommendation areas that are intende...
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