Explanation
Background: This ordinance authorizes the Director of the Recreation and Parks Department to accept a Grant for expanding the APPS job readiness program to teens and young adults who currently have open misdemeanor cases with the juvenile court system and to enter into contract with Franklin County. The grant amount has a maximum award amount of $220,000.00.
The primary components of the program are training, mentoring/coaching and performance based rewards. Participants will have the opportunity to receive training, mentoring and job placement into various divisions of the Department of Recreation and Parks that can include park maintenance, outdoor education, community recreation, aquatics and youth and family development as well as select contract agencies, community organizations and businesses. The goal is to provide teens and young adults with an enriching experience that has redeeming value for their future career paths and reaching self-sufficiency. Fundamentally the program seeks to move participants in many cases from poverty to middle class not in just financial terms but in network, education and exposure to opportunities and life possibilities.
The APPS Job Readiness Program was successfully initiated in the summer of 2017 to a group of 30 teens and young adults who had not had contact with the criminal justice system. This grant provides an opportunity to expand this program to teen and young adult populations who have open misdemeanors. The grant funding will cover three 8-week sessions.
Each session will have 20 participants. Selected participants will not have felony cases but typically will have open misdemeanor disorderly conduct, assault or domestic violence cases. Participants will be made up of both probation and non-probation teens and young adults that currently have open misdemeanor cases with the juvenile court system. Participants will be considered City of Columbus employees and held to the same standards. They wi...
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