Federal funding delay jeopardizes youth jobs program

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 22/05/2024 (562 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A non-profit organization that helps inner-city youth is under the threat of a dozen layoffs and program cuts due to a delay in funding from the federal government.

Resource Assistance for Youth in West Broadway is at risk of cutting 12 positions from its 53-member workforce and halting its Level Up! employment and training program.

“Youth having access to learning more about life skills is essential,” interim executive director Caryn Birch told a news conference Wednesday.

Funding, which is provided by a federal Youth Employment and Skills Strategy grant, ended March 31. RaY has had to borrow money from other parts of its organization to keep Level Up! employees on the payroll, Birch said.

The non-profit has received millions in federal funding since the program’s last intake in 2019 and Ottawa say the delay is due to a high number of applicants in the last intake, Birch said.

“Youth that come to RaY for stability are now in a position where their sense of stability is being impacted because of a failure of the federal government to provide timely responses about funding for these critical programs,” Winnipeg Centre MP Leah Gazan said at the news conference.

“Youth that come to RaY for stability are now in a position where their sense of stability is being impacted because of a failure of the federal government to provide timely responses about funding for these critical programs.”–Winnipeg Centre MP Leah Gazan

The organization was due to hear about funding at the end of April, but there’s been no word yet on its November 2023 application.

“Despite knowing that we are still waiting for an answer, this team… continue to come in every day. They continue to run programming and they are putting aside their personal feelings and the stresses about waiting and not knowing what the future holds for their career,” Birch said.

The program works with 80 at-risk youth who want to enter workforce. The program’s two streams, Level Up! Launch Pad and Level Up! Lift Off, are seven-week, paid training programs that teach skills suitable for the workforce, followed by a supported 16-week work placement.

The program has connected about 775 youth to the workforce or post-secondary programming, Birch said.

The next round of programming is supposed to begin June 1.

Birch said RaY’s potential loss in funding will have a “significant” impact on its young clients.

“Many of their next steps in their own personal goals (are) financial independence and being a part of the Winnipeg labour market,” she said.

In 2022, RaY received more than $2.2 million from the federal government, which accounted for nearly half of its income, as per its 2022 annual report.

The federal grant is earmarked for programs that help people between the ages of 15 and 30 overcome barriers to employment. The 2024 intake allocated $300 million over four years, with a maximum funding per agreement of $5 million per year.

Priority is given to youth-led and grassroots organizations, groups that serve “equity-deserving communities” and youth facing multiple and compounding barriers to employment, acs per criteria outlined by Employment and Social Development Canada.

Spokesperson Maja Stefanovska said the department is “actively engaged” in assessing applications and is on track to make decisions by its deadline of “spring 2024.”

More than 1,000 applications were submitted this year.

“This represents an unprecedented amount of interest in the program, exceeding the number of applications received during the previous intake in 2019. This enthusiasm reflects a shared commitment to helping youth to gain the skills and experience they need to find and keep good jobs,” Stefanovska said in an emailed statement.

Birch says businesses that take on youth through the Level Up! program will feel the loss if funding isn’t approved.

“(Participants) are asking about when we can reopen every day,” she said.

nicole.buffie@freepress.mb.ca