Testimony of Rachel White  Senior Youth Policy Analyst, DC Action before the Committee on Labor and Workforce Developmen

Testimony of Rachel White 

Senior Youth Policy Analyst, DC Action

DC Council Committee on Labor and Workforce Development 

Budget Hearing: Department of Employment Services

March 22, 2022

Good morning Committee Chair Silverman and members of the Committee on Labor and Workforce Development. Thank you for the opportunity to address the Council today. My name is Rachel White and I am DC Action’s Senior Youth Policy Analyst. At DC Action, we use research, data, and a racial equity lens to break down barriers that stand in the way of all kids reaching their full potential. Our collaborative advocacy initiatives bring the power of young people and all residents to raise their voices to create change. Through our Youth Economic Justice and Housing Coalition we advocate with youth and youth-serving organizations in the District of Columbia for policies, funding, and programs that expand access to comprehensive support and services that families and unaccompanied youth experiencing homelessness need to successfully transition into stable and productive adulthood. We are also the home of DC KIDS COUNT, an online resource that tracks key indicators of child and youth well-being. 

One of our priorities is dismantling the pipeline from youth homelessness to chronic adult homelessness, which can only be done through intentional investments into positive youth development systems throughout the District. By investing early and helping young people find stability, we are cutting off a primary contributor to chronic adult and family homelessness. According to research done by Chapin Hall, “Voices of Youth Count,” for every day a young person waits for housing, they are 2% more likely to re-experience homelessness later in life. This is a cumulative statistic. Two days of waiting is equal to 4% more likely to re-experience homelessness as an adult. One way to obstruct the youth to adult homelessness trajectory is by providing youth in the District a pathway to economic freedom in the form of workforce development opportunities and programs that meet their unique needs, access to higher education and trade programs, and access to employment that results in earning a livable wage.  

While we advocate for job opportunities, we must acknowledge that youth experiencing homelessness often face unique challenges as they try to secure adequate employment. Their connections to school are often tenuous. With limited access to basic needs like showers, hygiene products, and interview attire, it is often difficult to take the steps necessary to secure and keep a job, let alone managing the day-to-day trauma of being homeless. When they do get a job, the positions often pay minimum wage, which is not a living wage for anyone. Many such youth find unreported employment (“under the table” work) and some resort to illegal activities to survive. Given the challenges youth face, it’s important for government agencies and service providers to create targeted programs and interventions that meet the particular needs of this population of youth. 

Prior to the pandemic, maintaining employment for youth experiencing homelessness was already a challenge. Based on Youth Count data, 75% of parenting youth and 69% of non-parenting youth had no form of cash income. Employment got harder for all youth during the pandemic. Thousands more youth received unemployment insurance during the pandemic (from April 2020 through January 2021) than in the same period a year prior (an average of 100 youth under age 22 and 277 youth ages 22-24 each month from April 2019 through January 2020, vs. 2210 youth under ages 22 and 4055 youth ages 22-24 from April 2020 through January 2021). Youth experiencing homelessness likely faced additional hurdles to employment.

As we center our discussion around creating equitable outcomes, it is also important to note that employment for transgender youth is even harder. In a 2015 survey by the National Center for Transgender Equality, one-fourth of DC residents who are transgender and applied for or held a job in the prior year reported being fired, denied a promotion, or not being hired for a job they applied for because of their gender identity or expression during the prior year.  Another quarter reported other forms of mistreatment based on their gender identity or expression during that year, such as being forced to use a restroom that did not match their gender identity, being told to present in the wrong gender in order to keep their job, or having a boss or coworker share private information about their transgender status with others without their permission. While this treatment is unacceptable for any DC resident, it poses particular challenges for youth already experiencing the trauma of homelessness.

While DOES does offer workforce development opportunities that youth experiencing homelessness may qualify for, existing programs have limitations, and unfortunately, do not meet the specific workforce needs of youth experiencing homelessness. Existing programs either require youth to have obtained a high school diploma or equivalent (which may not be attainable for our population of young people experiencing housing insecurity). Some workforce programs have stringent age requirements, not all are trauma responsive, some do not provide incentives or stipends for participation, and no programs result in long-term guaranteed employment for youth with a livable wage. 

We are asking the Committee on Labor and Workforce Development to locate funding that results in the creation of a workforce development program to meet the unique needs of youth experiencing homelessness throughout the District. To assess the current barriers youth are facing accessing available workforce development programs throughout the District, this winter we administered a survey to youth, ages 16-24. Barriers highlighted by youth include: 

• Challenges with transportation to and from the program or work site
• Programs lacked childcare availability (for young parents)
• Programs did not have adequate attire and laundry facilities
• Programs did not provide adequate pay or stipend to meet basic needs
• Difficulty balancing program/work commitments with school
• Experienced discrimination or harassment
• Inadequate mental health support to deal with any trauma response triggered during employment
• Lack of mentors or job coaches 

According to youth surveyed, an ideal workforce development program to meet their needs would include:

• Stipends to attend workforce development programs 
• Transportation to and from programs
• Hands-on training with less classroom time
• Job placement after completing training
• Mentors and career coaches 
• Access to food and clothing- particularly professional attire and a place to store them
• Benefit packages, including health insurance
• Wraparound services with an emphasis on mental health supports
• Money management skill development 
• Skills to maintain a job 
• Guaranteed job placement with pay that results in a livable wage
• Bilingual workforce development trainings
• Assistance with applying for legal documents
• Entrepreneurial training options with linkages to funding
• Thorough follow up after training completion to help them get stable jobs.

Specifically we are asking DOES to allocate $1 million dollars to fund a workforce development program in partnership with youth experiencing homelessness throughout the District. The Department of Human Services has indicated its interest in developing a program of this nature, as the department has already established a Wrap-around Workforce Development Program for Transgender, Nonbinary, and Gender-Nonconforming (TGNC) youth, ages 18 through 24 experiencing or at risk of experiencing homelessness in the District. 

We are inquiring into whether $1 million of the $6,783,000 DOES has been allocated through the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) youth programs can be used to fund this initiative. 

We encourage the Committee on Labor and  Workforce Development to: 

• Allocate $1 million dollars to fund a workforce development program that meets the unique needs of youth experiencing homelessness throughout the District.  
• Compel DOES to prioritize youth experiencing homelessness in their efforts to increase access to a coordinated education and workforce system. 

• Compel DOES to engage in strategic outreach targeted at youth experiencing homelessness as they expand capacity of existing workforce development programs and the development of future programs.
• Compel DOES to Implement strategies identified in SOLID FOUNDATIONS DC to meet the needs of youth experiencing homelessness.