JOG receives $4 million department of labor grant to serve Akron’s most in need youth

Aug 7

Tuesday August 1, 2023

(Akron, OH, July 2023): Tri-County Jobs for Ohio’s Graduates (JOG), along with Youth Opportunities Unlimited (YOU) and Center of Workforce Innovations (CWI), has been awarded $4,000,000 from the U.S. Department of Labor to help prepare young people for the workplace in Akron and Cleveland, Ohio and Gary, Indiana.

JOG is one of three organizations nationwide to receive funding after a competitive application process. Funding will support programs that help youth and young adults in communities affected by violence and poverty to prepare for career success in the labor market.

Administered by the department’s Employment and Training Administration, these Growth Opportunities Intermediary grants focus on teenagers from 15 to 18 years old and young adults from 18 to 24 years old who are affected by community violence and poverty. JOG and its partners will target 15 to 18-year-olds specifically. Funding supports local organizations that provide occupational training and jobs to prepare these young people for workplace success. The grants will also help the organizations offer supportive services, including leadership development, mentoring and conflict-resolution skills.

In Akron, JOG will partner with Summit County Juvenile Court, the Summit and Medina Workforce Area Council of Governments, Red Oak Behavioral Health, Akron Public Schools, the City of Akron and Summit County Department of Job and Family Services to implement programming for the community’s most historically underserved youth.

"As the designated violence prevention partner in Akron, Red Oak Behavioral Health is thrilled to partner with JOG to provide the participants in the DOL program with critical mentoring and conflict resolution services through its iC.A.R.E. Mentoring® program," said Red Oak's CEO, Megan Kleidon. “Mentoring has been shown to reduce recidivism rates for youth already engaged with the justice system by over 20%, and we look forward to helping make a meaningful impact on the health and wellbeing of both the young people enrolled in the program and our community as a whole."

“We are thrilled to receive this funding which will be used to help youth in three metro areas remove barriers and achieve their long-term educational and employment goals,” said Chris Canova, JOG’s Executive Director, “JOG has successfully served youth with multiple barriers for 36 years, and we are excited to receive funding to target Akron’s justice involved youth starting this Fall.”

Learn more about JOG at https://jogworks.org/.

Since 1987, Tri-County Jobs for Ohio’s Graduates (JOG), an affiliate of the nationwide Jobs for America’s Graduates (JAG) organization, has helped youth with multiple barriers to success complete their education and successfully transition to employment at a livable wage or post-secondary job training. JOG utilizes the evidence-based JAG curriculum, built on more than 85 competency areas, to provide academic intervention, counseling, employment readiness, leadership and career development, subsidized work experience opportunities, and job and post-secondary educational placement to 1,500+ youth with multiple barriers to success, ages 14-24, in Summit, Stark, Medina, Ashland, and Trumbull Counties annually.

JOG’s success is measured against JAG’s national standards regarding academic success and employment. JOG has met or exceeded these national standards for the past 28 consecutive years.

In the fiscal year ending June 30, 2023, JOG achieved the following outcomes:

93% of students graduated high school (JAG Standard 90%); 75% of out of school youth (JAG Standard 50%)
77% of participants secured job placement (JAG Standard 60%)
91% of participants obtained full-time jobs (JAG Standard 60%)
77% of participants experienced positive outcomes (JAG Standard 75%)
56% are in further education (all post-secondary, credential/certificate, apprenticeship (JAG Standard 35%)
100% Connectivity rate, percent of participants JOG is able to contact post successful exit (JAG Standard 91.5%)