Youth Services Reaches Recruitment Goals

Our Young Adult Opportunity Program provides no cost job training and job placement services. We are happy to not only connect young adults, ages 16-24, to employment opportunities, but also link them to the services they need to become self-sufficient.

All county youth are welcome to our center in downtown Silver Spring to learn about career pathways, receive help on their resumes, and get connected to free county resources. We aspired this fiscal year to specifically recruit 300 youth who are experiencing barriers to employment like criminal backgrounds, pregnancy and parenting, homelessness, disabilities, living in foster care, and withdrawal from high school. We are pleased to have met our goal and have successfully connected young people to job readiness training, certification programs, internships, and full-time employment.

Jonathan Copeland, community outreach coordinator, actively recruited 150 youth through community partners, online outreach, and attending several neighborhood meetings and events. “It’s not easy connecting with youth until you understand their motivations, their passion,” he says. “Once you spend time exploring what excites them and gives them hope, you then are able to show them a pathway to a brighter future.” Jonathan says the youth who are in the program are simply looking for a path to success and self-sufficiency. The youth program provides a warm, welcoming gateway to the means they need to accomplish their goals.

If you, or someone you know, are looking for job training and are between the ages of 16-24 learn more and contact the youth program by visiting worksourcemontgomery.com/job-seekers/young-adults/.