AN ACT Relating to youth employment; creating new sections; and making appropriations.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:

NEW SECTION. Sec. 1. The legislature finds that the recent expansion and growth in the state's economy has not reached the youth in the labor force. The unemployment rates of youth remain at higher levels than any other demographic group, leading to increased risk of destructive life styles resulting from academic, career, and personal failure. To assist at-risk youth to become productive members of society, the youth career skills pilot project is created. The project shall establish and conduct intervention programs that can provide alternative aspirations for destructive life styles, and seek to keep youth in school, enhance their academic achievement and self- esteem, and improve their long-term employment prospects so that the risk of drug and criminal activities and teenage pregnancies may be reduced.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 2. (1) The superintendent of public instruction may grant matching funds as provided in this section to selected middle schools or junior high schools for the implementation of a youth career skills pilot project. Recipients of the matching grant shall establish a career skills center to provide the following services and programs to at-risk students and students who have dropped out of school:

(a) Small group or individual counseling on career ambitions with at-risk youth or students who have dropped out of school, including both short-term (summer and after school) and long-term career goals;

(b) Development and implementation of an education, employability development, and job readiness curriculum for each student who has participated in the counseling;

(c) Development of mentoring programs and cooperative programs with businesses, labor organizations, and community groups that provide job training, job opportunities, and academic assistance for students;

(d) Coordination of school counseling and assessment resources with the assessment resources of the employment security department for at-risk students and students who have dropped out of school, including location of personnel from the employment security department within the school;

(e) Coordination and facilitation of placement of students in appropriate jobs, training for jobs, apprenticeship programs, and academic programs;

(f) Establishment of a partnership with a vocational school or community college to provide services under this subsection; and

(g) Evaluation and follow-up of each student who participates in the program, including the employment and training history for a five-year period following the student's initial contact with the career skills center.

(2) The superintendent of public instruction, in cooperation with the employment security department, shall collect comparative employment and training histories, by school, on students who received services from the career skills center and on students who did not participate, and make annual reports to the appropriate committees of the senate and the house of representatives.

(3) To qualify for consideration for the grant under this section, the applicant school shall submit an application including, at a minimum, the following information:

(a) The means by which the services required in subsection (1) of this section will be provided;

(b) An explanation of the partnership arrangement entered into with a cooperating vocational school or community college, including a copy of the agreement between the institutions outlining the roles and responsibilities of each;

(c) The costs of providing program services, and the source and appropriate assurances regarding the provision of matching funds;

(d) The number of personnel needed to conduct the program; and

(e) Letters of support from the school board, building and district administrators, teachers, and community groups. In evaluating grant applications, the superintendent of public instruction shall consider, at a minimum, the school district's drop-out rate, the youth unemployment rate and the number of youth unprepared for employment in the district, and the youth crime statistics, including gang activities, in the district.

(4) The youth employment pilot project shall be conducted for up to eight years if funding is provided for this purpose.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 3. The superintendent of public instruction shall adopt rules to carry out the purposes of sections 1 and 2 of this act.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 4. The sum of .......... dollars, or as much thereof as may be necessary, is appropriated for the biennium ending June 30, 1991, from the general fund to the superintendent of public instruction for the funding of the youth employment pilot project as set forth in sections 1 through 3 of this act.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 5. The employment security department shall undertake an evaluation of the employment and training needs of at-risk youth, including school drop-outs, in urban areas with high youth unemployment. The findings of this evaluation shall be presented to the appropriate committees of the senate and house of representatives no later than December 15, 1991.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 6. (1) Based on the findings reported to the legislature under section 5 of this act, the employment security department shall develop and locate a satellite youth employment office in an urban area with high youth unemployment. The office shall provide services to facilitate career development among at-risk and school drop-out youth, including skills and interest evaluation, job preparation training, and job and apprenticeship program placement. The youth employment office shall include outreach programs to notify community leaders of the availability of the office and shall follow-up at-risk students or students who have dropped out of school.

(2) This program shall continue for a period of eight years if funding is provided for this purpose.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 7. The sum of .......... dollars, or as much thereof as may be necessary, is appropriated for the biennium ending June 30, 1991, from the general fund to the employment security department for the funding of the evaluation set forth in section 5 of this act and the youth employment office as set forth in section 6 of this act.