Purpose: To offer youth the opportunity to develop leadership and analytical thinking skills, as well as self-confidence, by empowering them to serve their community. Council members accomplish this by identifying unmet needs within their community and making a contribution in the form of mini-grants to fund programs designed to help address these unmet needs.
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How is this accomplished? Council members are given a voice, a choice and a vote on how the Council is run. It is the members who identify the unmet needs within their community and determine the needs they wish to focus on during the year. They then establish a criterion that grant applicants must meet in order to be considered for a mini-grant. Once completed, they publish an RFP, review grant applications, and subsequently make a decision on which programs they wish to fund.
Who can participate? Youth representatives must be enrolled in an in-school youth program sponsored by the Cape & Islands Workforce Investment Board and must be recommended for a position on the Council by the In-School Youth Program Coordinator. Past Council members who have graduated a program may also participate. Seventy-three youth, representing many school systems throughout the Cape & Islands, have participated in this program since its inception in 2001.
Role of a Council Member:
- work with youth groups and clubs in their school
- identify needs within the Cape and Islands community, which are currently not being met.
- determine how grant dollars will be used
- develop a criteria for awarding mini-grants to youth groups and/or clubs that develop programs which will address those needs
- become advisors to the Cape & Islands Workforce Investment Board and its Youth Council
- award and monitor grants
- partner with the Workforce Investment Board to learn about the employment and training needs of the region.
- Attend monthly meetings held between 2:00 p.m. and 4:00 p.m. at Career Opportunities.
How participating in the Council has influenced the lives of the members:
By the end of the seventh year:
- 56 of these at risk youth obtained their high school diplomas
- 25 of these at risk youth have entered college
- 60 of these at risk youth are currently working
- 5 of these at risk youth are still in school working towards a high school diploma
- Only three of these at risk youth dropped out of school and have not obtained a job or any further education.
Where does the money come from? Since the Council's inception in 2001 it has awarded over $58,874.00 in mini-grants to community organizations. Several organizations have partnered with JTEC to provide funds for this purpose. The first was the Massachusetts Service Alliance. This year the money came from JTEC.
Grant Recipients:
- $4800 was awarded to Cape Cod Council of Churches
- $2000 was awarded to The Samaritans on Cape Cod and the Islands, Inc.
- $1000 was awarded to The Champ Homes project
- $ 500 was awarded to The MSPCC Good Start Programs
- $3750 was awarded to The Cape and Islands Gay and Straight Youth Alliance Project
- $2250 was awarded to The Children's Cove
- $5825 was awarded to The Nauset Regional High School Summer Intensive Program
- $4400 was awarded to the Cape &Islands Workforce Investment Board Youth Council
- $ 500 was awarded to the MSPCC Good Start Program
- $4000 was awarded to the YMCA of Martha's Vineyard
- $8107.65 was awarded to the Nauset Regional High School Summer Intensive Program
- $2000 was awarded to the YMCA of Cape Cod for their SWEAT program.
- $2460 was awarded to the Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head
- $2432.35 was awarded to the Barnstable High School Astronomy Program
- $1200 was awarded to the Boys and Girls Club of Cape Cod's Ecology Club and Career Exploration Program
- $3000 was awarded to Mashpee Village 's Baseball Field for Youth Project
- $7950 was awarded to Falmouth Human Services for its Peer Mediation Pilot Program
- $1500 was awarded to the YMCA of Cape Cod's Environmental/Fitness/Eco Arts Trail Project
- $2200 was awarded to RFK Children's Action Corps to provide drivers education and entrepreneurial training to at-risk youth.
Interested in starting a similar program for at risk youth in your area?
Contact: Martha Burzycki at 508-862-6139 or mburzycki@detma.org
The establishment of the Council is an activity of the Cape & Islands Workforce Investment Board.
