COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PHILADELPHIA COMMITTEE ON COMMERCE AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT Room 400, City Hall Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Wednesday, March 18, 2026 10:16 a.m. PRESENT: COUNCILMAN MARK SQUILLA, CHAIR COUNCILMAN CURTIS JONES, JR., VICE-CHAIR COUNCILWOMAN JAMIE GAUTHIER COUNCILWOMAN KATHERINE GILMORE RICHARDSON COUNCILMAN JEFFREY YOUNG, JR. ALSO PRESENT:
Good morning, everyone, and welcome to the hearing of the Committee on Commerce and Economic Development today, Wednesday, March 18th. I note that the hour has come. A quorum of the Committee is present to my left. Council President Johnson, Councilmember Curtis Jones to my right. Councilmember Gauthier, Councilmember Richardson, Councilmember Young. This is a public hearing of the Committee on Commerce and Economic Development regarding Resolution No. 260032. Mr. McMonagle, will you please read the title of the resolution.
Resolution 22 No. 260032, authorizing the Committee on Commerce and Economic Development to hold hearings to assess the City of Philadelphia's workforce development efforts and existing barriers to employment, and to evaluate job creation and workforce development as strategies to eliminate poverty for Philadelphians.
Before we start with the panels, I'd like to recognize Council President Johnson for remarks.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I have some brief remarks I would like to read in the record. And I want to thank you, Mr. Chair, and all the members of this committee, the witnesses who have joined us today and the many organizations across the city that work every day to connect our residents to quality jobs. Workforce development is one of the most important tools we have to strengthen our city's economy and ensure the economic growth benefits all Philadelphians. When our residents have access to strong training programs, clear career pathways and supportive services, it creates opportunities for individuals and families as well as employers, neighbors and the entire regional economy. Philadelphia is home to a wide range of workforce programs and partnerships that help residents gain new skills into growing industries and build long- term careers. At the same time, we know that many Philadelphians still face barriers to accessing and sustaining employment, whether that includes child care, transportation, skills gaps or broader structural challenges in the labor market. Employers across the region are also navigating workforce shortages and rapidly changing industry needs. Today's hearing is an opportunity for City Council to better understand how our workforce development system is working, where there are gaps, and how we can be stronger partners in expanding opportunities for residents. As the second poorest big city in the nation, Philadelphia must view strategic investments in workforce and economic development as critical tools to reduce poverty and expand pathways to economic mobility for residents. Throughout the hearing, we are especially interested in hearing recommendations from our witnesses about how City Council can support this work. That includes understanding what policy changes, investments or partnerships could strengthen workforce programs, reduce barriers to employment and better align workforce development with economic development efforts across Philadelphia and the region. Our goal is to ensure that Philadelphia's workforce system is creating clear pathways to quality jobs. Let me say that again. Our goal is to ensure that Philadelphia's workforce system is creating clear paths to high- quality jobs, jobs that provide stability, opportunity for advancement and the ability for residents to support themselves and their families. I want to thank all of our witnesses again for taking the time to share your expertise and experience with us today, and we look forward to a productive conversation. I also want to thank Mr. Chairman Squilla for hosting this hearing and all of the members for being present. Thank you, sir.
Thank you, Mr. President. Thank you for your leadership on this important matter. Mr. McMonagle, can you please read the first panel to testify.
Good morning. Could we please have Camille Duchasse -- I never say it right. I'm sorry. I apologize. Carol de Fries, Orlando Rendon. (Witnesses approached witness table.)
Mr. Chairman, can I follow up on something just in general?
And just besides my remarks, right, I just recognized that -- and our city has always been a tale of two cities. Some parts of the city doing great, some parts doing not so great. And I know myself being the Council President is a great opportunity, but most importantly, I'm a District Councilperson. And so, I like to say I represent I'm the economic engine here in the City of Philadelphia because I represent the Flyers, the Sixers again, the Phillies, the Eagles, the Navy Yard, the Airport, Bellwether District, and PhilaPort, right. But that means nothing if we aren't allowing individuals to participate in the great workforce that we have here in the city. I'll also start off by saying that the Administration has been doing a variety of different things to move our city forward. We just put I guess -- we eliminated 20,000 vacancies, from what I understand, right. It's a step in the right direction. I also believe that we're going to address poverty. One of the key ways and the best ways is by building generational wealth, putting people to work and eliminate any barriers that we may have that will stop individuals from participating in the workforce, but also strategies on how we grow our economy as well. And for me, it's not always a tax cut, right. I just think me being a dad, if you have good schools, high-quality schools, I'm more apt to move into a certain neighborhood or keep my children here. And as we've seen crime go down at a 60-year historic low, people would more want to move to our city as well. But that's the spirit and the frame of this hearing, and really zeroing in and focusing on how we eliminate poverty through putting people to work. So thank you very much for being here. I just wanted to state that separate from what I recited.
Thank you, Mr. President. And we can proceed with your testimony. Just state your name for the record and start with your testimony.
Good morning, everyone. I am Camille Duchaussee. I am the city's Chief Administrative Officer. And before I start with my testimony, I do want to say thank you. I appreciate the framing. And we are of the same mind, right. There's a lot of work to do. There are a lot of moving parts to it. You have some principles here. And I'll introduce my two colleagues, but there are a number of other colleagues, city colleagues that are just a small part of the whole that help us do all of the things that you just described. It's not exclusively about education. It's not exclusively about workforce development and upskilling. There are pieces that I've seen all of you participate in and advocate for, whether it's maintaining generational wealth by being able to stay in a home, whether it's the procurement reform and work that we're doing to make sure it's more accessible and easier to do business with the city. So small and local businesses can thrive, right, so that their children can thrive. So very much appreciate the sentiment. And that is the same approach the same way we are approaching today's conversation. So with that, again thank you for the opportunity to testify today regarding Resolution 260032, introduced by Majority Leader Gilmore Richardson on behalf of Councilmember President Johnson, to assess the city's efforts and existing barriers to employment, and evaluate job creation and workforce development as strategies to eliminate poverty in Philadelphia's. I'd say good morning very specifically to Chairperson Squilla, members of the Committee, Council President Johnson. I am joined at the table here today by Carol de Fries, our Executive Director of City College for Municipal Employment or as we call it, CCME, and Orlando Rendon, who is our Executive Director of the Office of Community Empowerment and Opportunity. I appreciate this opportunity to discuss the Administration's strategy to coordinate workforce development initiatives across the city of government and with our external partners, some of whom are present here today, to coordinate, amplify, refine and sustain access to employment pathways that lead to family-sustaining wages for all Philadelphians, raising Philadelphians out of poverty and providing long-term economic mobility. For the city, workforce development is not a single program or an agency function. It is a system that coordinates education, training, employment engagement, business growth and supportive services, just to name a few. Under the direction of Mayor Cherelle L. Parker, we have worked to ensure that the city system is a coordinated continuum that connects residents to opportunity in thoughtful consideration of the needs and challenges of each community, individual economic standing and education level as well as access. This work involves collaboration with the city's key operational partners focused on access to economic opportunity, including our CAO, our CCME team and workforce solutions, our MOE team, the Office of Children and Families and Capital Programs Offices Rebuild initiative as well as the Commerce Department and the Office of Human Resources. Centralizing this work under a department, namely CAO, with an enterprise-wide view, ensures that the city's workforce and economic mobility efforts are aligned across departments and agencies as well as coordinated with partners at the state and federal level and private and nonprofit sectors. City College for Municipal Employment was created to help meet the need for a comprehensive system for addressing workforce development in a way that would move the needle, where other commitments to workforce development have been slow or unable to do so. CCME is the realization of the idea of a workforce development system that can provide an enterprise-wide view and connectivity between city departments and partners and other stakeholders.
It has five key elements to its strategy, creating a foundation to make Philadelphia a national model for inclusive, people-centered workforce development. Those are building innovative direct service pathways, aligning investments and funding systems, creating opportunities for cross-system collaboration and shared priorities, strengthening training partnerships driven by industry and employer demand, and promoting internal coordination among city programs. CAO's portfolio, which includes advancing a financial empowerment blueprint, informs the workforce development strategy and investments in scaffolding for residents with the highest barriers. In particular, CAO's work has a particular focus on Philadelphians with significant barriers to employment. That includes Same Day Work and Pay program, which is a very low-barrier onramp to employment and supportive services. It also includes Work Ready, which serves families that have been on TANF for more than five years and need extra employment and training support. CAO brings other surrounding services, including benefits, access and financial empowerment to help participants in these and other programs along their pathway toward economic mobility. Partnership with CAO is essential to the continuum, including stabilization strategies needed to realistically lift Philadelphians out of poverty. MOE's partnership, the Mayor's Office of Education, ensures that workforce development strategies are fully integrated with education and talent development initiatives. This alignment allows the city to build a cohesive pipeline connecting early learning K-to-12 education, post-secondary training and adult workforce programs to real career opportunities in Philadelphia's priority industries. MOE touches on workforce in many ways, including through Adult Education, Catto Scholarship program at CCP, career preparation across all of MOE programs such as Extended Day, Extended Year programs and Out-of-School Time programs. These are just a few of the many MOE touchpoints across our workforce continuum, OCF, Office for Children and Families. C2L-PHL is also a key pillar of the city's strategy, strengthening the youth pipeline so that young people are intentionally introduced and prepared to access a broader spectrum of career pathways. Through C2L-PHL, the city works with schools, employers and community organizations to expand access to internships, apprenticeships, mentorships and career exploration opportunities. These experiences are designed to ensure that Philadelphia's youth, particularly those from historically underserved communities, have early exposure to meaningful career pathways and the supports necessary to pursue them. Our Capital Programs Office Rebuild workforce programming is focused on creating sustainable employment opportunities for Philadelphians by recruiting and training diverse Philadelphia residents, offering paid full-time training programs in higher-skilled trades, providing a pathway to union apprenticeships, that's an important part of this, and supporting our city's growing infrastructure through academies that include carpentry, masonry, ironworks and cement, mason and plasterers. The city's workforce strategy prioritizes expanding access to opportunity for residents beyond focusing on existing pathways by building expanded pathways and opportunities across the city. As is being realized in the Lower South with maritime and manufacturing industry development within Philadelphia, the Commerce Department's targeted attraction and retention of employers that are growing and who have quality jobs that pay living wages and provide benefits that are family-sustaining is yet another pillar of the city's workforce development system. Philadelphia's focused on attracting different industries and growing more jobs.
Through coordination across these workforce touchpoints, programs and initiatives, the Administration works to ensure that workforce development, policy, program design and resource allocation are aligned with broader economic development goals, employer demands and long-term needs of Philadelphia residents. As announced in the Mayor's FY2011 budget address, the Administration will further strengthen this work through the creation of an economic mobility cabinet. The cabinet will build upon the coordination already underway and provide additional capacity to embed economic mobility and workforce development priorities across all city departments and initiatives. By formalizing this structure, the Administration aims to ensure that workforce and anti- poverty strategies remain integrated into the city's broader policy agenda and deepen partnerships with employers, educational institutions, community organizations and government partners around shared goals. Today's testimony reflects the coordinated approach to the city's workforce development efforts. Representatives from several departments, particularly some of our principals and partner organizations, are present to provide additional information and answer Council's questions regarding their programs and priorities. These partners are able to expand on the operational work being done across education, workforce development, youth programming and supportive services to ensure that Philadelphia's workforce system continues to evolve in ways that prioritize opportunity for all residents, particularly those who need to take advantage of all aspects of the continuum. In closing, the Administration shares City Council's commitment to addressing poverty and expanding economic opportunities for all Philadelphians and seeing Philadelphia grow and thrive not just for some, not just in some communities, but in all of our communities. Through coordinated leadership across city government, strong partnership with education and workforce stakeholders and intentional investments in supportive services, Philadelphia has created and continues to build upon a workforce development system that provides residents with meaningful pathways to stable employment and long-term economic mobility. We appreciate Council's focus and investment in this important issue and look forward to continued collaboration as we advance these efforts together. Thank you for the opportunity to testify and we welcome your questions.
Thank you for your testimony. Are any of the others testifying or are you there for questions?
No, that was the extent of the city's testimony, but here to answer questions.
Okay. All right. If we could have -- before we ask any questions, Cynthia, can you testify and then we'll ask questions to the whole panel.
Buenos dias. Good morning. I have a little -- I'm getting over a cold, so I sound worse than I am.
Thank you. It's about showing up, right. Thank you, Council President Kenyatta Johnson, Committee Chairman Councilmember Mark Squilla, Committee Vice-Chair Councilmember Curtis Jones and of course, Councilmembers Gauthier and Gilmore Richardson. I'm Cynthia Figueroa. I'm the President and CEO of JEVS Human Services. JEVS is one of the longest-standing workforce development human service agencies in the city of Philadelphia. It's an honor to testify today regarding workforce development and the support of access to economic opportunity for all. I want to begin testimony by thanking Council President and the Mayor for their unwavering commitment to expanding economic opportunity for all. It was especially exciting to hear the prioritization of the Mayor's new budget proposal, particularly with investments for adult and youth workforce. JEVS was founded in 1941 to support people with least access to jobs and economic opportunity. That was eight decades ago. As we celebrate our 85th year of service, we are leaning into our legacy, which is deeply intertwined with the city's workforce development initiatives. JEVS has four core workforce program areas that operate in partnership with the City of Philadelphia and the Commonwealth of PA and Philadelphia Works. They are the C2L-PHL youth workforce program that uses a career-connected learning model for youth are paid to participate. The Career Link at Suburban Station, which is a part of the American Job Center Network, a one-stop shop for employment and support and partnership with Philadelphia Works, Orleans Technical College, Jeff's Technical College for building trades and allied health care careers, and of course, work ready. That was mentioned earlier in support with the city's office specifically related to C2L. We recently, two years ago expanded our footprint as the intermediary for C2L-PHL Philadelphia's Workforce program, in partnership with the City of Philadelphia, the School District of Philadelphia and Philadelphia Works. This is a unique partnership in bringing three entities together to support as many youth as possible in. In our city last summer, 7000 youth gained paid learning opportunities at 550 placements. 7 million back into the economic stipends for youth and their families who the demand for this program is tremendous. And I thank Council and the Mayor for recognizing that last summer. There were more than 14,000 applications for 7000 slots. We hope that the budget will call for action to let us increase their slots. I also wanted to highlight Orleans Technical College. Last year we've been operating for 50 years. We've had over 600 students. These are folks who are accessing direct opportunities to gain skills. But what's most exciting is we've been partnering with the city through the City's College Municipal Employment and doing upskilling through existing infrastructure. So using what already exists to help support the city continue its work. Lastly, Work Ready -- we operate Work Ready in partnership with the city's Office of Economic and Opportunity. We're one of the seven hubs in the Commonwealth and we serve over 2000 adults who have the hardest barriers to employment. Council President and the Chairman asked about what are some of the gaps that we continue to see. We continue to see persistent gaps in education where we have too many overaged, underaccredited young people who have a difficult time accessing the opportunities that can be available to them and limited funding for that level of education attainment. The rising cost of living outpaces the wage growth. Affordable child care, transportation and the cost of getting a degree or credential can place individuals out of those opportunities. We know that the city is doing tremendous strides to address these things.
The city has put PHL PreK, SEPTA's Zero Fare program, the City Municipal College, advocacy for minimum wage and all of these things, we ask you to double down and continue to advocate on. We believe the advancements would go even further if you would be willing to continue to make that greater investment in C2L-PHL and fund the slots so that we can meet the needs of more kids, work with nonprofit organizations to ensure the city's contracts keep pace with fair practice ordinance, fund high school equivalency attainment programs, support scholarships for any and all technical colleges in Philadelphia and continue to expand PHL PreK. In closing, I want to share that the nonprofit sector is a critical component of Philadelphia's economy. A recent Pew study found that sector comprises approximately 30% of the city's workforce. Philadelphia has one of the largest nonprofit workforces in the country, only second to Baltimore. The workforce delivers essential services to the city's most vulnerable and we play a role in the priorities of the Mayor of a cleaner, greener, safer and economic opportunity for all. It is critical that this workforce is supported as it relates to business practices, and JEVS believes the city should support the sector by adhering to the federal directives to provide a 15% de minimis indirect rate cost to support non-profits, and also make sure the costs that non-profits have to take on borrowing when they're not paid on time is also forgiven. In closing, we're proud to partner with the City of Philadelphia. We're really excited about the level of partnership, community and work that we're moving collectively together to make sure there is opportunity for all. We appreciate the City Council's leadership and the investment and the commitment in the budget. They say a budget is a moral document, and we believe that the budget reflects the future of the city. Thank you.
Thank you very much. Thank you, Cynthia. Well, I'll say welcome back too. It's good to see you.
Camille, the first question I have, what is the current unemployment rate here in the City of Philadelphia? And then two, how do we measure -- well, we measure success based upon how we hire individuals. But I know we gave in the FY26 budget $10 million on workforce investments. So can you give us an analysis of the return on that investment? How many young people got into apprenticeships and so forth?
So we made a number of very specific investments using the FY26 funds. We broke it up mostly into three buckets, right. It was in our bridge programming to municipal employment. It was targeted skilled trades work apprenticeship programs and workforce development programs, moving into that pathway as well as creating readiness for some of the emerging industries, particularly around the maritime. And so, I'm going to ask Carol to come up and speak a little bit more to the details of how that funding was used.
Yes. And specifically, when you say skilled trades, do we have any data and numbers? Like how many percentages of individual youth are now in the actual skilled trades? Just how many young people or adults actually participated in the maritime program? And it was another area. You said three areas. You said skilled trades, maritime?
Bridging, that's the college, CCME, municipal college?
With respect to the City College for Municipal Employment, we kind of have a number of different activities that are going on in there. And so, I'll just describe a few. The bridges to employment for adults is really looking at five industry pathways that we've created with the Community College of Philadelphia around skilled trades, health care, public safety, business and administration and STEM programs. So we worked closely with CCP on looking at vacancies that the City of Philadelphia has. And then what programs CCP that maps directly into those positions. And so, so far we've had a little bit more than 150 individuals who've been enrolled in that program since we launched in October of 2024. We've had 30 completers in FY25. We have 17 completers so far, and then about another 103 individuals who are currently enrolled in programs across those different industries. And then we've been working very closely to get those individuals who have completed either into employment in the City of Philadelphia or in the greater Philadelphia economy or continuing on in education, because we see that as also a success. So for example, with the auto tech program that we have, actually many of those individuals have continued on in furthering their education because they want to get the full degree program. We only pay for the proficiency certificate as part of that. And we've just recently -- so we've had about four individuals who have been hired directly into the City of Philadelphia. We just recently hired an additional five individuals to stand up a vendor procurement within CAO. And that is part of the CCME fellows program that is included in the FY27 budget.
Yeah, we definitely want to ramp that number up and we're working very closely, which is what this CCME fellows program that we've just recently launched is designed to support. So it is a bridge from that. It's a work-based learning kind of program that gives individuals who've completed our CCME programs direct access to work within the City of Philadelphia that can then transition to civil service jobs that they have been aligned with. So in the vendor management unit, the expectation is that they will, over the course of two years, get experience with the City of Philadelphia. That can then translate into actual civil service jobs, either as clerks or in kind of the finance and procurement space as part of that. And we will be expanding that work with other departments so that there's more of a bridge from direct completion of our programs into the civil service positions. So we definitely are working very closely, and recently brought on staff to support that, the work with OHR directly to speed up and streamline the process into city employment. In addition to that work, we've been working very closely with the School District of Philadelphia on how we can improve access to city jobs and quality jobs in the Philadelphia marketplace with high school seniors. So we've been working with CCP running our Power Skills Academy. I think Camille mentioned that. We had about 40 students complete that program in FY25. Many of those were high school students that participate in the Fleet and Department of Public Property internship program. That is part of the career and technical education programs of the school district. And if you look at that, I think we had high school 14 students go through our Power 15 Skills Academy. And of those, 15 16 of those 19 students were hired by 17 the City of Philadelphia, so it's 18 over 70%. And we want to see more 19 of those types of programs embedded into the city departments as part of our strategy moving forward.
Point of information. Out of those young people that you just mentioned, how many of them utilized the point preference in order to gain employment, do you know?
I don't know. I don't necessarily have that information. We can get that for you. And then we're actually continuing in this fiscal year, we expanded the number of power skills academies. So we're running I think six different sections right now, and there are about 100 students that are in those sections from high schools, about 10 high schools across the City of Philadelphia that are participating in that. That program, in addition to kind of providing career-readiness skills, provides Act 158 credit evidenced towards graduation as part of that, so it facilitates their graduation at the end of the year and they can also earn a national credential for the Act WorkKeys. So it provides to employers the credential that says that they are work ready. So independent of whether they're being pipelined into the City of Philadelphia, they go out into the marketplace with those credentials. So we want to ensure that they have a credential and experience that helps them in the marketplace to better gain employment. In addition, we have been mapping those high school seniors into the opportunities that exist with the Philadelphia Water Department and with Future Track. So we have been working closely with those departments on gaining access to have the high school students apply to those programs.
I have a question too. So we have constituents as District Councilmembers and members At-Large that want to send our constituents to these particular programs. What's the process?
Yeah. So with Community College of Philadelphia, there is an interest form that individuals fill out. We have an outreach manager that is part of CCP's staffing for CCME. So they attend events and promote CCME at those events so we can partner directly with City Council on your events that you have and have representation there. We are hopeful that moving forward with more staff on the city side that we would have the ability to staff those opportunities as well to promote the program.
I'm sorry, Council President. I did just want to emphasize as well that our connection, our partnership with OHR allows us to also leverage the hiring bus that is able to travel to different communities to also kind of elevate and give support in accessing our CCME programming.
So in your overview, you touched on the work that the Municipal College is doing. Is that covering the maritime as well as the skilled trades?
Yeah. And I think I just would point out that we provided some exhibits as part of that to help you understand the structure of -- because last year we consolidated with the workforce solutions team that was previously in Commerce.
And so, that is where that activity resides in terms of coordination with employers and kind of the economic development side of that industry growth that ties directly into workforce.
So we're going to do an economic mobility cabinet, right. And I know you gave me a new chart. So where's the economic mobility new cabinet position, if approved by Council, where is that going to be on the chart?
So the mobility cabinet head will be a cabinet member to the Mayor, right. And so, that person is absolutely going to be able to see --
So does Commerce now and fall under Economic Mobility? Does Commerce fall under Economic Mobility?
The technical organizational chart is not completely built out yet. But the connection, whether it's a dotted line, solid line would absolutely include Commerce, yes.
I just want to say the data that you were telling us, the amount of students that became successful in terms of return on our investment, could you just provide that to the Chair and members of Council? We just want to continue to monitor, you know, what gets measured gets done so we'll get a chance to see the actual results of the investment and the progress moving forward. And then also, what is the unemployment rate for the City of Philadelphia?
Well, I think they just recently released a new percentage and that it went up.
Yeah. We'll probably circle back to you in a minute with that.
Okay. Just want to get an idea. I know that's the way -- Mr. Clancy, you want to -- hey, Karen. How you doing today?
Hold on. Pat, just state your name for the record and then --
And I know you didn't testify yet. I apologize. We started asking questions --
Don't worry about it. Don't worry about it, Squilla. So good morning, everybody. I'm Patrick Clancy. I'm the President and CEO of Philadelphia Works. And I would say to you at this point 5% is the unemployment rate in the city. But it's not a number that we should feel comfortable with because it really doesn't count those individuals that have given up looking for work.
So you're saying it's even worse than the actual number?
Without a doubt. And I think if you look at certain neighborhoods and certain communities, it's in double digits. So I would suggest that even though the unemployment rate is low, our challenge is still great and that we've got to ring the bell around opportunity for all. And a lot of it starts with basic skills training. As part of the Workforce Board, we invest in programs and services all throughout the city, right. So we're like the Merrill Lynch for workforce development.
We get the federal and state money. We don't get any city money though, but that's okay. Not yet. Don't worry about it. We're working on it, I know. There's always budgets. But for us, it's about -- so we have very restrictive money. So for example, we invest in JEVS to run one of our Career Links. There's four Career Links in the city. We oversee they're called America's Job Centers, but they're Pennsylvania Career Link. We have affiliate sites as well throughout the city. So for us, it's about how do we get residents access to information, to job training and specifically career pathways. We also then go out and fundraise ourselves, right. So we went out and got a Good Jobs Challenge grant two years ago. And we've been able now to see some of the results of that Good Jobs Challenge. And let me just share a couple quick numbers with you. So 733 Philadelphia residents have been able to get into the building trades. Approximately, 250 carpenters, 110 electricians, a lot of cement masons.
I have to ask this question though. How diverse is the population of individuals that --
I'm with you. We also got 150 residents into the city's Future Track program. We got 61 residents right now at HANWHA as part of their on-the-job training program and apprenticeship program. We got 31 residents in PowerCorps and we have 192 residents that are currently employed at CHOP, Penn Medicine, Temple and Iovance. So for us, it's the investments that matter because good jobs matter, right. So when we look at our investment strategy, it's who do we work with as far as employers, how do we help individuals move up the career ladder. So our investments are very strategic. We have a board that governs us. Dan Fitzpatrick is the Chair of the board. The Mayor appoints the board, but the board has specific individuals on the board. We just have a brand new board member announced last week. You go, Camille. We're excited to have her as part of the board. But for us, it's about the money that comes in. We invest it through procurement. We then make sure that we follow up and then we're measured, right. So we have federal and state measurements on our money to make sure we're meeting certain obligations, certain performance rates, whether it's job placement, retention. The other part is how do we link to other city agencies. So we work very closely with Riverview now. We're up in Riverview with staff to help those individuals transition. We work closely with the Commerce Department, Children's and Family. We work with the Workforce Development Group. So for us it's where do we leverage and where do we also bring in additional resources. Most recently, we were able to fundraise about $1.7 million from six different foundations to pay for stipends and emergency services for individuals in training. That is something that our federal funds do not allow us to do. So we went out and we talked to Comcast, we talked to William Penn, we talked to Pew. So for us, it's about how do we fill the gap, right, how do we get individuals that want to be a welder, which is about a 16-week program, but how do we sustain somebody for that period of time. So we are now investing in stipends in child care, transportation, getting your driver's license, all the things that we know are really important, that those barriers have to be addressed.
What's the diversity in terms of individuals that you talked about who got into the trades? Because I know we have like a million PLAs --
Yeah. I mean, the trades things I'll have to get that information for you. But I would say to you the people who walk through our doors that get served are predominantly African American and minorities.
I would like to see that reflected in the numbers.
And I would say to you we are also working hard with HANWHA. We have monthly meetings with HANWHA because we know they're going to be scaling dramatically along with Rhoads.
Looking for 13,000 new employees for the next two years.
So we want to make sure that we can get individuals into their apprenticeship program. The biggest challenge we have is adult literacy.
We need adults to be able to pass a Ramsey mechanical test --
So let me ask you this question, right, because that's usually what the trades do. They'll say, well, they don't have a license, they can't take -- can't pass the urine test. What are we doing as a city to prepare adults to be prepared so when it's time to take a test, they're qualified? I don't know if that's for you to answer or Camille to answer or also for Philly Works to answer as well.
I would say this is one of the gaps, right, to be honest with you. Adult literacy is not funded well enough. We have not been able to get the preapprenticeship programs funded at scale. Totally agree with you. We need individuals that can pass the math and reading that's appropriate. And also for those that don't pass the first time, what happens, right. And I think that is part of the strategy that we've been working with, with the city. And additional fundraising is how do we build this out.
Isn't the adult literacy something like 23% in the city or 19? Anybody have that number?
Adult literacy rate, do anyone have that number? Don't worry about it. My team could look it up. But I do know it needs to be addressed.
But really in response to this very specific issue, I'd love to have Deb Carrera, Dr. Carrera come up, head of the department, the Mayor's Office of Education.
Doctor, just state your name and then begin with your testimony.
Good morning. Dr. Deborah Carrera, Chief Education Officer with the Mayor's Office of Education.
Just strategies around addressing adult literacy, as it was just mentioned, is a gap between helping individuals get into the workforce. What's our plan as a city?
Yeah, absolutely. So our office, the Mayor's Office of Education, we lead the Adult Education Office. And so, we also know that our role is -- we're the entry point for workforce. And so, our office works with 12 providers in the city. We know there are more. But as far as funding -- we support these providers around adult basic education, the high school equivalency exam as well as English as a second language. There is a need. And so, that is correct. But our office also meets with our adult education providers in the city to listen and to be able to respond to those needs.
Is there a campaign to sound the alarm that this is a crisis in our city in terms of adult literacy? And there's a correlation between adult literacy in getting into the actual workforce. Have we begun to double down and sound the alarm that this is a crisis?
Yeah, there's a great need, right, because we do have adults that want to work. And because of these barriers, that's our work to help remove those barriers. And so, we want to make sure that this conversation is happening today because there is a great need to be able to provide those support. So what I'll say is what we are doing in collaboration with Philadelphia Works, there was a grant, about $2.5 million, from the William Penn Foundation that now is being issued to four different organizations to remove those barriers and be able to get adults into the workforce.
All right. Could you just provide the Chair the 12 providers that we partner with? And then I know when you say there's -- I understand there's a need, but at what point do we sound the alarm? Because as long as individuals are having challenges with literacy, then that barrier to employment will always be there. And so, at some point I would think that we would reset and then this is an actual crisis, right, and that's what I'm looking for. At least beyond this hearing, I would like to see.
Yeah. I will say that if you use maybe our experience with CCME and CCP programming as well as the conversations that we're having with HANWHA, Rhoads as we build toward creating a ready pool of applicants as the exponential growth of job opportunities that that industry is going to create in the city. If you use that, we've heard consistently and I agree with you, I don't think we are too -- we need to wait to sound the alarm. But we've heard consistently that literacy and some basic math skills are a challenge or a barrier to even the beginning of workforce development access, right. And so, Carol very specifically, the work that we're doing with CCP and under some of the other investments that we've made is targeted for literacy in particular, like low literacy rates across our cities workforce.
I just wanted to address a few things. In general, if individuals are interested in going into any one of the City College for Municipal Employment programs, and in some cases they do have to test into the college, if they don't test in, they are given access to the developmental education classes that they need in order to test into the program. So that is built into the CCME budget to cover that cost. In addition, we are partnered with the Mayor's Office of Education in creating an adult literacy program. Specifically, we're focused on individuals within city government that might have low literacy so that we can support them in their career progression with the City of Philadelphia. So we're actively working with the Office of Human Resources to identify any individuals who would want to participate in adult literacy programming that could then access other training programs to support their upskilling. We work very closely with Future Track, which also embeds a lot of that adult literacy education as part of their program independently, but we also are working with them to provide upskilling to their Future Track participants so that they can move out of Future Track and into these higher-skilled jobs that the city offers. So in the skilled trades, so we did the electrical training with Orleans and JEVS to help individuals move up out of Future Track into engineering aid programs. We had several individuals from the Future Track program go through surveying training with Community College of Philadelphia. Many of those individuals are now on the path to the surveyor role within the City of Philadelphia. And then the other thing that I wanted to mention is that we are now in the upcoming budget with CCP building in a program that's called the Advanced Manufacturing Mobility Hub with CCP to specifically address what Patrick mentioned around this issue of the Ramsey Mechanical Aptitude test. So that will actually be providing training to individuals to be able to pass those tests so that they can then get into these advanced manufacturing, welding, precision machining and industrial maintenance programs that CCP offers.
Who does the training? We have the programs. Who does the training?
Well, most of the training where possible, we do with Community College of Philadelphia --
Community College is our primary training provider under CCME, except when we have specific programs where CCP might not have a program. So like the electrical training, we contracted with Orleans and JEVS. So where possible, we're doing it under CCP. But then there are definitely areas that CCP does not have a specific training program. And then we would contract with an independent provider and a workforce provider as part of that.
I know a couple more members have some questions. I just have one more. And this is to Ms. Cynthia Figueroa. An issue that's very near and dear to me is youth employment, right. My first job was PhilaJob, right. And my Nana taught me as a kid, an idle mind is the devil's workshop. So if I didn't have that job, I'm going to be up to all types of no 20 good all throughout South Philly as a kid, right. It's just the reality of it. You talked about 17 -- let's go back. 14,000 students -- I mean, 14,000 young people applied for a youth summer job. 7000 were approved. Seven other thousand out there didn't have a summer job; is that correct?
That's correct, yes. And I think it's important to note that we didn't even open the application process until late spring. If we had opened the process earlier, it could have been 20,000 kids.
Yeah. I'm of the thought process on the record that any young person, like all 14,000 should have had an opportunity to get a summer job if that's what they wanted to do, just for the simple fact that it's a double- downing investment. And our young people, I know there have been some investments made in this upcoming budget and we're going to examine that and go even further. And so for me, that's a key component of how we continue to keep our young people occupied in something that's positive, right.
And one of the things I didn't mention is that there has been research done longitudinal that shows there's a lowering of involvement in juvenile justice activity if you have work experience.
Of course. You're busy. Let me ask you this though: What have been the barriers for young people when it comes to them from applying to actually receiving, rather it's your work papers, birth certificate, ID, Social Security card, how are we addressing those issues? Or maybe they're not an issue, but I remember under the previous provider that was an issue.
So the city has been an extraordinary partner in supporting that. We went through a process of doing a stipend. So some of the barriers are eliminated, not all of them. And we work with providers. The city also ensured that providers were better supported so they could work with the families to make sure the young people have everything they need to apply. We work with your offices. We will do any community fair, any summer event, what have you, to make sure that the families understand the process and we want youth to have the option. We don't want them forced into something very specific. So I think every year it's improving and we're always looking to get feedback from you all. You're not shy about the feedback related to how to improve the program. So we're constant --
What's the goal for this year in terms of target number of youth?
I believe the Mayor called to the business community that we'd love to get to 10,000.
Okay. So, Camille, what's the strategy? Are we partnering with the Chamber of Commerce or who are we strategizing with to get from -- the bar should at least at a minimum, you got 7000. So if we had 7000 students in our workforce last year for youth employment, we're not going to go below 7000 this year. So there's 3000 jobs out there that we're looking to get from the private sector, correct. And what does that strategy look like for our youth?
Sure. And I'm happy to have my colleague from the Office of Children and Families speak to that. But part of the strategy is absolutely making sure that the Mayor is doing everything she can for this to pull as many employers into this community to support our youth internships.
Is there workforce task force that would try to recruit these private industry individuals that want to hire our youth?
Cydney Irving-Dasent from the Office of Children and Families operating the C2L-PHL program. And there is a steering committee with the city, with the school district and with Philadelphia Works who do all of the strategy and the development. And I just want to correct something that Cynthia said. We actually serve 8000 kids this summer. JEVS is just one of the operators. We also work with Philadelphia Health Management Corporation through our Out-of- School Time network. So there are high school programs in our Out-of- School Time system --
8000 for the summer. The majority are through JEVS network, but they're also run through our Out-of-School Time network.
Okay. I just want to get an idea of how we close that gap. And then also, if we decide that our priority is to advocate and increase that number, you know, we close the 10,000 and then maybe the private sector still add additional numbers on top of it. But I just want to get an idea of what the strategy was to actually bring the private sector to the table so our young people can get that meaningful experience. I remember with the Chamber, it was under Charlie Pizzi when he was the Chamber head. It was like a big, robust program there where they were hiring young people from the city to be part of some of the businesses and corporations that are part of the Greater Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce, which I would think that was probably part of this strategy as well.
It's certainly a collaboration between the business environment, Children and Families for sure. We've got plenty of young people, right. The access to the young people is there through our school district partners, through our child welfare partners, through our community- based partners. But the business engagement piece is still a key part of that strategy so that we have appropriate placement --
Whatever we can do to be supportive, we back that play to make sure that the business community also engages and want to be supportive of such an effort. I'll wrap up on this. How are we making sure that young people have meaningful experiences rather it's career-oriented learning as opposed to, hey, come in the office, sit down at the front desk and come get your check every week, and that's just about it?
I think through our network of providers, professional development of young people. So they are getting eight hours of professional development before they even step foot onto their placement site, sharpening their soft skills, right. Our young people need to know how to make eye contact --
-- how to dress appropriately. So they are also getting professional development. There's 120 hours of their work site, but it's also built in some professional development. I too came through the program and as a college student working for GPUAC as a college monitor, I got leadership development skills early and was managing young people on placement sites. So they're getting that support from their provider, they're getting support from their teachers, their counselors to make sure that they've got the soft skills that make them employable down the line.
Yes, and they will not forget it. Because I remember as a young man, one of my Phila jobs I had to go on and I wanted to hang out with my homies first. Now, I was raised better than that, but I wanted to hang out with my homies and I'll get there when I get there, 23rd and Market, and the gentleman owns a business in Point Breeze right now. And when I got there, Curtis, I was late. Sheila, he decided to pass on, oh, we don't need you. Now, ultimately today I'm the District Councilperson and I'm supportive of his business. But I did learn and I was raised to be on time. Hence, you see every, you know. However, I wanted to be with my friends, a little more important to hang out and talk and I got there late. And so, that professional development piece, right, always stuck with me in terms of also when I interview young people that want to come through my office and we keep the bar and the standards high because ultimately in society, we do pay attention to who comes and your mannerisms, including the internship program that we have here in City Council in terms of helping our young people. So that's all the questions I have during this round. And I will turn it over to Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Council President. Chair recognizes Councilmember Jones.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. And thank you for that. We share a lot of similarities. My first summer job was to remove graffiti. And we went out and we removed graffiti on the wall and it was such a beautiful wall that me and my friends came back later that night and put our names up on it and did not know that our supervisor was having a beer across the street and he watched us. So he got us in early in the morning. We removed the graffiti off and he let us go. And that was the most important lesson I could have learned being responsible and that there are consequences. So it's consequences. A couple of questions. I think we do a fairly good job of training people. I am not convinced we do an adequate enough job of placing and retaining people. So the last time I remember, I think it was like $4,500 to train the average worker to go to work. But right after the training, there was a fall-off, a severe fall-off on placement and retention for a period of time. Is that still the case?
So I will say, Councilmember, the CCME fellow is an offshoot of this very specific question. I don't think that training by itself is a program that you start and stop and then you put someone in a role. What we've recognized is that training has to continue. You finish a program through CCP through the CCME framework and we put you in a job. I don't know that we've made you exponentially more successful at retaining that job and growing within that pathway. So what we've created is a continued handhold, a continued exposure and support for our folks who particularly as we're talking about municipal employment, as we track you out of a program, you're moving into a space that continues to be supportive. It continues to offer training. It centers professional and program development as you are receiving practical work experience, right. So it's experiential learning as well as in-classroom training and support. And we hold your hand in the application process. We understand that it's not a one-stop shop. And that's the way this program is built, so that we can very particularly talk to the issue that you just raised.
So Patrick Clancy and Mike Jones held me to a high standard over at PCDC on the amount they were going to pay and how many people had to be placed. Are we keeping up with the placement?
Yeah, I'll take that one. So I would say, Councilman Jones, you're absolutely right. So one of the things we're looking at is our funding mechanism --
Okay. Good morning, everybody. I'm Patrick Clancy, President and CEO of Philadelphia Works. And one of the metrics that we are charged with is six-month retention, right. So we're at about a 70%, 75% rate for six-month retention. I would tell you the group that struggles the most though are our single parents, right, because there is an issue around the benefits cliff that is real. So what does that mean? Individuals go to work and the minute they go to work is when the Commonwealth starts decreasing their benefits. So at some point, probably around the fifth month mark you have to make a decision as an individual, do I go to work and pay for all my benefits, child care, food or do I quit and go back on the system. So this is something that we've been trying to get the Commonwealth to give us a longer sort of pathway. I would say to you, my colleagues and other states, because I'm part of the U.S. Conference of Mayors, I'm the current president of the group, and what we hear from our colleagues across the country is some states have a year opportunity for people to keep their benefits while working.
A point of information. And that's state policy you're mentioning?
Yes. That is something that we need, we've been fighting for eight years at the Commonwealth level. We can't get traction, but I think this will be a great opportunity for City Council and others to work with our delegation. We need more time for individuals to move up the career ladder because their first job unfortunately is not going to pay them enough right away to be able to handle it all. So that is the one thing -- that's the one group that is most challenged. Those that have been laid off from employment, they typically can sustain themselves and we do provide those services. I had mentioned that sort of funding around the stipends. And one of the things that we're doing with that money is actually paying people a stipend for the first month that they're done training. So in other words, while you're on a job search, you still get your stipend. When you go to work, you'll get your stipend for two weeks so at least you have money before your first pay. So these are the flexibilities we have with foundation funds that we don't have with our regular federal funds. But we know how critical that is, like you finally get a job and now you have no money. You got to work, you got to eat lunch. I mean, all those things.
And that is some of the investments that we've made over FY26 to be informed by that information, to provide supportive services, again not just seats, but to make sure that we are addressing the wraparound supports that are necessary to make sure that folks can continue to take advantage of the upskilling opportunities that are afforded to them.
With child care at 300 a week, that's a critical decision at some point. Second part of the question is, so this morning I went to a ribbon- cutting of an Infiniti store up in my district. A while back I went to your district to visit the shipyards and things like that. For the person in the barbershop, and I'm going to classify them between and years old, how do 14 we get to the Infiniti store or to 15 the $27 an hour internship at the 16 Navy Yard? Describe for people 17 listening that pathway. What door 18 do they go through, what training 19 do they go through and how do they 20 get to the paycheck? 21
Sure, I'd 22 be happy to. So individuals 23 typically will go into a Career 24 Link center, right. We have four major centers and 19 affiliate sites. They would work with a career counselor on let's do an assessment of your current skills, right. So if we do a math and reading and assessment and it seems like -- we don't want to set you up for failure, so we're not going to send you forth to go take the apprenticeship test if you're not scoring well enough to get there. So then we would have to kind of find a way to get you into some other services and then connect back to the apprenticeship program. Now, I would say to you the Delaware County Community College is the lead trainer/tester for HANWHA. So they are doing all the testing at the site, at the facility. So we are trying to work with different feeders throughout the city, whether it's the youth basketball, whether it's Samuel Staten, whether it's other groups to make sure that individuals are ready to pass some of these tests, because the last thing we want to do is set anybody up for failure. So the first strategy is come into our center, let's get you assessed, let's talk a little bit about your goals. I would say to you HANWHA is going to do 500 apprentices over the next three years. So this is not right away we got to do it, but it gives people a pathway of understanding like, hey, maybe I can take those literacy courses or maybe I can look at all my options around how do I get on like a trajectory of employment. The first step for us is coming into our system.
So on the area of retention, I was down at the Navy Yard. And he said, get them to a point where they get their first big paycheck. They go out on a Friday night and things happen. And then on Monday morning, they don't show up. How are we addressing if you're going to be the man or the woman on Friday night, you got to be the man or the woman on Monday morning and show up?
Yeah, I mean, so -- hello, Carol. You want to talk to? I thought this was my meeting.
First, I guess I would just say I think the vision for the City College for Municipal Employment is to attempt to have a single front door with the City of Philadelphia for residents to access all of these different programs. And so, we are working to create a technological solution that supports that, so that as we begin to make investments and as we have our CCP training activity that we have an ability for individuals and residents to go to a single site and access that information, and then we can make referrals to these programs. We currently have a training directory that we provide all of those different programs that we're investing in directly. As part of that to your point around retention, I think one of the things is that you will see as part of our strategies, the coordination and collaboration across multiple different providers here that is really around these investments and the barrier supports that are very vital to keeping people in their jobs and showing up on that Monday after they get their paycheck on Friday. I think that that is where the next step success program that's specifically designed to support individuals with those issues that they have child care, transportation, etc. Built into CCME we provide SEPTA passes as part of the program. We provide an earn-and-learn disbursement as part of their participation in the CCME programming. And then any other -- there are specific staff at CCP to provide wraparound support. So a success coach to ensure that they're completing the program and then a navigator to ensure that they're accessing the program. That is essential. In addition to that, we have a human resources senior associate who works with the individuals that complete to identify what is their idea of what specific city job they want or other job, and we have a relationship with Philadelphia Works where they're providing wraparound services as well to any individual that's part of the CCME programming.
So, Councilman Jones, what I would add though is if we had an unlimited budget, I would really look at developing a transitional work program for individuals who haven't worked in a while, give them a chance to go to work, but be able to make those mistakes and then still learn from them and not lose your job, right. So a transitional work helps individuals kind of earn, learn and continue to learn because you're right, if you're at HANWHA and you don't show up on a Monday, you're out. If you're in a transitional work program, we can pull you aside and say, hey, Curtis, you got to be here, man, this is not a game. But we would need some additional funding to think through a pilot of transitional work to help individuals, it's like a minor league getting ready for the major league and then move them on when we can. So there's been a pilot this past year that is working at the Bellwether District. We've been working with a group out of New York called CEO, Center for Employment Opportunities. They've been helping individuals work to beautify Bellwether. But the goal was not to keep that job. It was to then move on to another job, right. So this idea that we have transitional time for individuals to make mistakes so they can begin to learn so the next step they understand they can't make that mistake.
So my final question, I had a trip up to Pepsi to their warehouse up in the Northeast. And they developed career tracks within their organization, so the person that was driving the forklift was sent to school to learn water filtration to be able to get the right pH on the water, to put in the syrup, to put in the soda. And they sent not for a four-year degree, not for a two-year degree, but a specific amount of time for them to be certified in that particular skill. How widespread is that in our career ladder development?
A lot. So what we see is individuals no 21 longer have the time to do a two-year Associate's. They definitely don't have the resources to do a four-year Bachelor's. It really is the certifications that are critically needed for employment. And how do you stack them, right. So part of it is, as you just mentioned, you learn one skill and then you stack another skill and stack another skill. And I think that is the beauty of CCME, is being able to kind of stack skills so individuals can move up career ladders and not just be in a certain location.
Yeah. I guess a couple things that I would say in particular with CCME. All of our programs are stackable into degree programs. So that's definitely an approach that we're taking. We also embed work-based learning into most of our programs so that individuals are gaining experience on the job while they're in this program. So our program with computer support specialists is a partnership with OIT. We place individuals into kind of a mini internship as part of the first part, and then they do a 60-hour internship as part of a second part of that program. I think the other thing is that there are multiple transitional programs that already exist. We've modeled our CCME fellows program as essentially a work-based learning program that gives individuals the experience before they transition into civil service jobs. Future Track is a transitional program, Taking Care of Business, and also working with our colleagues in the Community Empowerment and Opportunity Office, a transitional kind of point from that Same Day Work and Pay to actual employment is a very key area of investment that is important to giving individuals that opportunity and that experience before they kind of get into that full-time job.
So the one thing I'll just add and then I'll let Councilman Squilla run the meeting, but I would just echo what Council President Johnson said earlier. It is time to ring the bell on adult literacy. We should be ringing the bell now because these jobs in HANWHA and Rhoads, if we don't get individuals from our city to do them, they will bring them in from other counties or maybe other states. So the bell needs to be rung now so we can start the pathway program.
Point of information. Is that all right, Mr. Chair?
Thank you. The adult literacy rate, 22% of Philadelphians or older lack the 7 most basic literacy skills. And 8 some data shows 52% of 9 Philadelphia's adults are 10 functionally illiterate and that's 11 the data we have -- 12
Thank you. Councilmember recognizes Councilmember Gauthier.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Good morning to all of you. I have a few questions about CCME, and I apologize if this was said already, but the testimony was expansive so I'm just hoping for some concise answers. Can you tell us how many people in total have graduated from CCME? What was the most prevalent job type that we've been able to place people in? What is our job placement sort of percentage or rate? I think I recall in the Mayor's budget address the Mayor talking about the progress we've made on filling vacancies, which is great, but I think I also know that we still have a meaningful amount of vacancies in various departments in the city. And so, my last question is two years in do we see CCME as a viable strategy to fill these vacancies at scale? And if so, what are the top things that you would need to accomplish that at scale?
So I'm going to attack the latter part of the question first and then I'll turn it over to Carol for some more detail. But absolutely, yes, is the answer to the question, do we see CCME as a viable space in place to attack this issue. Have we learned some lessons? Absolutely. Two years in, and just think about the fact that, you know, systems like a Rebuild workforce development program, that took some years to get stood up and as productive as it is right now. We are not going to take years. I mean, I know it's been two years. But within that two years we've realized I think -- not the outcomes necessarily that we were hoping for, but we've absolutely realized gains in moving folks who needed to take advantage of an opportunity into municipal employment. When I say that we have taken the notes and learned some lessons, again I don't mean to -- I'm very proud of this, if you can't tell. The idea of creating this pipeline from program completion to a continued support and experiential exposure through the CCME fellow, that is a direct result of a lesson learned. We cannot expect, I think, in all circumstances for an individual to finish a program and go straight into municipal employment or navigate municipal employment, professionalism that maybe up until now has not been rote for some of our community members. We have to continue to hold their hand and we have to build programs that are a little bit more individualized than I think we have traditionally. So the answer to the question is, yes, we absolutely believe that CCME is a part of the answer, a significant part of the answer and that we will continue to grow it. The idea that at least initially we have been able to move five of our CCME participant completers through this transitional structure that we've created with the fellows that is very quickly going to change from five, so we have a pipeline sitting there and we have the wherewithal now to move more folks quickly. So it is an evolving and learning system that we've created, but I believe it has been effective.
And just to build on what Camille has mentioned, specifically with each particular pathway we are working on perfecting how that transition into city employment is working. So for example with our public safety program, we've originally aligned with the prisons but also are now aligning with the Free Library in the security guard position that they have and building in a potential for work- based learning as part of that particular program. You asked for a very specific number, so I just want to give you on that. We've had 148 students enrolled in the Adult Pathways. 30 have completed as of FY25. So I do want to just mention that we started in October of 2024. And so, we're a little bit less than two years, I guess is what I would say. Out of those 30 is where we have the four and then the new five that have been added that have gotten city employment. So the percentage is about out of 30, 9 out of 30 as part of that. So it's about 33% is what I would say as part of that.
6 What happened with the rest of the 7 21 folks? 8
Yeah. 9 We're tracking that. There's 10 several individuals who were existing city employees who are currently employed with the City of Philadelphia who are looking as part of an upskilling opportunity, so we're working with them on what their career progression and growth would look like. We definitely have individuals who've moved on to continue education in their program, particularly as I mentioned in the auto tech program. And then many of those individuals have also been hired externally and we've been tracking those as well. So all combined, I don't have the exact number in my head right now, but I can get you that number out of that 30.
Okay. I mean, I think this is a wonderful, innovative idea. I think we should be doing training to place people into city jobs. I also think we have to hold ourselves to the standards that we would hold other people that we are funding. And those placement numbers, they wouldn't pass muster with other workforce development programs that we're supporting in the city. And so, I would love to hear more, not in this setting, but as we go through budget about how we improve, but also here is a unique opportunity. We control both sides, right. In more traditional workforce programs, you have the organization controlling the training and trying to place people, but they don't necessarily control the employment. We control the employment side and the training side. So I would imagine that that gives us a high level of flexibility to make sure that we're placing people by removing barriers on the city side. So I'm a little -- I want to hear more as we move forward about what we can do to scale this up to increase our placement rates, especially because we are the employer side and we're also the training side, so we have an advantage that most other workforce development programs just do not have.
I 100% agree with you. We are striving to do better in terms of that. I think that one of the lessons learned is around the creation of this CCME fellows program so that we can move people into positions on the exempt side and then transition them into the civil service side.
Thank you, Councilmember Gauthier. Council President Johnson.
Yes, before the next panel I have one more question. And Cynthia isn't really here to clarify part of her testimony that I went through, but it talks about the payment when you partner with the City of Philadelphia and the lapse, right. I've dealt with other nonprofit organizations who had to take out loans because they haven't got paid from the city and as a result, the interest rate, so by the time they do get paid from the city, because they're doing good work, they've spent half the money on the interest rate. And so, how are we addressing it? I think it's a 10% fee. Can we consider raising that to 15% to give that cushion? And then also streamlining the process of folks getting their money a little quicker, what are we doing to address that?
Okay. So a really exuberant yes and yes to the last two questions. In consideration right now is this question because we have partnered -- we've created a structure where we have consistent interaction and council from our partners, particularly our nonprofit partners. In case you don't know, we've set up a nonprofit partner council, particularly around contract conformance that we meet with quarterly and with more select members of that council we meet with monthly, right. So the issue of the administrative fee has come up and we continue to explore that. I will also say great thanks and appreciation for the work that Council Majority Leader Gilmore Richardson did. It was part of the continuation of the Mayor's very public focus on this issue, right. She created this tiger team to make sure that we addressed the instant matter in October of '24, but that wasn't sustainable, right. That was an artificial circumstance that we created. And off of that, we created this conformance committee that has not only streamlined the process, but we've realized significant gains in it, right. What we've done is we have increased by I believe it's like 72% the contracts that are conformed within 30 days of the effective date. That was the goal. And I'm telling you, that is extraordinary. It's not exactly where we want to be. Of course, we want the contract conformed. We want the contract executed and then it's effective, right. And then the work starts to happen. So maybe there's some work still to do, but the fact that we have improved to that extent the number of contracts in our professional services that are getting conformed within 30 days, and of course that number is greater as you get farther out, within 60 days, within 90 days of the beginning of the work, the effective date of the contract, that is something that we're extraordinarily proud of. And it speaks to the heart of this, where we are not relying on our nonprofit partners to carry the financial burden of providing the service without getting that funding from us. We have cut down significantly the amount of time it takes for us to have the contract conformed so the invoicing can take place and that invoicing and payment will happen well in advance of some of the numbers that we were hearing during the Majority Leader's workforce.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. My question was along similar lines of Councilmember Gauthier's when it comes to the accountability structure for CCME. And as you mentioned, we're in a unique opportunity here because we, the city, is the expert in knowing what the city as an entity needs. And so, I would expect for us to have different training mechanisms in place for timing for certain jobs, things like that. So we should know how to train our people essentially, right. And I just want to hear what are some of the, I guess, setbacks or what are some of the other barriers internally -- I understand when it comes to the participants, but what are some of the barriers internally that we as a Council can help with to make sure that that program is as successful as it can be because it's a very, very unique opportunity here?
Sure. I'll start, but then I'll turn to Carol for some more input here. I will say for us some of the barriers are being addressed right now with the current model. It's coordination, right. This is not really new. I don't think it's surprising to a lot of folks like Human Resources, like Workforce Development, like Procurement. When you start to federate or disaggregate work and folks who are responsible for that work do things differently, you have a tendency to create processes that are duplicative. You have a tendency to try to draw on the same funding and we're not necessarily maximizing that funding. And so, one of the things I think that we are looking to do here again with this model where you have an enterprise-wide view of workforce development, because there are a lot of departments who are doing extraordinary work across the city, and why are we not leveraging that, why are we not talking to each other more or why weren't we talking to each other more. We kicked off with a summit earlier in this fiscal year. And that was the prime message of that summit, making sure that we have line of sight across the enterprise of all of the work that's being done. So we can either leverage it, learn from it or make sure that the funding and resourcing for it is maximized.
With respect to the structures and the transition from the end of the program into city employment, we've been working and trying to coordinate with the Office of Human Resources on anticipating when our individuals are completing their program, having OHR come into those courses and scheduling sessions so that they understand the city application process, so that we're timing openings to when these programs are completing. But nonetheless, most of these programs are aligned with civil service positions. So they still have to apply to the civil service position, get on the list and then be pulled off the list. So depending on where they fall on that list, they might be pulled quickly or they might be farther down on the list and have to go through that list. So that is an area where we've not had a preference for CCME individuals as part of that civil service process because that is an important part of the process in general. But we've tried to streamline as much of the process as possible with our colleagues in Office of Human Resources, where based on lessons learned we have been working very closely with OHR to identify alternative positions that our programs map to in addition to the ones that we originally mapped to so we've expanded the number. Like I said, like public safety, we're not just doing prisons, we're also doing the security guard positions with the Free Library and access to that. We're looking at the skilled trades and how we're expanding the opportunities that individuals could take advantage of. As part of that, our office admin program is also expanding beyond just the office clerk role, so what other roles are they eligible for. In addition, we have someone on staff that's working with each individual completer to better understand what are the work experiences that that individual has so that we can then also look across the city enterprise to see what they also qualify for independent of the specific program, so that's also happening. And then as part of the summit, having more direct conversations with the departments and making them aware that the CCME participants are on the list, that they are accessible and individual, and talking to the department so that they're aware, that the CCME participants are on the list for positions that they are hiring for.
Thank you. And Ms. Duchaussee, I would hope that during the budget process you can answer those questions about the barriers and we have an answer for why isn't there a communication. Hopefully during that process you can, you know, let us know what the answer is so we can help fund that. But a question I do have, so the participants in this program do they get extra points on the civil service exam or what preparation is being done to help them go through this process, to make sure that they can pass that test and be at the top of that test, you know, because we trained them for that job?
Well, there is no point preference for CCME participants as part of the civil service application process. What we're doing in terms of preparation is every individual who goes through CCME also has to take the Power Skills Academy, which is a career readiness program. So it actually gives them skills in communication, troubleshooting, teamwork, etc., so they all go through that. They get an orientation to City 101, which is an embedded part of the program so they understand the process that they're going through. As I mentioned, OHR comes out and works directly with the individuals to help them understand the application process for the city, and then have them apply on site if they are open and available to doing that right then and there. I think one of the things that we've been talking about is we're trying to embed as much as possible work-based learning into our programs so that they're getting experience, on-the- job training while they're in our program. And then the last thing that I would say in addition to all of that is that we are definitely working on the CCME fellows as a pathway to gain access to experience in city employment before making that transition to civil service.
So essentially what I'm trying to get at is that there's no prep class for the civil service exam for these folks. I mean, you send them to a different academy. But when I went to law school, I had to take a prep class to teach me how to take the LSAT, right. So I had to take a prep class to teach me how to take the bar exam, right. So is there a prep class for these students, right, to teach them how to take the civil service test?
So the answer to that is yes/and, right. We are -- again, part of the process is working very directly with not only OHR but with the department heads, right. So the department heads, the power of exposure of the folks who are in this transitional space to the department heads who are going to be making the decisions about hiring is invaluable, number one. Number two, we have worked very hard and diligently to remove as many written exams as we can from the civil service process because that has been a barrier historically to onboarding, right, for some members of our community. So I believe 80% -- actually I'm not going to throw out a number. I can get you the number. We have increased significantly the percentage of our qualification exams that have moved from the written exam to a T&E, training and experience model so that we are assessing the person's training and their experience and using the training, the certificate that they receive from the program as part of the qualification determination. So unless it's an actual kind of practical exam such as driving, if it requires driving, for the most part we are moving towards highlighting training and experience versus the written exam.
Thank you. This is a new program, so I would hope over time the numbers would look better. I am very hopeful for this. And I know it's the beginning of something new. But I think that if we continue to invest in these types of programs, it'll change our city. So I just want to thank you for the work that you're doing. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Councilmember Young. The Chair recognizes Councilmember Gilmore Richardson.
Thank you. Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. And thank you, Council President Kenyatta Johnson, for introducing this resolution and for the opportunity to have this conversation. I wanted to start with a thank you to each and every one of you who are here, particularly all of our workforce development partners, many of you who I've worked with over the last six years since being a member of Philadelphia City Council. And I think the work that's been done has been tremendous. We know there's additional opportunity that remains as a result of what we know to be true in our current economic status here in the City of Philadelphia as well as a number of our residents needing to be reskilled or upskilled to good career opportunities. So I just wanted to say thank you and start with that. I wanted to just underscore a few things and I'm hopeful that these items did not come up during my brief departure. But I wanted to start with underscoring Councilmember Young's point regarding our city job descriptions or the prep for the civil service examination. I know a few years ago we all worked together to update some of the job descriptions or the specifications for some of the entry-level positions. And to that point, I wanted to get an update on any additional jobs that were updated based on description or specification to make it easier for some of the CCME program participants or some of the other individuals who are going through our workforce development pipeline to have access to city employment. You know this is an issue I care about. We did the five point preference, which was one of the first bills that I passed as a member of Council, to help our career and technical education graduates have a direct pipeline to city employment. And so, I think part of the question is are we continuing to review those job descriptions and specs so that they more closely align to the program participants?
Yes, absolutely. The Mayor's day 2 I believe Executive order, EO 3, spoke to that directly and charged CAO and OHR with that responsibility. We have really I think positive numbers on not only the jobs that we have not reclassified to ensure that we're moving to a training and experience model versus the testing model and also where alternative qualification pathways can be employed versus a degree. That work has been done. It continues because we're always adding new titles and we're always reviewing titles. So I'd be happy to share those data points with you.
That would be great. And I think that would be helpful for the committee as well. If we could just receive a brief overview and history and then a list of the positions that have been either reclassified or the job descriptions or specs have changed to better assist the workforce development program participants with gaining city employment. I think that would be helpful for us.
I just would add that for all of the positions that are mapped to our programs within CCME at CCP, it accepts the CCME program as part of the educational experience requirements. So at least for those five specific positions that are mapped to the industry segments, that we've made those changes to those entry-level positions.
Sure. And I think that's important to underscore because that means that only those participants are eligible to apply for those opportunities. Okay. Really quickly I wanted to just briefly go back. I know Cynthia had to depart, but I wanted to thank her for the work that they did with the young people over last summer. We received much less complaints than summers in the past. So I just wanted to say thank you for that work. And then also underscore the request of Council President relative to tracking the young people who participate in the program, whether or not they come back to the program and if they have ultimate success in a career pathway and that we're keeping them here in the City of Philadelphia, as we've invested so much in their career and also in their future. And I say that too because my daughter went through Philadelphia Works when she was in high school at Engineering and Science starting in the 10th grade, and she worked at a variety of engineering firms. She is now in her second year at North Carolina A&T State University studying civil engineering and on her third year working with one of the top large engineering firms in the City of Philadelphia, and she has an ongoing job every summer. And that was a result of her initial opportunity with Work Ready. And so, I just wanted to mention that because it underscores the point that Council President was making relative to tracking the data and keeping up with those young people as they progress. Finally, I wanted to talk about the Philadelphia Workforce Hub quickly. And thank you, Pat Clancy. I think you all are having great progress with the Good Jobs Initiative. And I visited with Carp as well for the MLK day program. I had to mention that. But for Philadelphia Workforce Hub, if you all could just provide us with an update on that program. Have there been any changes to the goal with the program, just all the shifting priorities that we have at the federal level? And then I know the goal was to create 500 to 1250 good jobs by leveraging some of those federal infrastructure funding packages. And so, are there any updates that you all could provide about that program? And if we're able to reach some of the geographic and demographic goals as described in the opportunity?
Sure. I don't have that data in front of me. I think our partners within OTIS, our Office of Transportation Infrastructure Services will be able to provide that information and be happy to move that to you once we obtain it.
Okay. That'll be excellent. Okay. Thank you so much. Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. And I look forward to continuing the work with each of you.
Thank you. Thank you all for your questions on the panel. Pat, I don't know if you want to do your testimony or you're good?
You've said enough. Thanks. Mr. McMonagle, can you please read the next panel to testify. Thank you all for your testimony.
Could we please have Sarah Steltz and Sheila Ireland. (Witnesses approached witness table.)
Please state your name for the record and then proceed with your testimony.
Sure. Council President, members of Council, thank you for the opportunity to testify today. My name is Sarah Steltz and I serve as the Interim President and Senior Vice-president of Strategy for University City District, and I previously served as the Executive Director of the Skills Initiative, which is our workforce subsidiary, which was formerly known as the West Philadelphia Skills Initiative. I appreciate the chance to share our approach to workforce and economic development. University City District is a place-based nonprofit that's focused on inclusive economic development, largely in the University City section of West Philadelphia. For nearly three decades, we've been focused on improving the economic and physical environment in University City, with a focus on public spaces, supporting small businesses, hosting community events and really ensuring that one of the city's most dynamic economic engines continues to grow. But for us, growth has not been enough. UCD's goal has always been to make sure that residents can benefit from the growth that happens in University City. And that belief led us to create the Skills Initiative, now years ago, grounded in the 11 simple idea that opportunity is -- 12 that talent is widespread, but 13 opportunity too often is not. 14 The Skills Initiative 15 was built as a bridge between employers that are seeking talent and Philadelphians that are seeking opportunity, and it has really produced extraordinary results in those 15 years. It has become one of the nation's highest performing workforce intermediaries. And it is a true homegrown Philadelphia success story. Our year-round employer- driven training model, it harnesses the power of the major job hubs that we have here in the city and cultivates the talent and determination of our neighbors. I think the thing to know about the Skills Initiative is that it is a jobs first program. That means we will not run a training program unless there are enough jobs for everybody in the program cohort at the end of the program. That's part of our philosophy. Last year 93% of our successful participants were connected to employment. Just as a benchmark, a community workforce development organization might typically place 65% of those that move through the program. 71 an hour, and that represents a $12,000 increase in their annual wages over their pre-program salary that they were collecting. Also, they were largely on average, they were unemployed for five months before they joined our program. And we began serving West Philadelphia and West Philadelphia employers only. And University City is still a critical anchor of this work. We have health systems and universities that are supplying high quality jobs to hundreds and thousands of Philadelphians. But over time, we've come to recognize that workforce and economic development operate at the scale of the regional economy. Job centers don't exist in isolation, so workforce strategy shouldn't either. So in 2020 we began planning to expand the Skills Initiative to another major job center, the Navy Yard, in partnership with PIDC. Through that partnership, it's become an important component of how PIDC commits to supporting employers throughout the city. In just a few years, we've served more than 250 participants at the Navy Yard, placing more than 91% of our program graduates into roles. People who are moving through those programs are typically unemployed for six months before they connect to the Skills Initiative. And the Bellwether District represents another tremendous opportunity for Philadelphians. We're pleased to already be collaborating with HRP Group to ensure that Philadelphia residents are prepared for the jobs that are coming and so they can access them from the very beginning. Together these efforts show how our work has evolved from neighborhood-based strategy to one that connects Philadelphia residents to opportunities across the city.
And the Skills Initiative is still place-based as long as that place has high quality opportunities that we can connect people to. We're fortunate to have extraordinary institutions and we have a citizenry that is prepared to connect to those jobs, and we see it as our responsibility to ensure that Philadelphians are first in line for those roles. We thank you for the opportunity to testify today and we look forward to continuing to work together.
Thank you and thank you for your testimony. And I guess before we ask if we have any questions, Sheila, if you want to state your name for the record and then proceed with your testimony.
Good morning, Chair, President Johnson, Councilmember Young, Councilmember Gauthier. My name is Sheila Ireland and I serve as the President and CEO of OIC Philadelphia. OIC was founded in North Philadelphia in 1964 by Rev. Dr. Leon Sullivan at a time when many African American residents in the city were systematically excluded from employment opportunities. Dr. Sullivan first organized what became known as the Selective Patronage Movement, challenging companies that benefited from African American communities' income but refused to hire from it. And after opening these doors, he offered a warning that still guides workforce policy today: Integration without preparation leads to frustration. So he created OIC, an institution designed to prepare people for real jobs in the real economy. And for more than 60 years, OIC Philadelphia has done exactly that. We take talent that the economy has overlooked and prepare for jobs the economy needs. And today we train Philadelphians for careers in culinary, hospitality, digital media, information technology and emerging green industries. And what we see every day tells us something important about workforce development in this city. Philadelphia does not have a shortage of people willing to work. What we have is a challenge of career pathways between talent and opportunity. Our economy now supports nearly 800,000 jobs in sectors like health care, hospitality and infrastructure continue to grow. But many residents remain disconnected from those opportunities because the systems linking training employers and supportive services is not always aligned. The individuals we serve at OIC are not looking for charity. They are looking for a fair chance to participate in the economy of their own city. Too often workforce development becomes a collection of programs rather than a coordinated strategy to economic growth. And if we want workforce development to truly reduce poverty in Philadelphia, we need to focus on a few key priorities. One, align workforce training with employer demand. First, workforce training must be driven by employers. Programs are most successful when employers help design the curriculum, provide internship or experiential learning opportunities and hire graduates. Training disconnected from hiring demand does not reduce poverty. Cities that succeed in workforce development treat it as a talent pipeline for growing industries, not simply a training service. Second, we should strengthen organizations that serve as intermediaries between employers and communities. , our history, our legacy and our 55,000-plus alumni give us a ground game. That is the differentiator. We help translate employer needs into accessible pathways for residents. And when these intermediaries are strong, the entire workforce ecosystem works better. Third, we must address the barriers that prevent people from staying employed. In our experience, the biggest challenges are not always getting the first job. They're keeping the job. Transportation reliability, child care access, health and family responsibilities all get in the way. Workforce policy must focus on retention and stability, not just job placement. Thanks to funding from the Commerce Department and the William Penn Foundation, later this year OIC Philadelphia will launch our Workforce Support Hub, which leverages both our physical infrastructure, our partnerships and our funding to change this game in Philadelphia. And finally, we should measure workforce success based on career mobility. Getting someone their first job matters. I can't say that enough. But what truly reduces poverty is wage growth and career progression over time. Our workforce system should track whether residents are moving from entry-level work into stable careers that support their families or as we like to say at OIC, just bouncing around at the bottom. Workforce development is not a social service program. It's economic development.
Businesses cannot grow without talent. Residents cannot prosper without access to opportunity. And Philadelphia's small businesses, which make up more than 90% of firms in our region, depend on our prepared workforce to compete and grow. So let me say this: Philadelphia has never lacked talent. What we have sometimes lacked is a clear pathway between talent and opportunity. Dr. Leon Sullivan understood that more than 60 years ago when he created OIC. He believed that when people are prepared and given a fair chance to work, they don't just change their lives. They strengthen their families, their neighborhoods, their communities in this city. And I believe that Philadelphia is serious about reducing poverty. Connecting residents to stable careers is not one strategy. It is the strategy. So let me leave you with a quick story. I've been at OIC now for a little over three and a half years. And early on, I ran into a student who was a little bit out of sorts. And I asked him, what's going on with you today. And he said to me, I haven't had a real meal today. And at that moment we had a choice. We could focus narrowly on training, but you got to recognize that we can't build a workforce pipeline on empty stomachs. So we made a decision. We removed vending machines that sold junk in our building and replaced them with something better, a commitment to food justice. Today every student at OIC receives a free, healthy breakfast of their choice. Every applicant or program candidate who walks in the door is offered a meal. From that single decision, something bigger began to take shape. The same individual can now move through OIC's comprehensive ecosystem from a meal to culinary training to hands-on experience in our Sullivan's Way Cafe, where food meets digital literacy and customer engagement, to a paid internship that expands from back-of-the-house skills in culinary training program into operations and business management, to our student-led-and-run catering company, which provides experiential learning and a source of revenue for OIC, and to even launching their own businesses with support from Temple's SBDC. That is not just a program. It's an economic development pipeline. And that is what it looks like when workforce is designed not just to place someone in a job, but to build a worker, a professional and ultimately an owner. At OIC, we are not just preparing people for the economy. We're preparing them to participate in building in it or to paraphrase Jay-Z who said it best, at OIC we say, You're not a businessman; you're a business, man. Thank you for the opportunity to testify today.
Thank you so much for your testimony. Council President Johnson.
Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. Quoting Jay Z.
Very, very fitting because he shall be here soon. First, thank the two of you for your testimony. I'm big fans of both of your programs. The Skills Initiative, thank you for taking out the West part because it's more inclusive for everybody. Always want to be supportive of it. And every time I see that West part, I'm like, well -- no, but on the real, it's a very, very impressive program. I know about the program when Ms. Sheila Ireland was around in the early stages of putting the program together. And I always liked that when we receive -- one thing I know your program is very good at is getting the word out on social media because it gives something about somebody might want to become a nursing assistant or some type of high level though, right. So a career opportunity, I would get it on social media and I would pass it along. So from the Skills Initiative perspective, how do you go about establishing the actual partnerships that you have? And then also, what are the barriers that you have seen that Council could be supportive in trying to address when it comes to individuals becoming gainfully employed? Or I like to say young people having the opportunity to follow a career path, right, because we don't want young people to just have a job, but an actual career.
I think the main differentiator for the Skills Initiative has been the employer engagement prowess. The idea that we're acting like consultants working with employers, you know, as a professional services firm might to understand what their needs are. And then the training is customized. It's responsive to those needs, so we are assured, although people aren't guaranteed a job when they enter the program, they are receiving training that is so real to the job experience that employers are finding them qualified, and then hiring 93% of them. So I think that jobs-first approach is very, very critical. The Skills Initiative is a professional development curriculum. And I stand by this. I think if any of us would go through a Skills Initiative class today, we would take something away of value. But the program treats our participants with respect, recognizing that this is professional development that anyone could benefit from. The program just gives them the time and space to focus on what they need to hone the skills that they have to deliver at a CHOP or a Penn Medicine or at an Iovance. So I think that approach to participant development is really important. And I will say that for us, one of the biggest barriers to continuing to connect folks to these high-quality jobs is the cost of certification programs. They are now a cost on us as an organization that we're happy to bear because they lead to higher revenue, they lead to higher quality roles for folks. But it is a significant cost and something that we could be connecting folks to higher-quality jobs with additional support. And Philadelphia Works does what they can, but it is something that we've identified as a distinct need, particularly for the health care careers and those that are going to be coming online at the Navy Yard.