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Department of Labor reports summer jobs, apprenticeship plans and $676,000 in philanthropic support
Summary
Interim Commissioner Theresa Austin Gibbons told the council the Department of Labor placed more than 5,700 youth in summer jobs in 2025 (about 14,000 since 2022), secured $676,000 in philanthropic grants for career programming and plans a city apprenticeship program.
Theresa Austin Gibbons, interim commissioner of the Atlanta Department of Labor, told the City Council that the department secured $676,000 in philanthropic grants and is preparing a signature apprenticeship program for youth, adults and dislocated workers.
The funding — $676,000 from the Annie E. Casey Foundation and the Arthur M. Blank Foundation — will be used to expand career‑readiness and permanent employment programs in targeted ZIP codes, the department said. "The Annie E. Casey was for 18 to 24 year olds, and the Arthur M. Blank was 18 to 30 year olds in the Vine City and English Avenue areas," Gibbons said.
Department staff reported program outcomes to the committee: more than 5,700 participants ages 14–24 were placed in summer jobs in the most recent season and the department said that figure grows to about 14,000 since 2022. The department also reported 325 WIOA placements (participants who completed Individual Training Accounts and moved into employment) and said those placements averaged about $22 per hour.
Deputy Commissioner Sonia Wilson Westmoreland told the council the department received a clean federal WIOA audit after earlier years with multiple findings. The department said it will integrate the philanthropic funding into summer youth employment and permanent employment pathways and will formally launch the city apprenticeship program in the upcoming year.
Councilmember Juan and others asked about overall funding levels. The department said the base funding picture includes roughly $3.5 million in federal funds and about $1.0 million in city general fund support; additional trust‑fund balances and philanthropic grants supplement those monies. Staff noted federal WIOA funding is allocated in multi‑wave disbursements (youth allocations now, adult/dislocated worker allocations in July/October) and that the department monitors those schedules to confirm multi‑year availability.
No formal council action was taken; council members asked the department to return with consolidated budget totals that combine federal, trust and local sources.
