Serve Learn Earn asks lawmakers to increase base funding to expand paid youth training statewide

Serve Learn Earn Director Kate Lachman told the House Committee on Agriculture, Food Resiliency & Forestry on Aug. 12 that the statewide network of youth service and training programs is requesting an increase in state base funding to $2,500,000 to sustain and expand paid workforce programs across Vermont.

Lachman said the organization has grown since 2020 into a network that partners with Forests, Parks and Recreation, AmeriCorps programs and local providers such as Northwood Stewardship Center to deliver paid training and service opportunities for Vermonters ages 14 and older. “All of our programs are paid, so there's no financial hurdle that folks need to cross to be able to get that training,” Lachman said.

The request follows a mix of one-time and base funding in the current biennium: Lachman said Gov. Phil Scott included $500,000 in the base budget for the program and that the legislature provided a $2,000,000 one-time appropriation this past year. The Serve Learn Earn coalition asked the committee to convert and expand ongoing base support to $2.5 million, which Lachman said would leverage roughly $8,000,000 in additional public and private funds annually to operate about $10,500,000 in programming statewide.

Why it matters: Committee members pressed the presenters on whether a funding cut would threaten programs targeted at rural communities and participants with barriers to employment. Lachman said losing the state funding would force programs to reduce size or charge participants, limiting access for people in smaller communities and those with higher need. “If we lose funding, we won't be able to offer these programs for free. We won't be able to pay folks. We will have to reduce the size of these programs,” she said.

Program design and outcomes: Serve Learn Earn described three program buckets: career exploration for high-school-age students (partnering with Audubon Vermont and local CTE centers), early professional experiences (longer AmeriCorps-style terms and sector-specific credentials), and adult-focused short intensive trainings that aim to place participants quickly into trades and weatherization jobs. Lachman provided program outcomes: the network has served nearly 1,500 participants since initial funding, returned about $3,250,000 in wages to participants, enrolled more than 500 AmeriCorps members, and ran roughly 180 service projects in the prior year. She said last year the coalition served about 615 participants, 70% of whom were 24 or younger, and that 105 program participants were offered jobs on exit and 93 accepted.

Vermont Youth Conservation Corps detail: Rick Knopf, executive director of the Vermont Youth Conservation Corps (VYCC), told the committee VYCC runs conservation, forestry and food-and-farm crews and has expanded a forestry initiative from six crew-weeks in its first year to an expected 36 crew-weeks this year, including timber-stand improvement, invasive-species work and hazard-tree removal in partnership with state parks. Knopf described farm programming at VYCC's Richmond campus that supplies a “health care share” delivered to regional medical centers for patients experiencing food insecurity; he said the farm expects roughly 80 participants this year and cited 70,000 pounds of food and several hundred recipients as recent outputs.

Funding mix and risks: Presenters noted the coalition blends state base funding, federal sources (including AmeriCorps), and private philanthropy. Lachman and Knopf told the committee the federal funding picture is uncertain: Lachman said some federal grants have recently been frozen and later unfrozen, and Knopf noted AmeriCorps funding supports education awards that are critical to program economics. Lachman said the state investment acts as a signal to private funders and helps leverage philanthropic dollars for indirect costs and overhead.

Committee questions and next steps: Members asked about participant eligibility (including homeschooled youth and youth who have left high school), payment structures (stipends versus hourly pay), articulation with CTE and higher-education credit (dual enrollment pilot and college credit for crew leaders), and the program's ability to place graduates into local employers. Lachman said she would provide committee members with a detailed listing of how each of the coalition's 12 programs pays participants and what credentialing or college-credit options exist. The committee did not take formal action during the hearing; staff said the committee will review budget presentations as it prepares recommendations.

Ending: Presenters asked the committee to consider the budget request as a means to stabilize a network that they say expands opportunities in rural areas and connects participants to in-demand employers. “The more that we have certainty and commitments from partners, funding partners, the better that is — it's a bulwark against possible changes that are coming,” Knopf said.