Carroll County accepts Summer Youth Connection and WIOA grants to serve disadvantaged youth

Carroll County commissioners voted to accept the Program Year 2025 Summer Youth Connection grant from the governor’s office and related fiscal-year WIOA formula grant allocations, approving staff to administer the awards as recommended by the county workforce development board.

The board heard a presentation from Denise Weaver, director of economic development, and Heather Powell, manager of the Carroll County Workforce Development Center, who described the summer program as targeted to youth with barriers to employment, including low income, disability, justice involvement and homelessness. Weaver said the workforce center provides year-round services and coordinates with state and local partners, and that with additional funding the county could serve more young people.

Weaver and Powell outlined recent program participation: the governor’s office grant, which Weaver described as “very small” in dollar terms, led to eight youth served directly under that specific grant, while the workforce center placed an additional 10 youth through partner arrangements. Weaver also reported that for the summer cohort “we started out with 44 students in our program,” that “34 completed,” and that “11 passed through,” reflecting a mix of direct placements and partner placements. She said the program has run for more than 20 years and relies on businesses to act as mentors to participants.

Commissioners moved and seconded the grant acceptance; the motion carried on an affirmative vote. The award and allocations were described as already included in the county’s FY26 budget.

Officials said the grants primarily fund intensive services and placements for youth who face multiple barriers to employment and that the workforce center uses partnerships with local schools and agencies — including Division of Rehabilitation Services (DORS) and Department of Juvenile Services (DJS) — to recruit participants.

The county did not provide a single total dollar figure for the Summer Youth Connection grant during the presentation; commissioners approved acceptance and administration of the PY25 and FY26 WIOA grants as presented.