New Castle County updates youth workforce program; summer placements, training and coding partnership highlighted

Carly Thompson, acting division manager for Community Services, gave a May 27, 2025 update to the New Castle County Community Services Committee on the county's Youth Workforce Development Program, outlining program structure, employer partnerships and funding sources.

Thompson said the Youth Workforce Development Program includes both a Summer Youth Employment Program (about 10 weeks) and a school-year employment program that follows the academic calendar. "Youth are paid the state minimum wage of $15 per hour," Thompson said. She told the committee that wage, weekly hours and placement practices are designed to balance school schedules and work experience.

The program places youth with nonprofit, for-profit and government worksites. Thompson said the county identified more than 60 employment partners for summer 2025 and reported placing close to 200 youth into positions for the upcoming season; she also said more than 1,000 youth have visited the online application portal to create accounts. Thompson said a $125,000 annual earmark from County Council would allow the county to employ about 60 participants directly through the county's allocation.

Thompson described training and professional-development programming organized around four "pillars of success": leadership, health and wellness, communication and work ethic. Workshop topics include college readiness and completing the Common App and FAFSA, stress management, professional communication, unconscious bias training, financial literacy and relationship safety.

The presentation highlighted a multi-year partnership with Code Differently funded in part by American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) support. Thompson described a Code Differently team, Solution Station, that won the high school division of the Innovation Venture Competition and received a $50,000 award held in trust to further-develop a pest-identification app, "Pest Patrol." Thompson said the partnership has included training, hackathons and pitch competitions.

Thompson also described individual success stories: two photographed youth had recently moved from program placements into other jobs, including a placement at the Reader's Cafe and a full-time camp counselor role, illustrating paths from temporary placements to continued employment.

Committee members praised the program. Councilman Jay Street thanked council colleagues for continued funding and said the council's portion is a significant share of the total program budget. Councilman Penrose Hollins (Co-Chair) and General Manager Carrie Casey also thanked staff and referenced Councilman Smiley as an early proponent of related council-supported programs.

Thompson said state Department of Labor funding for the county's youth-related Department of Labor allocation was reduced by 42% year-over-year for the coming fiscal cycle and that overall state funding available was 61% lower than recent years; she added New Castle County's share of the available state funds increased from 18% to about 30 percent, which the division views as recognition of program quality. Thompson said staff are "pivoting to redirect funds for both the summer and year-round programs" to maintain placements.

Thompson closed by thanking Council and noting the program remains under active evaluation to align placements with youth career interests and to increase employer diversity among worksites.

The committee did not take formal action on the program during the meeting; the presentation was informational.