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Atlanta Department of Labor reports WIOA/SYEP spending, training placements; participant credits WIOA-funded certifications
Summary
Commissioner Austin Givens told the committee the department expended WIOA funds for FY25, ran a $2 million summer youth employment program, issued roughly $775,000 in individual training accounts and served hundreds of residents; a participant said WIOA-funded training led to employment.
Commissioner Austin Givens, Atlanta Department of Labor and Employment Services, updated the Community Development/Human Services Committee on Sept. 23 about the department's FY25 grants, workforce programs and outcomes.
Givens reported WIOA (Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act) adult, youth and dislocated-worker funds were expended for the fiscal year and "nothing sent back to the state and to the feds, which is kudos to the team for working hard on that to ensure that we serve our citizen, and spend all of those funds." He said the department's FY25 portfolio included WIOA grants (stated in the presentation as $3,600,000), a $2,000,000 summer youth employment program (SYEP) for ages roughly 14–24, and private-sector grant contributions of about $600,000 from foundations and national partners.
Givens said the Quest grant ends on Sept. 30 and will be extended; he reported issuing about $775,000 in individual training accounts for 155 people, and that the department provided services to about 642 Atlanta residents between July 2024 and June 2025. Givens also described partnerships with organizations including the RISE and Inspire Foundation and the Georgia Latino Alliance for Human Rights and noted coordinated planning tied to FIFA event-worker protections and the city's Good Jobs initiative.
A participant invited to the podium, Willie Smith, described completing certifications in phlebotomy, EKG and patient-care technologies funded by WIOA and obtaining work as a patient care technician, medical scribe and medical assistant. "Because of their support, I was able to complete my certifications...and earn my job titles now," she told the committee.
Givens highlighted three career and resource fairs held this year with more than 50 employers participating, an Annie E. Casey summer-to-permanent placement initiative that subsidizes hires, and planned boot camps to support transitions to permanent employment on Oct. 21 and Oct. 23. When asked about employee benefits by a councilmember, Givens said he would provide follow-up information about benefit rates for positions placed through the programs.
The committee praised the department's outreach and the participant testimony. No ordinance action was required for this presentation.
