Council approves roughly $1.5 million contract with Youth Opportunities Unlimited for summer jobs program

The Workforce, Education, Training and Youth Development Committee on May 14 approved Ordinance 31-2026, authorizing a contract with Youth Opportunities Unlimited (YOU) to administer Cleveland’s summer youth and young adult employment program. Council amended the ordinance to remove broader contracting language and set a not-to-exceed amount of $1,499,337.

Sheri Ellery, interim director of the Mayor’s Office of Prevention, Intervention and Opportunity, presented the program as part of the city’s violence-prevention strategy and cited a 2025 poverty rate for Cleveland of 30.8%. She said the YOU program provides job coaches, a six-week work experience (about 25 hours per week), financial-literacy workshops and cohort-based career academies, and that the program’s city contract in 2025 supported 570 youth (the contract goal had been 489). "The youth earn money that's frequently used to purchase school clothing and supplies," Ellery said, noting the broader program — including county and philanthropic funding — supported 1,224 youth in 2025.

YOU’s CEO and staff described operational details and metrics: the organization reported a roughly $19 million overall operating budget, about 50 corporate funders contributing financial support (and around 3,400 host placements), and specific sector-focused seat allocations (for example, construction and facilities placements). YOU said youth are paid $13.50 per hour and job coaches are paid $19 per hour; the organization described intake, orientation dates and supportive services (bus tickets, case managers and trauma-informed training for staff).

Council members pressed for additional information: ward-level breakdowns, lists of participating city departments and employers, racial/ethnic and ward-specific data, and metrics to measure the program’s impact on violence prevention. YOU staff said those reports have been provided previously by email and committed to provide further breakdowns and an annual program report on request.

Councilman Tate Shaw moved an amendment to remove section two of the ordinance (language authorizing broader contracts with other public entities and individuals) and to insert a not-to-exceed amount of $1,499,337; Councilwoman Stephanie House Jones seconded the amendment. The law department explained that striking section two narrows the finance director’s authority to award contracts to other entities; the amendment passed and the ordinance was approved as amended.

The committee directed staff to provide the requested ward-by-ward and employer lists and to work further on metrics linking youth employment to public-safety outcomes. The committee recorded approval; the transcript records unanimous procedural passage but does not include a full roll-call tally in the text.