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CityCareer Pathways Initiative stewards funds, cites recruitment gains but flags long-term funding risk
Summary
Deputy Director Kelly Carr described the Career Pathways Initiative's recruitment gains and its role managing restricted Fund 308; she said CPI conserved dollars to keep CRC solvent through 2026 but warned long-term programming will depend on uncertain CDBG and federal funding.
Kelly Carr, deputy director in the City of Cincinnati Department of Human Resources, told the Youth and Human Services Committee that the Career Pathways Initiative (CPI) focuses on recruitment, fund management and long-term workforce development to connect young people to municipal careers.
Carr said CPI, created in 2022, works across schools, colleges and workforce agencies to "build Cincinnati's future workforce." She cited large increases in applicant interest for multiple entry points, saying CPI outreach has driven record applications for lifeguards, fire recruits and other municipal pipelines. Looking at concrete figures, Carr said recruitment activity produced a more-than-400% rise in some applicant pools and that the Building Inspector Academy rose from about 140 to 679 applicants following CPI outreach.
On funding, Carr described a strategic shift in 2022and 2023: the city moved certain third-party youth-employer contracts off of Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funding and into a restricted municipal pool (Fund 308) so Cincinnati Recreation Commission (CRC) operations could be maintained amid federal funding uncertainty. She told the committee that CPI conserved resources so CRC would be solvent for calendar 2026 and cited an earmarked city support figure of about $762,000 for CRC, while also noting CPI's own limited allocation (Carr referenced a $554,000 figure) and that future summers will hinge on the CDBG outlay expected this spring.
Carr estimated per-youth costs on an illustrative basis: approximately $3,000 using $15/hour at 25 hours a week for nine weeks, compared with earlier third-party allocations that sometimes ranged from $10,000 to $20,000 per youth. She cautioned that CPI does not directly manage day-to-day youth employment placements; CRC and individual departments run placements while CPI supports recruitment and fund stewardship.
Committee members asked about cohort sizes and the possibility of restoring wraparound services previously offered by third-party administrators. Carr said CPI is small and focused on recruitment and fund oversight and that expanded case management would require additional resources.
The presentation was filed; no committee action was taken.
