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Motion of the Council of Allegheny County authorizing a cooperative partnership between Allegheny County Council and the Career Development Center to identify candidates who have suffered from long term unemployment for employment with the Office of County Council.
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WHEREAS, the worker participation rate in America is close to 38-year low as there are 94 million people not currently working; and
WHEREAS, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), as the duration of unemployment increases, the likelihood of becoming employed in the following month declines. In 2014, about 35 percent of people who had been out of work less than 5 weeks found work in the next month; about 11 percent of people who had been out of work for 1 year or longer became employed in the following month; and
WHEREAS, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) the incidence of long-term unemployment increases with age. In 2014, for example, 22.1 percent of the unemployed under age 25 had looked for work for 27 weeks or longer, compared with 44.6 percent of those 55 years and older; and
WHEREAS, on November 2, 2015 Vice President Stephen Williamson of the St. Louis Federal Reserve issued a report that stated:
• One dimension of labor market performance that has not returned to levels which we would consider normal before the Great Recession is long-term unemployment;
• The number of long-term unemployed is still larger than at any time between the past two recessions; and
• They are unlikely to be hired under any conditions if their skills don’t match what employers want.
WHEREAS, in paper titled “Are the Long-Term Unemployed on the Margins of the Labor Market?” by Princeton University Economists, Judd Cramer, David Cho, Alan B. Krueger issued in March of 2014:
• The portrait of the long-term unemployed in the United States that emerges here suggests that, to a considerable extent, they are an unlucky subset of the unemployed, and that their prospects decline the longer they remain unemployed, possibly because their skills atrophy.
• A concerted effort will be needed to raise the employment prospects of the long-term unemployed. Otherwise, these job seekers will continue to drop out of the workforce and hold the economy back.
WHEREAS, it is accordingly the judgment of Council that individuals that have suffered from long term unemployment (i.e. unemployment for a period of 27 weeks or longer) are particularly vulnerable to the continuation of their unemployment, and are therefore increasingly likely to require additional assistance subsidized or funded by federal, state or local government; and
WHEREAS, it is further the judgment of Council that it is highly desirable and sound public policy to reduce the effects of long term unemployment to the extent practicable; and
WHEREAS, it is further the judgment of Council that the establishment of a program geared towards providing internships for individuals suffering from long term unemployment within the Office of County Council would be beneficial both to the Council and to the individuals participating in the program, as this Council can harness the exceptional qualities that these individuals possess while at the same providing the necessary work experience to bring these individuals back into the workforce who have potentially been unemployed for a long period of time; and
WHEREAS, the Career Development Center attempts to match individuals who have been unemployed for 27 weeks or greater, but who are not chronically unemployed, with potential employers for the purpose of re-integrating them into the workforce; and
WHEREAS, as part of these efforts, the Career Development Center participates in a national Platform to Employment (P2E) program, the program consists of creating an eight-week employment program where those long term unemployed enrolled in the program will be on the P2E payroll, and P2E will cover One Hundred (100%) Percent of the long term unemployed program participant’s salary for the first four weeks and Fifty (50%) Percent of the programs participant salary of for the second four weeks; and
WHEREAS, funding for the Platform to Employment program comes through the Three Rivers Workforce Investment Board, while the Career Development Center is funded through several grants and foundations, with primary funding from the United Way of Southwestern PA, and additional funding provided by Trees Charitable Trust, Birmingham Foundation, Fine Foundation, Pittsburgh Foundation, the Patterson Foundation, and the City of Pittsburgh’s Community Development Block Grant program; and
WHEREAS, the theory behind this P2E program is to fill in employment gaps in the program participant’s resume; to give the program participant relevant work experience; shows that the program participant does not lack the initiative to work while at the same time giving the program participant a chance to update their skills in a professional work environment; and
WHEREAS, it is the judgment of Council that partnering with the Career Development Center in order to identify potential candidates for positions within the Office of County Council has tremendous potential to expand the pool of highly qualified applicants for these positions, while simultaneously aiding in combating the deleterious consequences of long term unemployment in the event that one or more of these individuals is hired; and
WHEREAS, it further the judgment of Council that the government of Allegheny County along with private employers located within Allegheny County should be encouraged to enroll in the program; and
NOW THEREFORE, IT IS MOVED, THAT THE COUNCIL OF ALLEGHENY COUNTY,
The Council is hereby authorized to cooperate with the Career Development Center to identify qualified candidates who have suffered from long term unemployment for employment with the Office of County Council.
IT IS FURTHER MOVED that the parameters within which this cooperative partnership will function, including, but not limited to, the nature of the positions for which the Career Development Center will identify candidates and the procedure of providing notice to the Center of vacant positions within the Office of County Council, shall be determined and established by the Executive Committee.