Stevens questions why stipends are not allowable costs for Beacon workforce development
Stevens questions why Beacons are required to do workforce development but cannot use stipends as an allowable cost. Asherall does not have an immediate answer and commits to following up, while Stevens argues stipends and jobs are critical for youth engagement.
Another question I got from providers were that the beacons are required to do workforce development, but we don't allow stipends as a...
allowable costs, trying to get an understanding why would that be?
Why is that not something that we're encouraging and trying to do more where there is workforce development happening in these programs and young people are interning or, you know, getting specific skills?
Why can't they allow stipends?
I unfortunately don't have that response.
I definitely will get back to you on that piece for the stipend.
I bet you will.
Andrew, write that down.
I want to know why.
I don't want to mess it up, so that's the reason I'm holding it.
No, I think that that's important.
I think, you know, when we're looking at the unemployment rates for young people, specifically between the ages of 16 and 24, they're at the highest since COVID and have not come down.
And so especially for programs, we should be looking at encouraging young people.
And sometimes those young people who don't come to programs because they are trying to make money.
And so we should be encouraging it.
And so if and I don't know, I don't know how to have money after these begin budgets because they're so tiny.
So they got the money.
But if they can, they should be able to eke out and be able to give the young people some stipends.
And I know we also work closely with Valerie and her team to try to, you know, create, I mean, with DYC, right?
And so we definitely try to.
Work closely with our workforce team to see where there are opportunities for some of our beacon participants to attend like workforce center or any other stipend related.
Yeah, but I feel like especially
When we got the kids, we got to keep them because sometimes when you change them from program to program, you lose them.
I'm going to tap in Ms.
Harris.
Go ahead, Ms.
Harris.
I want to give you my practice.
In some of our programs as well, not directly through DYCDR providers, but like the ONS, CMS providers sometimes have.
The ability to infuse stipends for young people, 16 to 24, and job.
I know, but it's not enough.
Not at all.
We always need more.
No, it's not even that we need more.
It's just not enough.
Those stipends sometimes are $100.
And don't get me started on that.
But those are the things that I think that that's the feedback that we want to hear.
And I think that when we go back and we look at our policy and be able to kind of like get back to you on that, I think that'll help.
Yeah, I mean, again, like I've been yelling at the rooftop around how we need more employment opportunities for young people.
And again, I want to also be clear, when I'm talking to young people, they don't want stipends anymore.
They said they want jobs.
They said they want to be able to have hours.
They actually are annoyed with the stipends because it's like less or whatever, but they want real jobs.
And so we should be responsive to that.
But I think even if there's programs where they're doing workforce development and they're like, hey, I want to give them a $100 stipend for coming to these five workshops, that should be allowable.
And allowing them to have that flexibility with their budget.