26025N0156- Community Resources for Employment and Development Program (CRED) NAQ

The New York City Department of Youth and Community Development (DYCD) is seeking to identify organizations with experience providing workforce development and wraparound services to underemployed or unemployed participants, ages 18 to 40, involved in the criminal justice system or impacted by community violence. In the Community Resources for Employment and Development Program (CRED), participants will be offered work readiness training, occupational training, and internships for in-demand sectors for up to 24 weeks, with 3 months of follow-up services, including job placement, after completing training. In addition, participants will have access to a myriad of supportive services throughout the program, including mental health counseling and connections to social services, resources, and benefits that would enable them to successfully engage in the program activities (e.g., housing, life coaching, academic support, legal support, access to healthcare, etc.). The goal of the program is to provide pathways to employment and economic mobility for people who reside in communities where community violence is most prevalent, including neighborhoods identified as priority areas by the Gun Violence Prevention Taskforce. Community violence compounds neighborhood and racial income inequality by curtailing economic activity and development in neighborhoods where it is common, reducing home values, job opportunities, and access to capital to develop new ventures. People who live in neighborhoods where violence is high also face barriers to employment outside their neighborhoods: people are more likely to lack access to educational or vocational programs to enter the job market, and to experience racial discrimination in employment. In turn, the concentrated lack of economic mobility destabilizes communities and families and makes involvement in community violence more likely. This initiative would address the systemic feedback loop, by offering pathways to job readiness, training for sustainable and emerging industries, and supported job placement for continued success.