Participate in the 2020 Youth Employment Sucess Cohort presented by Consumer Financial Protection Bureau

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) is looking for youth emplyment programs that would like to join the Bureau's 2020 Youth Employment Sucess cohort. The cohort focuses on financial capablity products and services.

Between January and August 2020, the Bureau will provide support in the for of techical assistance to ten youth workforce programs to support the integration of financial capability products and services within each program. 

Through this work, the Bureau hopes to:

  • Gain a better understanding of youth participant’s financial challenges and opportunities.
  • Increase young adult’s awareness of and access to quality, tailored financial products and services that meet their needs (e.g., via a checking account, payroll card, or financial coaching).
  • Equip young people who are participating in youth employment programs with tools and resources to navigate financial decisions and knowledge of where to turn for reliable financial information and support during and after they exit the program.

We are seeking ten programs from across the country serving out-of-school youth ages 16-24 that are interested in starting or expanding initiatives on financial capability for young adults participating in job readiness programs.

Organizations that meet the following criteria will be considered for selection:

  • Mission alignment: Offer year-round job training programs to economically vulnerable out-of-school youth ages 16-24 who are entering the workforce. A demonstrated interest in integrating financial capability offerings to young adult participants.
  • Organizational capacity: Capacity to dedicate staff time to engage in biweekly technical assistance calls (approximately 2 hours per month), complete program discovery and design activities in between TA calls (approximately 5-10 hours per month), and participate in a 3-5 hour in-person training for staff between February and June 2020.
  • Target population: Service at least 500 traditionally underserved and economically vulnerable young adults
  • Youth engagement: Have established structures and communication channels to solicit input from young adult participants.
  • Partnerships with financial institution(s) or payroll card provider(s): Have established relationship(s) with financial institution(s) or payroll card provider(s) to help young people manage wages or stipends.
  • Willingness to pilot beta version of transportation decision-making tool: Several tools and resources will be provided for training. Among them, selected sites will commit to pilot the Bureau’s new transportation decision tool with young adult participants. This tool is under development based on feedback from youth job training programs which identified the need.

In addition to the criteria above, the Bureau will consider the following factors to create a diverse cohort of youth workforce programs:  program service area and location type (e.g., rural, suburban, or urban); program affiliation (e.g., nonprofit, government, trade association, etc.); relevant partner organizations; current financial capability program offerings (e.g., financial education, financial coaching, or savings opportunities); means of measurement (i.e., types of outputs and outcomes collected to track progress); and methods of payment for youth for work or training (e.g., direct deposit, payroll cards, etc.).

If you think your program and participants would benefit from technical assistance on integration of financial capability for young adults, please email Empowerment@cfpb.gov with a Letter of Interest by COB December 30, 2019. Organizations must include two points of contact (primary and secondary) in submissions as well as information about their eligibility for selection.

For more information on integrating financial capability into youth employment programs, please see the youth employment page.

Thank you, Lissan Anfune Office of Community Affairs Consumer Financial Protection Bureau