Partnership to Advance Youth Apprenticeship Field-Building

Led by Chicago Public Schools and City Colleges of Chicago, Career Launch Chicago is an initiative working to develop equitable and inclusive youth apprenticeship programs and expand access to quality work-based learning experiences for Chicago residents. Career Launch Chicago aspires to build and scale youth apprenticeship programs that offer young people throughout the city opportunities to build in-demand skills and prepare for quality jobs in multiple high-growth industries, including advanced manufacturing, health care, and information technology. It also hopes to expand early college courses that are relevant to those pathways in target high schools and develop a work-based learning continuum that extends into earlier grades. Jobs for the Future published this profile which offers an in-depth look at the model Career Launch Chicago is developing, with examples of structures and approaches that other intermediaries and apprenticeship providers could apply to their own programs. It also offers recommendations of ways to scale youth apprenticeship by better integrating education and workforce systems.