Mayor Emanuel Announces Summer Job Program to Engage and Educate Immigrant Students, Families and Communities About Administrative Relief
City to Create Hundreds of Additional Summer Jobs Through Successful One Summer Chicago Program for Youth Looking to Educate Communities on President Obama’s Executive Actions on Immigration

Building on the success of last year’s One Summer Chicago initiative, Mayor Rahm Emanuel and the Department of Family and Support Services (DFSS) are pleased to announce a special new summer jobs program for youth to learn about and disseminate information in their communities about immigration programs that may affect them. In partnership with the Mayor’s Office of New Americans, DFSS seeks applications from qualified organizations working with and on behalf of immigrant communities to provide youth, including Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) beneficiaries, with the training and opportunity to better engage and educate immigrant families and communities about President Obama’s executive actions on immigration.

“The recent Texas ruling will not deter us,” said Mayor Rahm Emanuel. “The City of Chicago stands prepared to ensure that as many Chicago residents as possible take advantage of the unique opportunity the President has provided us all, and I am pleased to see our citywide summer initiatives supporting the educational and career goals of all Chicago students and young adults.”

The program will provide up to several hundred youth with training and meaningful work experience linked with a community-based organization that serves immigrant populations. DACA beneficiaries, as well as other Chicago youth that participate in the summer job program, will conduct civic outreach and engagement to disseminate information and educate individuals and families in their communities about the application process for administrative relief provided for under President Obama’s November 2014 executive actions.

“We strongly encourage the organizations that regularly work with our immigrant communities to apply to deliver this special summer jobs program,” said Evelyn Diaz, Commissioner of the Department of Family and Support Services. “This new program will allow us to educate hundreds of youth on issues that intimately affect their communities, and then gives them a paid summer job teaching and guiding their neighbors to take advantage of new opportunities for immigrants.”

For the past few months the Emanuel Administration has been working with immigration leaders from community based organizations, legal service providers, colleges and universities, as well as labor, government, faith-based and business institutions to discuss how the City of Chicago would prepare to help tens of thousands of people to take advantage of administrative relief.

“We know there is a lot of confusion in immigrant communities about the President’s executive actions on immigration,” said Juan Salgado, Instituto Del Progreso Latino. “We applaud the Mayor’s continued effort to make Chicago the most immigrant friendly city in America. This new summer jobs program, will not only be a great opportunity for youth to earn a paycheck while learning new job skills, but also a wonderful opportunity to empower our youth to be messengers and help  educate our community residents about administrative relief.”

Last summer, Mayor Emanuel opened up nearly 23,000 internship, volunteer, and job opportunities for  Chicago youth, including DREAMers and DACA beneficiaries, accepting applications for approximately 500 City internships, volunteer, and job opportunities offered year-round, 30 Mayor’s Office Fellowships, as well as more than 22,500 opportunities to participate in summer jobs, internships and job training programs offered through One Summer Chicago.

SYEP Proposals are due on Tuesday, March 17, 2015. To download the Request for Proposals and attachments: www.chicago.gov/content/dam/city/depts/fss/supp_info/RFP/2015YouthWorkforceExperience/2015YouthWorkforceExperienceProgramsRFP.pdf

To apply, Respondents should submit a separate proposal for each program model at:
http://www.cybergrants.com/pls/cybergrants/ao_login.login?x_gm_id=5130&x_proposal_type_id=37480

President Obama has announced a series of executive actions that modify immigration policy, the City stands prepared to ensure that as many Chicago residents as possible take advantage of this unique opportunity the President has provided all of us.