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Strategic Objective

Provide conservation work and training opportunities for young people

Strategic Objective

Number of work and training opportunities provided to young people.

Lead Office: All Bureaus

Themes:

Natural Resources and Environment

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Overview
Progress Update

Overview

Progress Update

Engaging the Millennial generation in employment supports the Secretary of the Interior’s goal of providing 100,000 work and training opportunities between FY 2014 and FY 2017 to individuals up to the age of 35. The Department offers a variety of opportunities through partnerships with tribes, colleges and universities, corporate networks, other Federal agencies, non-government organizations, and DOI Bureaus to provide employment for Millennials. Increasing partner participation has helped increase overall levels of engagement, and the Department will continue to pursue partner opportunities to engage the next generation of conservation stewards.

In FY 2015, the Department leveraged collaborative efforts across all levels of government and mobilized the 21st Century Conservation Service Corps to provide opportunities to work in programs related to natural resources, forestry, engineering, water conservation, climate change, earth and biological sciences, agriculture and rangeland. These opportunities ensured a continued appreciation for conserving our natural and cultural resources, and provided invaluable exposure to career opportunities available in conservation.

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Strategic Goals

Strategic Goal:

Develop the next generation of lifelong conservation stewards and ensure our own skilled and diverse workforce pipeline

Statement:

To develop the next generation of lifelong conservation stewards and ensure our own skilled and diverse workforce pipeline, Interior will provide 100,000 work & training opportunities to young people (ages 15 to 25) over four years. In order to achieve the goal, we will utilize public-private partnerships to leverage additional resources and provide additional work and training opportunities than those we could do on our own. Our work and training opportunities will support the 21^st Century Conservation Service Corps (21CSC) which is a multi-agency effort to provide work and training opportunities in stewardship of our public lands to young people and veterans, helping them develop skills to serve both the nation’s natural and cultural resources, but also their own futures. The other 21 CSC federal agency partners are Agriculture, Commerce, Labor, Environmental Protection Agency, Army, Council on Environmental Quality and the Corporation for National and Community Service.

Strategic Objectives

Provide conservation work and training opportunities for young people

Statement:

Number of work and training opportunities provided to young people.

Description:

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FY 14-15 Priority Goal: Engaging the Next Generation

Statement:

Engaging the Next Generation: By September 30, 2015, the Department of Interior will provide 40,000 work and training opportunities over two fiscal years (FY 2014 and FY 2015) for individuals age 15 to 35 to support the mission of the Department.

Description:

a. Problem or opportunity being addressed

The future of the Country’s natural, cultural and historic heritage depends on the next generation of active stewards. The Millennial generation, defined as individuals born in 1980 or later, is larger, more urban and diverse than any generation in our history. Yet Millennials have grown up more disconnected from the natural world. As Secretary Sally Jewell indicated, “Engaging the millennial generation in service on public lands, welcoming them into the Department of the Interior, and so many other opportunities to have work within public lands management, is going to be a critical part of our future, if we care about these special places that help define us.”

Secretary Sally Jewell, March 14, 2014 – Announcing the Next Generation Priority http://www.doi.gov/youth/news/engaging-the-next-generation.cfm

The underlying objective of Interior's Engaging the Next Generation priority is to establish meaningful and deep connections between young people from every background and every community to the great outdoors. Interior is investing millions of dollars in our Engaging the Next Generation priority to inspire millions of young people to play, learn, serve and work outdoors. To that end, Interior has established a goal of providing 100,000 work and training opportunities over four years to individuals up to the age of 35. In support of this long-term goal, the FY 2014-FY 2015 priority goal is being extended to include ages 15-35 in providing 40,000 work and training opportunity over the two year period, starting in FY 2015.

This priority goal complements Interior’s efforts to develop a 21^st Century Workforce. The Department benefits from a workforce that is passionate about the mission, dedicated to public service, and highly skilled and knowledgeable. Across Interior, 40% of our permanent workforce will be eligible to retire within the next five years. Providing a variety of work and training opportunities to students and recent graduates is critical to our succession planning.

b. Relationship to agency strategic goals and objectives

This priority goal supports Strategic Plan mission area 4, “Engaging the Next Generation” as well as efforts to create a 21^st Century Workforce. The priority goal aims to address reductions in work and training opportunities created by fiscal challenges in FY 2013 and builds upon the number of opportunities provided in FY 2010-FY 2012.

This priority goal for work and training opportunities builds upon other Engaging the Next Generation initiatives at DOI. The Department’s goal of engaging youth in conservation includes programs to encourage the nation’s youth to play, learn, serve, and work in the great outdoors. As the culmination of this four pronged approach, work and training opportunities for youth depend in great part on successful efforts to promote recreation on DOI-managed public lands, encourage the nation’s educators to bring our natural environment into classrooms, and cultivate a culture of service in support of conservation and natural resource management.

c. Key barriers and challenges

Work and training opportunities, both directly by the Department and through partners, must occur within a specific time-frame for seasonal and temporary summer employment in order to secure commitments from participants. If bureaus miss the window of opportunity during the limited time-frame, participants may seek employment opportunities elsewhere. Additionally, with approximately one-third of DOI youth employment stemming from partnership agreements, budget uncertainty creates significant challenges to Bureaus’ ability to enter into partnership agreements, particularly for the peak hiring seasons when colleges are out of session. These public/private partnership efforts help to leverage Federal dollars, in some cases by a 3 to 1 ratio, and assist the Department in increasing youth employment opportunities.

In FY 2013, fiscal and budgetary challenges significantly impacted the Department’s ability to fund work and training opportunities for youth. Furthermore, the timing of the budgetary uncertainty, as well as the implementation of new models of youth employment across the government, via the Pathways program, made timely hiring of youth for those available positions difficult. Should current budgetary and fiscal trends continue, the Department expects these to pose a barrier to fulfillment of this goal.

d. Stakeholder Engagement

Key partners include the over 150 members of the Corps Network that engage 30,000 young people in all 50 States in addition to the work of the Public Lands Service Coalition. These public/private partnership efforts help to leverage Federal dollars in some cases 3 to 1 and have assisted the Departments in increasing youth employment opportunities. In addition, there are many non-profit, corporate, state, local and tribal entities that partner with the Department to enhance volunteer service opportunities and youth employment in the great outdoors. It will continue to be important to engage these stakeholders as we implement related recommendations for the broader youth stewardship and engagement priority goal.

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