Genesis Youth Program

About the Program

Category: Children and Youth (Best in Category)

Year: 2015

Genesis is a Maricopa County youth program that is funded through the Workforce Investment Act (WIA) of 1998. The Genesis Youth Program makes WIA services accessible for eligible youth through interagency and intergovernmental collaborations, as well as partnerships with local cities to implement community-based youth programs. With youth centers in Avondale, Mesa, Peoria, and Tempe; Genesis serves as the life-line to labor market opportunities for so many low-income and mostly minority, disconnected/opportunity youth. The program’s Youth Career Guidance Specialists strategically leverage community resources and align themselves with organizations to provide more comprehensive interventions and preventions for disconnected youth. Genesis is the catalyst in a youth’s quest to earn family-sustaining wages, or enter into post-secondary education or occupational skills training; leading them on a path to self-sufficiency. As a result, the number of disconnected youth and the economic burden on communities, cities, and states are diminished.