TO: HONORABLE MAYOR
AND CITY COUNCIL
FROM: Jill Bourne
Jon Cicirelli
SUBJECT: Actions Related to the Youth
Service Corps Program
DATE: April 27, 2026
Approved
Date:
5/5/26
COUNCIL DISTRICT: Citywide
RECOMMENDATION
Adopt a resolution:
(a) Accepting the $4,581,974 grant from California Volunteers for the Youth Service Corps to continue the Resilience Corps Program in San José; and
(b) Authorizing the City Manager or her designee to negotiate and execute agreements, and all other necessary and/or ancillary documents, with the San José Conservation Corps and San José Public Library Foundation to implement the Resilience Corps program in a combined amount not to exceed $4,581,974.
SUMMARY AND OUTCOME
The recommended action accepts grant funding in the amount of $4,581,974 from the California Volunteers, the State Service Commission for California, for the Youth Service Corps to continue the Resilience Corps Program through December 31, 2027.
BACKGROUND
In June 2021, the City Council unanimously approved the creation of the Resilience Corps Program. This inter-departmental collaboration, funded initially by American Rescue Plan Act resources, centered on providing paid work experience opportunities to San José residents who identify as Black, Indigenous or People of Color, or who live in low resource census tracts. This grant required that at least 75% of all participants must face two or more barriers to employment, defined as difficulty finding employment,
COUNCIL AGENDA: 5/19/26
FILE: 26-582
ITEM: 2.16
HONORABLE MAYOR AND CITY COUNCIL
April 27, 2026
Subject: Actions Related to the Youth Service Corps Program
low-income, unemployed, and/or out of school, are or were justice-involved, transitioning from foster care, or engaged with the mental health or substance abuse system.
Immediately following City Council approval of the program on June 23, 2021, a comprehensive outreach effort was conducted to identify program participants residing in San José’s low resource census tracts. These outreach components featured a multi- lingual outreach through social media, Mayor and City Council offices, nonprofits, universities, community colleges, and community-based partners, as well as extensive in-person outreach at various neighborhoods, community centers, libraries, and parks located in low resource census tracts. This multilingual outreach effort has continued through subsequent phases and will continue to be implemented with this new grant, which is designated as Phase 5.
Phase 1 of the program established the environmental stewardship pathway, designed by the Parks, Recreation, and Neighborhood Services Department (PRNS), and the learning recovery pathway, designed by San José Public Library (SJPL). The San José Conservation Corps and the San José Public Library Foundation were chosen to implement the programs and act as the employers of record for their respective pathways. The primary focus of this phase was on mitigating the impacts of COVID-19, targeting low-resource census tracts within San José. This phase launched in July 2021 and concluded in June 2022.
Phase 2 funding was provided under the state banner of the #CaliforniansForAll Program and supported the continuation of the Environmental Stewardship pathway (renamed to the Climate Change pathway) and the Learning Recovery pathway (renamed as the Learning Pathway). Phase 2 of the Climate Change and Learning Pathways launched in summer 2022 and concluded in August 2024.
Phase 3 was funded through an allocation in the 2023-2024 State of California budget.
The grant amount was based on San José’s share of the state’s population as one of California’s 13 largest cities. Phase 3 commenced on September 1, 2024, and concluded in October 2025.
Phase 4 of the program is funded through the State of California’s 2024-2025 budget to continue the Youth Service Corps Program through December 2026.
Table 1 shows the total funding and enrollment data for the program.
HONORABLE MAYOR AND CITY COUNCIL
April 27, 2026
Subject: Actions Related to the Youth Service Corps Program
Table 1 – Resilience Corps Funding and Enrollment Data
Program
Phase*
California
Volunteers
Funding Award
Total
Participants
Black,
Indigenous, and
People of Color 2+ Barriers
Phase 2 $13,976,741 347 92% 94%
Phase 3 $5,321,342 137 93% 95%
Phase 4
(Active)
$5,645,628 184 94% 94%
*Excludes Phase I, which was allocated in June 2021 as part of the COVID-19 recovery workstreams under the Re- Employment and Workforce Development City Roadmap Initiative. Following Phase 1, the program secured more funding, restructured, and established performance metrics, and shifted focus to youth populations, long-term employment, and job skills development.
ANALYSIS
As part of the State of California’s 2025-2026 budget, California Volunteers allocated $4.6 million to San José to continue the Youth Service Corps program into Phase 5 of the Resilience Corps. The award amount continues to be allocated based on the percentage share of the state’s population. The Office of California Volunteers requires the grant agreement to be executed by June 30, 2026. Funds must be expended by December 31, 2027.
In Phase 5, PRNS will continue to partner with the San José Conservation Corps to implement the Climate Change Pathway, which aims to support the cleanup of parks, trails, and watersheds. This funding will allow the Climate Change Pathway to serve a minimum of 52 participants.
SJPL will continue to partner with the San José Public Library Foundation to implement the Learning Pathway, which aims to support K-12 learning outcomes of high-need youth through expanded learning programming. This funding will allow the Learning Pathway to serve a minimum of 38 participants in Academic Year 2026-2027.
The successful implementation of the Resilience Corps Grant Program aligns with the Meaningful and Sustaining Jobs priority area of the Children and Youth Services Master Plan. The program directly aligns with the priority area goal that youth develop skills for meaningful employment and belonging. In Fiscal Year 2024-2025, program participants worked more than 175,000 public service hours. Citywide, 97.8% of participants successfully completed the program, with 89% of participants earning gainful employment and/or enrolling in higher education after the completion of their program term.
This program has created and strengthened workforce pipelines for City and public service positions. PRNS has developed an internship program with its subgrantee, the
HONORABLE MAYOR AND CITY COUNCIL
April 27, 2026
Subject: Actions Related to the Youth Service Corps Program
San José Conservation Corps. Under this model, participants receive critical life and occupational skills training. After approximately three months with the San José Conservation Corps, participants can work under the guidance of a PRNS supervisor, undertaking work related to park maintenance and other specialized assignments, like Park Rangers. To date, 120 Resilience Corps participants have participated in the PRNS Internship Program and more than 50 of these interns have secured permanent employment with the City.
The Learning Pathway provides participants the opportunity to increase the capacity of City departments, schools, and community-based organizations to offer after school programs for students who live in or near low resource census tracts in San José.
Learning Pathway participants receive regular professional development and training throughout their program term, both to improve their success in delivering services and to support their future employment. To date, 109 program participants have confirmed that they secured permanent employment within three months of completing the program. Additionally, 161 program participants enrolled or continued with a post- secondary educational program or an institution of higher education.
EVALUATION AND FOLLOW-UP
No additional follow-up actions with the City Council are expected at this time. Staff will continue to communicate informational updates about the program.
FISCAL IMPACTS
As required by California Volunteers, Phase 4 funds will be fully expended by December 31, 2026. Phase 5 funds received from the California Volunteers grant will be used to support the expansion and continuation of the Resilience Corps Program. All Phase 5 funds must be expended by December 31, 2027.
Recommended budget actions to recognize and appropriate the $4.6 million grant award will be brought forward in a future budget process. Phase 5 is planned to be distributed as follows:
• PRNS – $3,131,968 to support the Climate Change Pathway; • SJPL – $1,368,676 to support the Learning Pathway; and • Finance – $81,330 to support fiscal monitoring, including reimbursement documentation and submission and audit documentation.
Administrative costs incurred by the City should not exceed 10% of the grant amounts.
This category funds a portion of the City staff time associated with the direct implementation of the grant program. A minimum of 50% of the grant amount is required to be allotted to participant wages, inclusive of related costs such as federal payroll
HONORABLE MAYOR AND CITY COUNCIL
April 27, 2026
Subject: Actions Related to the Youth Service Corps Program
taxes and Workers’ Compensation. Up to 40% of expenditures can be allocated to wrap- around services for program participants, such as transportation, job readiness training, case management, or other services designed to help the participants succeed in the program, gain employment, or continue to post-secondary education after completion of the program.
The following table summarizes the two-year spending plan.
Budget by Department
FY 2026-27
(12 Months)
FY 2027-28
(6 Months) TOTAL
Youth Service Corps – Climate
Change Pathway (PRNS) $2,907,364 $224,604 $3,131,968
Youth Service Corps –
Learning Pathway (Library) $1,278,676 $90,000 $1,368,676 Youth Service Corps –
Administration (Finance) $40,665 $40,665 $81,330
Total $4,226,705 $355,269 $4,581,974
COORDINATION
This memorandum has been coordinated with the City Attorney’s Office, City Manager’s Budget Office, and the Finance Department.
PUBLIC OUTREACH
This memorandum will be posted on the City Council Agenda website for the May 19, 2026 City Council meeting.
BOARD, COMMISSION, COMMITTEE RECOMMENDATION AND INPUT
No board, commission, or committee recommendation or input is associated with this action.
CEQA
Not a Project, File No. PP17-004. Government Funding Mechanism or Fiscal Activity with no commitment to a specific project which may result in a potentially significant physical impact on the environment.
Not a Project, File No. PP17-003. Agreements/Contracts (New or Amended) resulting in no physical changes to the environment.
HONORABLE MAYOR AND CITY COUNCIL
April 27, 2026
Subject: Actions Related to the Youth Service Corps Program
PUBLIC SUBSIDY REPORTING
This item does not include a public subsidy as defined in section 53083 or 53083.1 of the California Government Code or the City’s Open Government Resolution.
/s/ /s/
JILL BOURNE JON CICIRELLI
City Librarian Director of Parks, Recreation,
and Neighborhood Services
For questions about the Climate Change Pathway please contact Tyler Shaffer, Resilience Corps Senior Analyst, Parks, Recreation, and Neighborhood Services Department at [email protected] or (408) 476-4595. For questions regarding the Learning Pathway please contact Amanda Otte, College and Career Pathways Coordinator, San José Public Library at [email protected] or (408) 808-2115.