YOUTH ENTREPRENEUR INTERNSHIPS INTRODUCTION The Cheyenne River Indian Reservation is located in north central South Dakota, encompassing a large rural area approximately the size of the state of Connecticut. Approximately 40 percent of the households have incomes below the poverty level. About 45 percent of the total Reservation population are youth. Most people don't have educations beyond high school and they have little expertise with banks, savings accounts, or money management. Residents, especially youth, are easy targets for predatory lenders. People must travel long distances, 50 to 100 miles, to access basic services or employment opportunities available on the Reservation and much greater distances for the many services not found on the Reservation. Statistics nationally show that development of the private sector is a viable tool to fight poverty in rural remote areas like the Cheyenne River Reservation. Four Bands Community Fund (Four Bands) was founded in 2000 to achieve this goal. Four Bands mission is to assist entrepreneurs with training, business incubation, and access to capital, encouraging economic development and enhancing the quality of life for all communities and residents of the Reservation. In 2004, Four Bands conducted strategic planning and examined the need to plant the seeds of financial literacy and entrepreneurship at an early age. Many adults we were serving arrived at our office with a poor credit history, very limited knowledge of what it takes to open and run a business, and almost no exposure to people who had run a successful private business. We could not achieve our mission if we didn t begin serving youth. For two years, we explored and pilot tested a number of strategies for providing youth services. This work resulted in Wicoicage Sakowin kin un Wicakagapi (Building for the Seventh Generation) a comprehensive program to establish a sustainable service delivery model for offering financial literacy and entrepreneurship education and hands-on application opportunities that build long-term employment and life skills of Cheyenne River Indian Reservation youth. We established key behaviors of entrepreneurship and personal finance for our program. Our message to youth is clear they must prepare themselves to become part of the solution to the high unemployment rates of the Reservation. Youth can t expect there is a job waiting for them on the Reservation when they complete high school. Instead they must be ready to create jobs. They also must become good stewards of their money, say no to predatory lenders, and use credit wisely. 1
One of the first components of our Wicoicage Sakowin kin un Wicakagapi program that we developed is youth entrepreneur internships. Operating as entrepreneurs, youth have opportunities to complete work assignments at private businesses, public agencies, or other nonprofit organizations and receive $10 per hour for up to 100 hours of work. Youth entrepreneur interns must agree to have half their earnings, $5 per hour, go directly into an Individual Development Account (IDA) savings account that is matched 1:1 by the program. Entrepreneur interns also must complete financial literacy and entrepreneurship training activities conducted by Four Bands. The $1,000 in their savings account is not available until entrepreneur interns pursue the asset-producing goal they agree to as a condition of their participation further education, starting a business, or purchasing a home. Four Bands staff sets up and manages the IDA savings accounts, which are established at a local bank. In 2007, we piloted the project with eight youth entrepreneur interns. In 2008, we will have approximately 15 youth complete internships. Interns work with a variety of intern sponsors, including a plumbing and heating business, a consignment shop, tribal programs, and our local chamber of commerce, among others. In 2009, we will expand to 20 internships. We will also establish an evaluation component to our internship work that focuses on the long-term impact of our internship program. We want to follow youth once they complete the program so we can document how they applied what they learned once they left high school. We will use the information to improve our future program work. Four Bands is projecting an annual budget expense of $66,080 a year to support 20 internships. The costs include: Staff = 1,040 hours a year or $28,080 (estimated at $27/hour for salary and benefits) (Includes time spent by several staff members to manage, coordinate, and implement the program and manage IDA accounts.) Consultants = $6,000 (Includes time spent to evaluate the program, conduct follow up evaluation with youth entrepreneur interns, and raise funds.) Intern Fees and IDA Match Money = $30,000 Other Program Expenses = $2,000 Four Bands currently receives frequent inquiries from other reservations on how they can replicate our youth entrepreneur internships. The information provided in this document is intended to help others create their own programs. 2
COMPONENTS OF THE MODEL Youth Intern Sponsors Recruitment: Staff performs informational outreach to high school youth through flyers, brochures, and school assemblies. Recruitment: Staff performs outreach to intern sponsor sites through a letter, with a follow up phone call to prospective businesses and organizations. Application: Students complete a youth information form and submit wage verification. They also complete an interest survey to help with placement. Application: Potential intern sponsors complete an intern sponsor information form and a written scope of work. Enrollment: Qualified youth are invited to participate and sign a Memorandum of Agreement, complete participation agreement forms, and complete orientation. Enrollment: Accepted intern sponsors sign a Memorandum of Agreement and complete orientation. Training: Youth complete customer service, personal finance training, and asset specific training linked to the asset goal they identify at enrollment. Training: Intern sponsors complete customer service training. Internship: Youth set up Individual Development Accounts, perform job activities, and make deposits to accounts. Internship: Intern sponsors work with youth entrepreneur interns, training them to effectively complete job activities. Four Bands staff provide support and oversite. Follow Up: Interns complete an exit interview, attend an award ceremony and receive a certificate of completion. They invest in an asset and participate in long-term follow up. Follow Up: Intern sponsors complete an exit interview and receive a certificate of completion. Four Bands invites successful sponsors to work with another youth intern. 3
PROGRAM DESCRIPTION Process Steps 1. Recruitment Staff place flyers in the high schools that give a brief overview of the internship. High school students then attend assemblies where Four Bands staff explain the internships, discuss qualification requirements, and answer student s questions. Each student receives a brochure to take home and share with their family. The brochure lists the income guidelines so that families can determine if their child is qualified for the internship. Requiring an intern to meet certain academic requirements may stifle a budding entrepreneur so all students are eligible as long as they can make the necessary accommodations for work and school. We ve learned that the assemblies are the best way to reach all eligible students. However, student absences do keep us from reaching all students. The flyer is intended to help us reach all eligible students. Intern sponsor sites are recruited through a letter sent to the business owner. Past intern sponsor sites are contacted by phone to confirm their continued interest. As the program grows, new sites are found through the use of the flyer and the Four Bands business directory: www.fourbands.org/directory. 2. Application Interested students complete and submit a youth information form and wage verification previous year s tax returns or last two paycheck stubs. They also complete an interest survey that helps staff match interns to sponsor sites. Finally, we ask them to complete our key behaviors survey for the first time. Interested sponsor sites complete an intern sponsor information form. They also submit a written scope of work they create using our scope of work worksheet. The worksheet identifies key behaviors that youth are expected to learn and asks intern sponsors to create job duties that will aid in teaching these behaviors. Sometimes, excellent intern sponsor sites have trouble finding the time to create a scope of work. In those cases, a member of Four Bands staff may assist them in creating this document. 3. Enrollment Preference for internships is given to income qualified seniors, then juniors, sophomores, and finally, freshman. We ve learned that while there may be an overwhelming response in the application phase, many students don t follow through with enrollment for various reasons. It is important to keep in contact with students after they apply to let them know that they are still eligible for the program and that steps are being taken to match them with an intern sponsor. After Four Bands staff matches interns to sponsor sites, staff, the youth entrepreneur intern, their parent or guardian, and the intern sponsor sign a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA). 4
Youth and their parents review and sign the IDA program policies. Youth also sign personal and program evaluation release forms. Finally, each youth entrepreneur intern completes an orientation at our office that outlines training expectations from both Four Bands and the sponsor and gives everyone the opportunity to discuss expectations, including work hours, more specific duties, and training timelines. 4. Training Youth entrepreneur interns complete several training modules. Four Bands uses the Checkwise curriculum developed by the American Center for Credit Education: acceonline.com/checkwise for the younger students, and Credit When Credit Is Due, developed by Consumer Credit Counseling of the Black Hills for the older students: cccsoftheblackhills.com/index.htm. Both of these curricula teach personal finance skills. Youth entrepreneur interns and their intern sponsor then complete the online Serving Great Faces in Great Places customer service training created by the South Dakota Office of Tourism and the College of Business and Technology at Black Hills State University: edoutreach.bhsu.edu/tourism/index.cfm. Finally, youth entrepreneur interns receive asset specific training linked to the asset purchase they identify at enrollment higher education, a business enterprise, or the purchase or renovation of a home. Youth complete an evaluation form after each of the trainings. It is a challenge to work with students to finish their training requirements. We are currently exploring ways to improve this step of the program. One option is to have students attend training during the school year. Those students that complete all the training will then become eligible to complete hours at a sponsor site during the summer. 5. Internship Youth entrepreneur interns complete 100 hours of work and receive $10 per hour. Interns must deposit half of the earnings, $5 per hour, in their IDA account. The remaining funds are given to interns as earnings they can spend however they choose. Interns work with their intern sponsor to learn and perform their job activities. Youth complete an internship invoice that tracks their hours and activities. Intern invoices are due on the 15 th and last day of each month and checks are available ten business days after the intern invoice is turned in. Youth entrepreneur interns come to the Four Bands office to get their checks. Along with the check, interns are given a completed deposit slip that has the required IDA deposit recorded, which they take to the bank to deposit 50% and keep the other 50%. Failure to deposit half the paycheck into the intern s IDA is grounds for termination. Four Bands staff keep in contact with the intern and the intern sponsor during the duration of the internship. Staff ensures that both parties are following the MOA and that their expectations are being met. In rare cases, interns are terminated for failing to perform job duties or failing to deposit half of their check. 5
6. Follow up After the intern has completed 100 hours of work, their internship ends. The intern completes an exit interview and self-assesses their understanding of what they ve learned focusing on the key behaviors of entrepreneurship and personal finance we ve established for our program. They complete the same key behaviors survey that was completed when they turned in their information form so Four Bands can track their progress. Interns receive a certificate of completion and participate in an awards ceremony Four Bands conducts periodically to announce and celebrate youth entrepreneur intern accomplishments. When a former youth intern is ready to purchase their asset, he or she contacts Four Bands. Necessary forms are completed and the former youth intern invests in their asset-producing goal. Former interns are contacted annually to keep track of their progress and evaluate ways to improve the program. They fill out the key behaviors survey again and answer other questions about their life after the internship. Intern sponsors complete a separate exit interview that allows Four Bands to evaluate the process and make changes to respond to what we learn. We track their satisfaction with the program and gauge their interest in continuing to serve as a sponsor site. Intern sponsors also receive a certificate in recognition of their service to the community. Tools Four Bands uses a range of tools to support our Customer Service Delivery Model. We have included examples of tools discussed in this section as attachments. a) Outreach Tools Marketing materials for this program include flyers placed in the schools, the Wicoicage Sakowin kin un Wicakagapi (Building for the Seventh Generation) Youth Entrepreneur Internship brochure, and a letter sent to potential intern sponsor sites. Flyers include information about the internship, explaining that students will be placed in local businesses and earn money, a portion of which is saved to purchase an asset. The brochure goes into further detail, outlining asset choices, giving income guidelines, and discussing training requirements. The letter sent to potential intern sponsor sites introduces the program. It explains that sites would be responsible for supervision and training, and that Four Bands is responsible for compensating the intern. It asks them to consider hosting an intern and informs them of the steps necessary to have an intern placed at their business. b) Youth Information Form The youth information form is an adaptation of the information form we require of all new clients. It helps us track gender and ethnicity, contact information, and other important data points. It also serves as the application form for our internship program, and includes an interest survey that helps our staff match interns to sponsor sites. Youth also complete a key 6
behaviors survey. We ask youth to complete this survey at different stages of their learning experience so we can track their progress. c) Intern Sponsor Information Form/Scope of Work Worksheet In addition to submitting an information form, sponsor sites submit a written scope of work they create with the help of our scope of work worksheet. Four Bands has determined key behaviors of personal finance and entrepreneurship that we aim to teach in our Wicoicage Sakowin kin un Wicakagapi program. We ask the intern sponsor sites to use job activities to help teach the key behaviors of entrepreneurship, while the key behaviors of personal finance are taught in our training modules. d) Youth Entrepreneur Internship Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) The youth entrepreneur internship MOA discusses contact persons, time of performance, and responsibilities of Four Bands, the youth entrepreneur intern, the internship sponsor, and the intern parent or legal guardian. All four parties sign the agreement. e) Youth Entrepreneur Internship Personal Release Form In addition to the MOA, youth sign a personal release form. This release allows Four Bands to use photographs, videos and other media to tell the story of success youth interns. f) Youth Entrpreneur Internship Program Evaluation Release Form The program evaluation release form is signed by youth and allows us to evaluate and analyze their participation in the program. g) Youth Entrepreneur Internship Program Policies Youth read and sign IDA program policy forms. These forms outline the IDA program, set expectations for personal finance and asset-related training, and outline policies regarding the match funds. Youth identify their asset and complete the paperwork necessary to open a joint savings account with Four Bands. Having Four Bands name on the account allows us to monitor deposits and make sure the funds remain in the account. Four Bands has a provision to make a withdrawal for an emergency, but we do not promote this exception and have used it in only very special circumstances. h) Training Evaluation Forms Training materials, and the websites where materials are available, are identified earlier in this document in the training portion of the process steps section. Each of the personal finance training modules are self-study books with tests that are completed by the intern. Interns that are 18 years or older who complete the Credit When Credit Is Due book have cards sent to each 7
of the credit reporting agencies, with a request to place language on their credit reports stating that they have passed this test. The customer service training also includes tests to gauge knowledge. When interns and sponsor sites complete their training, they receive a certificate of completion. The training also meets the requirements for the employee hospitality training component of the Great Service Star program. Great Service Star designation from the state recognizes businesses that complete a set of hospitality training for their employees. Each intern also completes training targeted at their asset-producing goal, enabling youth to build skills needed to support their asset further education, a new business, the purchase or renovation of a home. After each training, the intern completes an evaluation form that helps us evaluate the effectiveness of the training. i) Youth Exit Interview and Key Behaviors Survey When the interns have completed their hours, Four Bands works with them to complete a youth exit interview and key behaviors survey. These two documents serve as the major evaluation pieces for the project. They gauge how students have learned key behaviors as a result of their internship and ask students what they plan to do in the future that will utilize their skills. j) Intern Sponsor Exit Interview Intern sponsors also complete an exit interview that helps Four Bands gauge their satisfaction with their experience. It helps us make programmatic changes that will increase the efficacy of the internship experience. k) Certificates of Completion Youth interns and intern sponsor sites both receive a certificate of completion when the internship is over. For most of the interns, the internship is their first job, and we want to acknowledge the important step that they have made. We also want to commend our local businesses for participating in this program and sharing their knowledge with the youth. l) Youth Asset Purchase Forms When the youth is ready to purchase their asset, they complete the asset purchase forms. This paperwork allows the bank to release funds from the youth s savings account. It also directs us to process a check for the match funds. Both funds are always sent directly to the vendor. For example, a youth saving for education would have his or her check sent directly to the college to pay tuition expenses. m) Youth Entrepreneur Internship Follow Up The final paperwork for a completed youth entrepreneur intern is the follow up. We ask youth to fill us in on activities they ve undertaken since their internship ended. We ask them to 8
reflect on their internship experience one year out. We also ask them to complete the key behaviors survey a final time to update their progress. CONCLUSION Youth entrepreneur internships are an important component of the Wicoicage Sakowin kin un Wicakagapi program. Youth build life skills in areas of personal finance and entrepreneurship. Their savings are matched, allowing them to purchase an asset that was previously out of reach. Most importantly, they do these things while they are young, learning skills that will help keep them from making ill-informed decisions later in life. Deedrah Seth, one of our first interns, said of her experience: I used to just spend money right away, but completing the personal finance course really opened my eyes to the benefits of saving and budgeting while I m still young. Four Bands has learned the importance of working closely with the youth, from recruitment through the follow up stages. For many, the internship experience is their first job. It is important to stress work ethic and job performance. Expectations must be clearly outlined and continually stressed. We re pleased to report that the lessons learned during this internship seem to be helping youth that have completed this program. Some youth have used their internship experience to build their resume and have taken another job. Many youth are continuing to save money from allowances, babysitting, and other income sources. And most importantly, youth are using their matched savings to pursue asset-producing goals. We re proud to report that most of our interns have committed to saving for further education, and some are already attending college with the help of their IDA savings. We ve included the stories of three successful interns. We look forward to creating success stories for many more interns as they graduate high school and look to their future. Attachments a) Marketing Materials: Flyers, Brochure, Intern Sponsor Letter b) Youth Information Form c) Intern Sponsor Information Form/Scope of Work Worksheet d) Youth Entrepreneur Internship Memorandum of Agreement e) Youth Entrepreneur Internship Personal Release Form f) Youth Entrpreneur Internship Program Evaluation Release Form g) Youth Entrepreneur Internship Program Policies h) Training Evaluation Forms i) Youth Exit Interview and Key Behaviors Survey j) Intern Sponsor Exit Interview k) Certificates of Completion l) Youth Asset Purchase Forms m) Youth Entrepreneur Internship Follow Up n) Success Stories: Jesselyn Cloud( 07), Deedrah Seth ( 07) and Alli Moran ( 08) 9
Attachment A: Marketing Materials 10
11
12
Attachment B: Youth Information Form 13
14
15
16
17
Attachment C: Intern Sponsor Information Form/Scope of Work Worksheet 18
19
20
Attachment D: Youth Entrepreneur Internship Memorandum of Agreement 21
22
23
24
25
Attachment E: Youth Entrepreneur Internship Personal Release Form 26
Attachment F: Youth Entrepreneur Internship Program Evaluation Release Form 27
Attachment G: Youth Entrepreneur Internship Program Policies 28
29
30
31
32
33
Attachment H: Training Evaluation Forms 34
35
36
Attachment I: Youth Exit Interview and Key Behaviors Survey 37
38
39
40
Attachment J: Intern Sponsor Exit Interview 41
Attachment K: Certificates of Completion 42
Attachment L: Youth Asset Purchase Forms 43
44
45
Attachment M: Youth Entrepreneur Internship Follow Up 46
47
48
Attachment N: Success Stories 49
50
51