Showing Workforce Development + Youth Development + Literacy.

How Workforce Development, Youth Development and Literacy Intersect

In Charlotte and across the Carolinas, schools, job programs and youth programs have separate budgets and separate offices. In a person's life, they are one journey. A young person who reads with confidence can do more in school. That same teen can finish a job application without a roadblock and handle the online portals that stand between a worker and a first shift. When one foundation is shaky, the others feel it. This report shows how the three connect, and where earlier, joined-up help changes the path.

Literacyreading as the gateway skillWorkforce Developmentpathways to workYouth Developmentrelationships and youth opportunity
Literacy and Workforce Development: Job applications are the first test
Literacy and Youth Development: Literacy skills show up in real roles
Workforce Development and Youth Development: The handoff after a placement ends
Where all three meet: where daily life compounds

Where all three meet: where daily life compounds

  1. Literacy and Workforce Development: Job applications are the first test
  2. Youth Development and Literacy: Literacy skills show up in real roles
  3. Workforce Development and Youth Development: The handoff after a placement ends
01

Literacy + Workforce Development

Job applications are the first test

Applying for most jobs in the Charlotte region means reading a posting, writing screener answers, uploading a resume and finishing onboarding forms online. ProLiteracy reports that about 59 million U.S. adults read at or below the lowest PIAAC literacy levels. Many are working or trying to enter work. Training programs often assume reading and digital skills that some adult learners are still building, so the hurdle grows.

02

Youth Development + Literacy

Literacy skills show up in real roles

Youth programs give reading and writing a real purpose. A young person might email a supervisor, follow workplace instructions or fill out a program application. That is practice in context, not a classroom drill. The reverse also holds. If an application, schedule or online portal hides a reading barrier, it quietly shrinks who can take part. Plain-language forms and help finishing them open doors without treating a young person as lacking.

03

Youth Development + Workforce Development

The handoff after a placement ends

The City of Charlotte describes the Mayor's Youth Employment Program as paid work experience for high school students ages 16 and up. Nearly 1,200 applications were reported for Summer 2026. A first workplace gives a teen routines, feedback and adults to learn from. The key question comes when the job ends. Does the young person leave with a reference, a next contact and a clearer idea of what training comes next?

How one gap can turn into a pattern

  1. 01

    A reading gap goes unaddressed

    A young person reaches high school without strong reading or digital skills, and no one steps in.

  2. 02

    Barriers to taking part appear

    Online portals and job postings assume skills that not every young person has built yet.

  3. 03

    A first job has no follow-through

    A summer placement ends without a reference or a clear next step to build on.

  4. 04

    The credential gap widens

    With no supported next step, the young adult enters the job market at the bottom.

Plain-language forms, help getting into programs, and planned handoffs after youth job placements can break this cycle at its first three steps.

By the numbers

  • 53%53% of CMS students in grades 3-8 are at or above grade level for reading comprehension
  • 3.43.4 percent unemployment rate in the Charlotte region
  • 1,2001,200 teens applied for summer jobs in 2026 through the Mayor’s Youth Employment Program (MYEP)
  • 72.3%72.3% of K-2 students in CMS placed at or above early literacy benchmark in 2024-25

Folio links, articles, and reports

Sources & methodology15 referenced sources

Based on fftc:FWD Folio material for these topics, ProLiteracy national data and City of Charlotte program information, with broader context on how the issues connect.

AI assists with organizing and explaining selected fftc:FWD source material. It does not replace review by FFTC staff or the judgment of residents and civic partners.