Receipts: Youth Records Fellowship
We read what they hope you won't.
Receipts is a paid, year-long fellowship where Toledo teens investigate how public money and public decisions work, then publish what they find as short videos and source-linked explainers. Find the receipt. Show the receipt. Explain the receipt.
Like everything we do, Receipts is nonpartisan. Fellows explain what the records say and never tell anyone how to vote.
At a glance
Paid work. Real beats. Published under your own name.
8 to 10 Toledo teens per season, ages 15 to 21
One school year, run as a season of about 30 weeks
About 6 paid hours a week: one evening session plus independent work
$15 an hour, paid every two weeks
A Toledo Lucas County Public Library branch
Published cases: short videos, source-linked explainers, and public records requests
Season Zero pilot, February to May 2027. Season One begins September 2027
The idea
A new model of local journalism, run by the people who will inherit Toledo.
- 01
Records first
Every investigation starts with public documents: budgets, contracts, agendas, audits, board minutes. Every published claim links to its source, and the source document appears on screen in the video.
- 02
Creator native
The main output is 60 to 90 second vertical video for TikTok, Reels, and Shorts, the formats young people already live on. The full explainer lives here on monakproject.org.
- 03
Youth as investigators, not interns
Fellows are paid from week one, carry press passes, own real beats, and publish under their own bylines.
- 04
Impact measured in the room
Success is counted not only in views, but in records requests filed and in how often fellows' work is cited by press or raised at a public meeting.
How it works
Pairs and desks.
Fellows work in pairs, and each pair staffs one desk for the season. Pairs share a creator kit: phone gimbal, wireless mics, ring light, and an editing app. Investigations are organized as numbered cases, not assignments. Every case has a question, a records request, and a reveal. Residents submit questions through the Receipts Queue, and monthly pitch meetings decide which cases the crew takes on.
Schools
Toledo Public Schools board votes, levies, budgets, staffing, and facilities. Explains what each school ballot measure would actually do.
City Hall
Toledo City Council votes, ordinances, contracts, and development decisions. Plain-language summaries before and after key votes.
Neighborhood
Housing, demolition, parks, infrastructure, and vacant properties. Shows residents where public money went on their own blocks.
Money
City and school budgets, audits, grants, and capital projects. Follows dollars from approval to outcome.
Youth
Youth employment, recreation, transportation, and policies affecting young people.
The season
Thirty weeks in three phases.
Fall: Learn it
Fellows learn to read budgets and salary scales, the basics of public records law, how to cite every source, and camera and editing fundamentals. AI tools are taught with one standing rule: AI can help you find the receipt. AI is never the receipt.
Winter: Work it
Each pair owns its desk live. Pairs file records requests through our Records Desk, cover votes for Vote Watch, and ship a short video per case. The youth participatory budgeting process opens.
Spring: Ship it
Each fellow completes one major case. Desks deliver formal presentations to public bodies. The participatory budgeting vote and awards happen. The season ends with a finale screening, families invited.
The Decision Room Pipeline
Investigation without a path to power teaches cynicism.
So the pipeline is built in. Three stages carry fellows from findings into the rooms where decisions are made.
- 01
Present the receipt
Each desk delivers its findings as a formal 10-minute presentation to the body that controls the money: a scheduled agenda item, not a three-minute public-comment slot. Data packets go to members in advance.
- 02
Youth participatory budgeting
Fellows run a real budgeting process with a $12,000 fund they fully control. They solicit proposals from Toledo youth ages 14 to 21, write the judging criteria, vote, award the money, then track every dollar and publish a public report on what it did.
- 03
Youth advisor seats
Two fellows who complete the season become Youth Advisors for a full year, one to the TPS board and one to a city council committee, under a written charter. Every written recommendation gets a written response within 30 days.
The power is in the paper trail: a public body must answer a young person's recommendation in writing, on the record.
What fellows walk away with
More than a line on a resume.
Real income
About 180 paid hours over the season, roughly $2,700.
A public portfolio
Published videos and explainers under their own byline.
Transferable skills
Research, public records law basics, writing, on-camera presenting, video editing, and public speaking.
A strong reference
A letter from MKP's Executive Director, a senior recruiter who has hired hundreds of people.
A network
Introductions to journalists, public officials, and employers met through the work.
A path
Alumni can become Senior Fellows, Youth Editors, paid summer interns, and Youth Advisors. And every graduating fellow keeps their mic.
Safeguards
Fellows first. Accuracy second. Nothing else close.
- 01
All public records requests are filed in MKP's name, never a fellow's.
- 02
Videos post on MKP's accounts only. Fellows may share them but are never required to.
- 03
Being on camera is optional. Fellows can research, narrate, or edit instead.
- 04
Parent or guardian consent covers participation, filming, and publishing for anyone under 18.
- 05
Background checks for every adult who works directly with fellows. No one-on-one adult and minor meetings in private spaces.
- 06
Nothing publishes without a second review and the Executive Director's sign-off. Fellows explain what the records say; they take no positions and make no voting recommendations.
No program funds are used for voter registration, lobbying, or partisan activity. Corrections are posted openly on our corrections page.
Who it serves
No experience needed.
Receipts recruits teens who need the paycheck and the adult in their corner, not only those already headed to college. Toledo high school students ages 15 to 18, with reserved seats for 18 to 21 year olds who are out of school and not working. No writing samples, no grade minimums, no prior video work. We look for curiosity, reliability, and a willingness to show up for a full season. At least half of each cohort is recruited from underinvested Toledo neighborhoods.
Get on the list
Season Zero recruits in January 2027.
Teens, parents, teachers, mentors, and funders: tell us who you are and we will reach out when applications open. Funders and partners can also read the full program document on request.
Questions? Email hello@monakproject.org.