| Summertime
Blues: Nearly 15,000 Fewer Summer Jobs for Teens
Despite
an increase of $8 million in city funds for the Summer Youth Employment
Program (SYEP), 14,848 fewer New York City teens were able to
secure jobs compared to last summer. The program, which provides
jobs and wages for tens of thousands of low-income youth each
summer, has experienced considerable funding uncertainty since
July 2000 when the federal Workforce Investment Act (WIA) went
into effect and eliminated funds dedicated specifically to summer
jobs for youth. Now, opportunities to stabilize the program are
emerging – pending legislation in Albany would create a state-sponsored
summer jobs program, and WIA is up for reauthorization by Congress
in 2003.
Roughly 35,000 teens started work this month under the program,
which is administered by the city’s Department of Employment (DOE).
The department budgeted $44 million for this summer’s program,
including $11 million in federal WIA dollars, $15 million in state
Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) dollars, and $18
million in city tax-levy dollars. Funding for last summer’s program
totaled $60 million.
The youth are placed in jobs at day camps, senior centers, hospitals,
and other community service centers, as well as at some city agencies.
Each youth employment slot is budgeted at $1,257 this year. Participants
are expected to work six hours per day, four days per week for
seven weeks, and they are paid the minimum wage ($5.15 per hour).
The youth earn about $865 each for the summer.
Legislation has been introduced in Albany to establish a permanent
and stand-alone New York State summer youth employment program.#
Independent
Budget Office (IBO).
Education
Update, Inc., P.O. Box 20005, New York, NY 10001.
Tel: (212) 481-5519. Fax: (212) 481-3919.Email: ednews1@aol.com.
All material is copyrighted and may not be printed without express
consent of the publisher. © 2002.
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