Lynn, Salem receive $242.6G youth jobs grant

LYNN – Lynn and Salem received a combined $242,598 in state funds Wednesday to connect 72 at-risk youth with jobs and educational opportunities.Secretary of Labor and Workforce Development Suzanne M. Bump said the Lynn and Salem grants were part of a $3.3 million funding package that aims to provide opportunities to 1,800 youth statewide.The North Shore Workforce Investment Board will partner with the two cities, area schools and youth servicing agencies to determine how the grants are dispersed.Bump also announced the expansion of the state’s YouthWorks summer jobs program so that it encompasses year-round employment opportunities.The expansion translates to the hiring and training over 330 youth in a dozen communities, between the ages of 14 and 21, for jobs that include the winter season. These jobs are in addition to the more than 2,800 at-risk youth who found jobs through the summer program last year.”This funding represents Gov. Deval Patrick’s commitment to our youth and to raising the hopes and skills of young people in the commonwealth by giving them the opportunity to work and to earn,” said Bump. “We know that the single greatest predictor of holding a job as an adult is holding a job as a teenager, and that is why we must do everything possible now to put our youth on a path that will lead to academic success and greater lifetime earnings.”Mary Sarris, executive director of the North Shore Workforce Investment Board, said the funds would be used in concert with businesses and other youth-serving organizations.Sarris said the overall goal is “helping teens to make the transition to adult empowerment, creating more productive citizens, filling the workforce needs of our businesses, and strengthening the North Shore’s cities.”Jobs are particularly important for teenagers since data shows that a lack of workplace experience hampers future employability and wage growth, especially for youth who do not go on to college after finishing high school, Bump said.Statewide, the percentage of teens in the labor force has declined dramatically from 57 percent in 1999 to 48 percent in 2006. The employment rate of teenagers declined from 53 percent in 1999 to 39 percent in 2006.”These changes are even larger in the state’s larger cities, and among low-income families,” Bump said.Programs designed to address these issues include YouthWorks, Pathways to Success, and Bridging the Opportunity Gap.