This Act provides seed money to state and local partnerships to bring together educational reform, workforce development and economic development efforts to raise academic standards and help youth successfully prepare for careers and higher education. Prior to the enactment of the Workforce Investment Act, two separate funding streams were provided to states for summer employment and year-round activities for youth. Consistent with the idea of a coordinated approach for providing youth services, the Act merges these two separate streams into one in an effort to facilitate the offering of a broad array of services to youth in local areas. The Summer Youth jobs program, funded through the Department of Labor, provides jobs to young people from low-income families in urban and rural areas. Nearly 495,000 young people, mainly 14 and 15-year olds, found public sector jobs last summer.
Summer jobs are especially important for minority youth living in high poverty neighborhoods.
More than 48 percent of the youth participating in the program in 1998 were also enrolled in academic enrichment activities. The Department of Labor is urging private businesses to become involved with the Summer Youth program and offers a technical assistance guide to help communities get businesses involved in creating summer jobs. In addition, approximately 130,000 young people participated in year-round programs, offering training, education, work experience, and leadership development. To find the DOL programs in your area, please see Get Connected. Comments relating to policy will not be acted upon.