The federal government has long played a role in helping vulnerable young people secure employment and achieve academic success through job training and employment programs, including summer youth employment opportunities. These programs have sought to increase youth employment, educational attainment, and other positive outcomes. In some years, hundreds of thousands of youth have participated in the programs. The enactment of the Workforce Investment Act (WIA, P.L. 105-220 ) in 1998 marked the first time since 1964 that states and localities did not receive funding explicitly for summer employment programs for vulnerable youth. However, the law requires that local areas funded under its Youth Activities (Youth) program provide summer employment opportunities as one of 10 elements available to low-income youth with barriers to employment. The economic downturn that began in December 2007 increased focus on the summer employment component, especially given recent evidence that employment for youth during the summer is at record lows. In February 2009, President Obama signed into law the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 ( P.L. 111-5 , ARRA, Recovery Act). One of the stated purposes of ARRA was to preserve existing jobs and create new jobs. To this end, the law appropriated $1.2 billion for the Youth program. The law emphasized that funds should be spent on summer youth employment opportunities, as well as year-round employment activities for older youth. This report provides an overview of efforts to employ youth during the summer months, particularly under the Recovery Act, and the issues surrounding these efforts. Appendix A provides descriptions of terms applicable to the WIA Youth program and Appendix B discusses evaluations of past stand-alone summer youth programs that were federally funded. Since 1964, the federal government has funded job training and employment programs for youth, including programs specifically targeted at youth during the summer months. The purpose of these summer programs was often both to employ youth and to assist them in maintaining the academic gains they made during the previous school year. Generally, these young people were eligible to participate if they were economically disadvantaged and had a barrier to securing employment or completing their education. Four laws that preceded WIA provided funding specifically for summer youth employment programs (see Appendix B for a summary of research on these programs). The enactment of WIA in 1998 marked the first time in decades that states and localities did not receive funding for stand-alone summer employment programs for vulnerable youth. However, all local areas must provide summer employment opportunities as part of their WIA Youth programs. The economic recession of December 2007 through June 2009 heightened attention about the role of the federal and state governments in supporting workers who have been laid off or are at risk of being laid off. Youth are particularly vulnerable to problems with securing and retaining jobs during downturns in the economy. Labor market participation by youth, as well as adults, is the most readily available and reliable indicator of interest in working. Generally, increasing labor force participation indicates greater interest in working, while decreasing labor force participation indicates declining or non-interest in working. Changes in labor force participation rates, however, are not perfect indicators of individual or collective interest in working. For example, labor force participation may decline because individuals become discouraged about job prospects and give up looking for work. During the summer, when teens are most likely to have jobs, the rate of employment has decreased steeply in recent years. In July 2000, just under half (44.1%) of all teens were employed, compared to 26.8% in July 2012. The July 2012 employment rate is the third lowest it has been during the post-World War II period. According to the research literature, the declining rate of teen employment overall appears to be attributable to rising levels of joblessness and not to a declining interest in employment among teens. Possible consequences of reduced work among teens are reduced employment, earnings, and labor productivity in the future, and less output in the economy. Similarly, the employment rates of young adults ages 20 through 24 have declined steadily. Among males ages 20 through 24, the average employment rate was 61.2% in July 2012, which represents about a 17% decrease from July 2000 when the employment rate was 71.7%. The Youth Activities program is authorized by WIA and is the primary source of federal funding for youth employment and job training activities, including summer employment opportunities, targeted to vulnerable youth. A youth is eligible for Youth Activities if he or she is age 14 through 21, is a low-income individual, and has one or more of the following barriers: he or she is deficient in basic literacy skills; a school dropout; homeless, a runaway, or a foster child; pregnant or parenting; or an offender; or in need of additional assistance to complete an educational program or to secure and hold employment. At least 30% of all Youth Activities funds must be used for activities for out-of-school youth, or youth who have dropped out or have received a high school diploma or its equivalent but are basic-skills deficient, unemployed, or underemployed. The purpose of the Youth Activities program is to facilitate job training, employment, and educational attainment for select youth. The Youth Activities formula grant is distributed by the Department of Labor (DOL) to state workforce investment boards (WIBs), based on the unemployment and poverty status of youth in each state. State WIBs coordinate workforce services for a state. As part of their oversight of these services, the state WIB creates a five-year state plan that addresses several items related to employment and training needs and activities, as well as performance and accountability. State WIBs distribute Youth Activities funds to local WIBs, which oversee workforce services in a particular area of a state. Among other activities, each local board must establish what is known as a "youth council," comprised of representatives that assist the WIB in awarding grants or contracts to providers that carry out youth workforce activities. WIA is silent on the types of entities that may be contracted to provide services for youth. However, local WIBs tend to award grants or contracts to a number of entities, including secondary schools, colleges or universities, and community organizations to carry out a local youth program for each local area overseen by a WIB. Workforce programs carried out by local WIBs must provide 10 activities or "elements" to youth. The elements pertain to summer employment, educational achievement, employment services, leadership development activities, additional support for youth services, and follow-up services for 12 months. The 10 program elements are summarized in Table A -2 of Appendix A . Local WIBs have the option of also providing "other elements and strategies as appropriate to the needs and goals of the participants." Separately, a one-stop system is established by a local WIB to coordinate employment and training services for adult job seekers, dislocated workers, and youth. Approximately 20 federal programs must provide services through the one-stop system, either by co-location, electronic linkages, or referrals. The local youth program is a required partner, and must use a portion of its funds to create and maintain the one-stop delivery system. The local program enters into a memorandum of understanding with the local WIB relating to the operation of the one-stop, among other requirements. Congress has appropriated funding for Youth Activities since FY2000, the first year WIA was implemented. Authorization for funding WIA programs expired with the end of FY2003; however, Congress has continued to appropriate funds for the programs since this time. As shown in Table 1 , funding for Youth Activities has ranged from about $824.4 million to $1.1 billion in each of FY2000 through FY2012, except in FY2009. The total appropriation for FY2009 was $2.1 billion, including $924.1 million plus $1.2 billion appropriated under the Recovery Act. In the accompanying conference report to ARRA, Congress specified that funds should be used for summer youth employment and to expand year-round employment opportunities for youth up to age 24 (from age 21, as generally required under WIA). Funding for FY2013 is provided under the Continuing Appropriations Resolution, 2013 (P.L. 112-175) through March 27, 2013. This six-month extension generally provides an increase of 0.612% over the FY2012 level for most discretionary programs. As required under P.L. 112-175, DOL submitted the department's operating plan to the House and Senate Appropriations Committees for funding FY2013 programs through March 27, 2013. DOL did not calculate funding for Youth Activities because funds appropriated for FY2012 cover program operations through March 30, 2013. FY2013 funding that is available beyond March 30, 2013, will be used to fund the program from April 1, 2013, through March 30, 2014. Of the $1.2 billion that Congress appropriated for the WIA Youth program under ARRA, $1.182 billion was available for youth programming and $12 million was available for administrative purposes. (Another $5.8 million was made available to the Department of the Interior for grants for Native American Youth.) According to DOL, of the $1.182 billion, all of the funds have been expended. States are not required to report costs related to summer youth employment; however, according to an audit by the DOL Inspector General, approximately 40% of ARRA funds expended through September 30, 2010, was for summer employment opportunities. Funds made available for the WIA Youth program under ARRA were available through PY2010 (June 30, 2011). For the purposes of the summer youth component, youth were eligible to participate in summer activities from May 1 through September 30 (except in 2011,when youth could participate through the month of June). DOL has stated that it was the intent of both Congress and the department to have used a majority of the ARRA funds within the first year after they were made available.