2,500 Youth Summer Jobs Announced

Council President Darrel Clarke, PYN President Chekemma Fulmore-Townsend, State Senator Vincent Hughes, Governor Wolf’s Chief of Staff Katie McGinty and Deputy Mayor Mike DiBerardinis

What will the city do about the 46,000 teens and young adults who are not enrolled in school and not working?

Well, today, on the first day of summer for public school students, local and state officials announced that 2,500 new paid jobs will be created this summer for Philadelphians ages 12 to 24, particularly those living in low-income and high-poverty areas. The new jobs are part of a statewide initiative that’s being created with $7.5 million in funding from TANF and federal money, the latter tacked to President Obama’s efforts to secure summer jobs for low-income youth.

Out of that total, $4.4 million are allocated to Philly and will go a long way towards reaching Mayor Nutter’s goal of creating 10,000 jobs for youth this summer.

Of course, that’s a mere drop in the bucket for the metro region overall — which has more than 107,000 youth and teens not working nor enrolled in school — but it will foster a lot more opportunities for kids to work at community centers, with small businesses or as lifeguards this summer.

Officials at the podium for the announcement included City Council President Darrell Clarke, City Councilman Kenyatta Johnson, Governor Wolf’s Chief of Staff Katie McGinty, State Senator Vincent Hughes and President of the Philadelphia Youth Network