Summer
Jobs Program
I joined Congressman William Lacy Clay to announce his supplemental
federal appropriation of $536,000 that will help the City of St.
Louis create 300 new summer jobs for young people. Joining us
for the announcement were Police Chief Joe Mokwa; Dr. Henry Givens,
President, Harris-Stowe State University; Malik Ahmed, President
& CEO, Better Family Life; and Tom Jones, Executive Director,
St. Louis Agency on Training & Employment.
Interested young people can apply for the summer jobs by attending
Congressman Clay’s 3rd Annual Career Fair, at 9:30 a.m. Monday,
May 19 at Harris-Stowe State University. SLATE, St. Louis Agency
on Training and Employment, will coordinate youth job programs
this summer.
A special feature of the new summer jobs program is entitled,
“Project Youth Pathways,” an initiative that will focus on distressed
neighborhoods in Northwest St. Louis. The summer jobs program
is open to young people, ages 16-24, in both the City of St. Louis
and St. Louis County.
Giving a “thumbs up” for creating summer
jobs for area youths are (from left): Congressman William Lacy
Clay; Dr. Henry Givens of Harris-Stowe State University; Mayor
Francis G. Slay; and Tom Jones, Executive Director of SLATE. (Photo
by Gentry Trotter)
With summer coming soon, connecting young people with job opportunities
that teach responsibility and discipline is a top priority. This
is truly an exciting occasion for us and for the young people
of the City of St. Louis.
The statistics regarding the economy as a whole and the youth
in our city and nation are staggering:
Recent reports have shown that nationally the overall unemployment
rate has risen to 4.8% and that the U.S. economy lost 63,000 jobs
last month alone.
In the St. Louis area the unemployment rate is 5.1% and our local
economy has suffered from the recent Chrysler and pending layoffs
at Macy’s.
Nationally, the unemployment rate among 16 to 19 year-olds is
17%, but for African-American youth ages 16 to 19 the national
unemployment rate is at 31.7%
With statistics like these you can see why initiatives like this
are so important to our youth and to our local economy.
Data has shown that introducing youth to the world of work early
in their lives has some significant and very positive results:
Young people who engage in summer jobs tend to perform better
in school and tend to remain in school. Early work experience
raises earnings over a lifetime by 10 – 20 percent.
There are other positive social implications to engaging youth
in summer jobs. Law enforcement often sees an increase in juvenile
violence during the summer months when schools are out.
Participation in a summer jobs program can help reduce criminal
and high-risk behavior for youth and an increase in the availability
of summer jobs will help steer youths off the dangerous path to
gang participation and violent crime.
Summer youth jobs can also have a significant impact on our local
economy:
The money will go to local economies;
Summer jobs will provide an immediate stimulus to local economies.
Working teens will spend the money they earn in their communities;
Summer jobs help supplement the income of families living in
poverty; and
Our community will benefit when young people are engaged productively
during the summer, providing much-needed services in hospitals,
day care centers, senior centers, parks and public and private
organizations.
As Mayor and Chair of the Jobs, Education, and Workforce Committee
of the U.S. Conference of Mayors, I have long supported the need
for a national summer jobs program for youth. I want to thank
Congressman Clay for his efforts to bring these needed funds to
our community. However, we cannot stop here. I am sending a letter
of support for legislation introduced last week by Senator Patty
Murray of Washington State – the Summer Jobs Stimulus Act of 2008
– which authorizes $1 billion for a summer jobs program for this
summer. This would provide additional funding and more jobs for
our area youth. I encourage you to support this type of legislation.
