City's job program for teens gets a lift
Grant to fund training in skills now in demand
The City of Boston is developing a job training program in an effort to stem the increasing number of young men from low-income Boston neighorhoods who are not in school and do not have steady work.
Mayor Thomas M. Menino has set aside $200,000 in federal grant money for the program, which will focus on training 18- to 24-year-olds for careers in food service, transportation, and logistics or the marine and building trades.
The training programs, expected to be announced today, represent a significant expansion of existing city programs for young people. The current programs provide job and career placement and high school equivalency assistance, but no training.
Two years ago in Boston, about 4,578 residents between the ages of 16 and 24 were unemployed and not enrolled in school, according to a study by Northeastern University. City officials say that a majority of those residents were young men and suspect that in today's economy, that number is rising.
"We cannot afford to leave these young people behind," Menino said in a statement yesterday. "It is important for Boston, for our economy, and for the quality of life here to make sure we find a way for these young people to be part of our productive workforce."
The city's Office for Jobs and Community Services is currently looking for an outside company or institution to provide the training and hopes to start the program in January.
Planning began about six months ago after city officials realized that thousands of young men needed job training but were not receiving it.
Community leaders praised the new training program yesterday, saying it fills a critical need in the city.
"It's a specific need that everyone points to," said Jorge Martinez, executive director of Project RIGHT, a community group that supports youth-focused initiatives in Grove Hall. "I'm very glad there'll be the additional resources."
The program will focus on developing the skills of young men with high-school degrees and try to train them for specific industries that need workers, said Connie Doty, executive director of the Office of Jobs and Community Services. She said it will also provide mentoring for participants.
Research by the Northeastern University Center for Labor Market Studies shows that employment opportunities for young people nationally have been more adversely affected by the economic downturn than those for adults 25 and older.
Between 2000 and 2007, the employment rate of 16- to 19-year-olds with just a high school diploma dropped 9.5 percent and 4.8 percent among 20- to 24-year-olds with just a high school diploma. This compares with a drop of 2.1 percent among adult high school graduates over 25 years of age.
The average teen employment rate among 16- to 19-year-olds nationwide in 2007 reached an all-time low of 34.8 percent. In the first three months of 2008, the rate declined further to 33.5 percent, the lowest ever recorded in the 60 years during which this data have been collected.
"To have any population idle, when they don't want to be idle, that's just not a good thing," Doty said.
The social costs for the city down the road would be high, including increased crime, homelessness, hunger, and, overall, a slowed economy, she said. "We need everybody in the work force to keep the economy going forward."
Donovan Slack can be reached at dslack@globe.com. 