By Kathy Amoroso
March 9, 2009

Over 150 workforce development professionals from more than 100 cities across the nation participated in The U.S. Conference of Mayors Workforce Development Council’s Maximizing the New Federal Youth Dollars: How to Quickly Implement a Successful Summer Jobs Program workshop February 24-25 in St. Louis. Hosted by St. Louis Mayor Francis Slay, Chair of the Conference of Mayors Standing Committee on Jobs, Education and the Workforce, the workshop was designed to help them quickly and efficiently implement the $1.2 billion in youth job training funding in the recently passed American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA).

Slay welcomed the workshop participants by stressing the importance of Summer Jobs for youth. “Summer Jobs are essential to give our young people experience in the workforce at a time when a positive experience can help shape their plans for the future. Summer Jobs help our kids build a solid foundation of skills and habits so that when they enter the college or the full-time workforce they understand what work is all about,” he said.

Slay further emphasized the youth employment investment in ARRA as crucial to stimulating the economy and building more youth opportunities under the Workforce Investment Act (WIA). “The new Economic Recovery Act appropriates $1.2 billion in funding specifically for youth job training. Until the Economic Recovery Act was passed, it was very difficult to use Workforce Investment Act funds for Summer Jobs,” he said.

Greg Weltz, Chief of the Division of Youth Services at the Department of Labor’s Employment and Training Administration, spoke on how to best utilize the stimulus funding for youth training under WIA – stressing the development of Green Jobs training programs. He acknowledged the legislative constraints on youth programming under WIA, and the call for greater flexibility from local workforce stakeholders in spending the stimulus dollars on youth programming. “We heard from all the stakeholders that flexibility around Summer Jobs program design, assessment and eligibility determination were key and we are absolutely considering that as we develop our guidelines for implementation of the ARRA youth funding.”

The 150 participants then attended workshops on how to build quality summer jobs programs. Program Design, Performance, Monitoring and Evaluation featured presenters Karen Sitnick, Director of the Mayor’s Office of Employment Development in Baltimore, and Lisa Salazar, Director of OneSource Youth Opportunity System in Los Angeles. It covered topics such as worksite selection, child labor laws, academic remediation, and monitoring and evaluation. Program Planning and Staffing, presented by Conny Doty, Director of Jobs and Community Services in Boston, included examples of activity timelines and budgeting procedures. It also featured discussions on hiring staff, worksite supervisor training, payroll timesheet systems, and insurance. Finally, Marketing and Outreach, presented by Clyde McQueen, President and CEO of the Full Employment Council in Kansas City (MO), helped participants explore best places to find youth participants and gain support from elected officials and the business community in their cities. Additionally, it gave examples of marketing themes and materials as well as suggestions on how to memorialize program accomplishments through celebratory events.

best places to find youth participants and gain support from elected officials and the business community in their cities. Additionally, it gave examples of marketing themes and materials as well as suggestions on how to memorialize program accomplishments through celebratory events.

“After hearing him speak I felt empowered as though I could do anything . . . all of the presenters gave us such a wealth of information. I cannot wait to get home to share this with my team,” one workshop participant said following McQueen’s workshop.