By Gayane Aghajanyan, USCM Intern
October 13, 2008

Boston Mayor Thomas M. Menino used $200,000 in Workforce Investment Act (WIA) Youth and Adult formula funds to develop a job training program that prepares young adults from low income families, ages 18 to 24, for careers in food service, transportation, and logistics or the marine and building trades.

Boston’s new and promising job training program, First Step, will focus on developing the skills required to contribute to the workforce of varied industries through occupational skills training leading to full-time, entry-level employment. Menino said, “We cannot afford to leave these young people behind. 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 studies of the labor market also reveal that youth from low income families bear the largest relative decline in their employment rate. Studies show that male teen minorities, over the past 29 years, have experienced dramatic declines in summer employment rates. Based on the studies done by Northeastern University’s Center for Labor Market Studies in Boston, the majority of the city’s unemployed minorities are young men not enrolled in school. In 2006, the number of unemployed youth not enrolled in school between the ages of 16 to 24 reached 4,578 in Boston.

Currently, there is currently a need for First Step because Boston does not provide training of any specific job skills, only job and career placement and high school equivalency assistance. Job and career placement renders occupational services to young adults including Internship and Fellowship Opportunities and the Boston Youth Fund Summer Jobs Program and Job Postings. Additionally, Boston has adult basic education programs throughout neighborhoods across the city. These programs help support immigrants who lack English language proficiency and adults who have not completed high school to achieve their career goals and become part of Boston’s labor force. The new training programs in low income Boston neighborhoods has led the city’s Office for Jobs and Community Services to look for partnerships with businesses or institutions to provide training. First Step is scheduled to start in January of 2009. Connie Doty, Executive Director of the Office of Jobs and Community Services, said, “To have any population idle, when they don’t want to be idle, that’s just not a good thing.” The consequences of this are significant because of its potential to slow the U.S. economy and to increase poverty rates, crime, homelessness, hunger, and high school dropout rates. Doty emphasized, “We need everybody in the work force to keep the economy going forward.”

For more information on “First Step” Job Training Program, contact Connie Doty, Executive Director of the Boston Office of Jobs and Community Services, at 617-918-5252.