Get Your At-Risk On
Got a teen who needs a job this summer? Help is on the way. Yes, he or she can. Here’s what they need to do.
Stop studying. Get pregnant. Get court-involved. Offend. Drop out. Run away. Forget you ever knew English. Be from elsewhere.
Criminal offenders, teen moms, dropouts, runaways and other wayward youths will score summer jobs with federal stimulus cash as most Bay State kids desperately scramble to land coveted seasonal gigs in a tight economy.
“To me, it sounds like the federal government is rewarding bad behavior,” said state Sen. Richard R. Tisei (R-Wakefield).
The state Department of Transitional Assistance will be using some of Massachusetts’ $1.3 million in Obama administration cash for jobs for clients’ children ages 14 to 24 who meet specific criteria, including:
Lacking basic skills. Pregnant or parenting. School dropout. Homeless or runaway. Court-involved or an “offender.” An English as a Second Language learner or an immigrant.
Hey, whatever happened to the Marine Corps as the premier government-subsidized job opportunity for the court-involved, basic-skills lacking, runaways, drop-outs and immigrants?
Never mind. Parents, you can do your bit for your child aged 14-24 by encouraging the above behavior through action or inaction. Though like getting your kid into an Ivy League school, if you didn’t start that process at birth you’re already behind the curve. You and your kids may be too responsible to benefit from government stimulus funds.
“For the kids who really have their act together, I’d hate to see them being left out and summer jobs are not available to them,” said Senate minority leader Tisei.
The stimulus-funded jobs for at-risk youths come as the state takes the ax to summer job funding, and private-sector companies scale back seasonal hiring. The Senate budget proposes slashing $12 million from job and training programs for teens and students.
Funding cuts also have closed several public pools and beaches statewide, a traditional source of summer jobs.
The DTA-coordinated jobs pay a minimum of $8 per hour and earnings won’t count toward a family’s eligibility for other taxpayer-funded subsidies, including food stamps, heating assistance or health insurance, according to an agency memo.
“I don’t think the suburbs will see any of the money,” Tisei said. “The more you find out about the federal stimulus money, the more we find out what a boondoggle it is.”
Tough luck, act-together kids. You’ll just have to compete for those clam shack and Tilt-A-Whirl jobs with all the laid-off schmoes who thought working for a living was the way to get ahead. Don’t worry, it will be good life experience. Compelling? Not necessarily.
HotAir meanwhile wants to know why Obama and Biden keep claiming credit for saving jobs that weren’t lost?
Posted by Jules Crittenden at 9:51 am on Friday, May 29, 2009
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May 29th, 2009 at 4:39 pm
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May 29th, 2009 at 8:27 pm
When I think about my own grandchildren, and the future they face, reading this stuff just makes me livid.