Job program gets stimulus, hires 1,007 young people
Rural Minnesota CEP (RMCEP) was awarded $2.5 million in stimulus funding from the Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED) this spring. Since then, RMCEP, communities and local businesses have collaborated to employ 1,007 young people, ages 14 through 24, through the Summer Youth Program.
Rural Minnesota CEP (RMCEP) was awarded $2.5 million in stimulus funding from the Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED) this spring.
Since then, RMCEP, communities and local businesses have collaborated to employ 1,007 young people, ages 14 through 24, through the Summer Youth Program.
The emphasis for this funding was summer employment for youth. The primary activity was and continues to be work experience.
According to Dan Wenner, executive director of RMCEP, “Summer jobs not only provide young people with a chance to earn money, but also provide them a chance to develop skills, learn responsibility, and develop a sense of pride that can only be accomplished through work.”
In addition to work experience, other parts of the program include outreach, assessment, orientation to the youth program, the development of an individual service strategy, education on child labor laws and employers’ expectations, community involvement and leadership training and regular progress reviews.
Some examples of worksites that youth have been working at are medical centers and hospitals, cities and municipalities, day-care centers, grocery stores, utility companies and museums.
In many communities, projects are being completed with the help of the Summer Youth Program that would have otherwise not been completed this year due to the downturn in the economy.
The wages that are earned from the Summer Youth Program have a profound impact on the local communities, Wenner said. Young people use their paychecks to pay for rent, car payments, insurance, food, entertainment, school fees and/or sports activities and some use their paychecks to save for college, he said.
For more information, contact a Youth Coordinator at your local WorkForce Center. WorkForce Centers are located in Alexandria, Bemidji, Brainerd, Detroit Lakes, Fergus Falls, Moorhead, Little Falls and Wadena.
In Alexandria, the phone number is (320) 762-7800.
Tags: rural minnesota concentrated employment program, job program, news, mncep, stimulus
More from around the web
RSS Feeds