Fighting a summer job-fund shortage

One consequence of January's increase in the minimum wage - from $6.25 to $7.15 an hour - is the threat it poses to summer jobs for youth. As salaries rise, the number of jobs comes down because program budgets are limited.

Last summer, public agencies and private businesses in Philadelphia hired 7,250 young people between the ages of 14 and 21 through the nonprofit Philadelphia Youth Network. Three thousand young people signed the waiting list before it had to be closed because of over-subscription.

This summer, without an extra $1.3 million, an estimated 1,100 jobs will have to be cut, according to PYN officials.

Acting to save at least half of those jobs, state Rep. Dwight Evans yesterday pledged $820,000 in state funding derived from the Blueprint for a Safer Philadelphia program under the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency.

Evans, an architect of the Blueprint, and mayoral candidate, challenged business leaders, elected officials and the public to help raise the needed balance of $480,000.

"A summer job isn't just about earning spending money, it's about gaining valuable experience in the workforce," Evans said, speaking before 75 participants and program administrators at PYN's offices in Center City.

PYN president Laura Shubilla introduced Evans as "a man who understands that to build a middle class in the city of Philadelphia we have to get connected to work as soon as possible . . . providing positive opportunities for youth."

Privately, Shubilla told a reporter, "Given all the attention to youth violence" and the city's burgeoning homicide crisis, "this summer isn't a good time to be down 1,000 jobs."