Youth Jobs in Atlanta Lost Due to Lack of Funding

Several young people who were hoping to be employed this summer will now be without jobs in Atlanta.

Several area organizations have recently learned they will not receive the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funding they were expecting in order to create summer jobs programs for local youth, according to an article by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

The Lindsay Street Baptist Church had planned to hire eight youth ministers who would serve as mentors at a free summer camp for children whose parents are busy working. The church was recently told it will not receive the funding it needs to pay those youth ministers $8.50 per hour.

The free summer camp is being offered to 25 children who are 13-years old or younger, and is meant to be an alternative for children whose parents cannot afford to send them to a paid camp.

Other organizations have recently lost their funding for youth summer job programs as well. Hapeville Charter Career Academy was planning to pay 41 students to move furniture, books and equipment into new buildings, but did not receive the anticipated funding to do so.

The funding for these programs was supposed to come from federal stimulus money slated to expand the Georgia TeenWork program. TeenWork, which previously only employed foster children, was set to expand by 15,000 jobs for children from low-income families.

Some of the blame is being placed on the McClendon Project, a nonprofit organization that told both organizations about the government-funded jobs programs and helped students fill out applications.