It's all about jobs

 From the Worcester Telegram | Oct 25, 2009

Program aims to get youths ready for work

Elizabeth Grajales, 21, Quaheem Russell, 18, Denise Peterson, 19, Antwan Robinson, 20, and Amber Laferriere attend a celebration at the Worcester Community Action Council, 484 Main St., Suite 200, Worcester, to mark the start of a new program aimed at preparing young people for work. (T&G Staff Photos/DAN GOULD)
By Lisa Eckelbecker TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF
leckelbecker@telegram.com

The Worcester Community Action Council's Job & Education Center got federal stimulus money to help young people obtain the skills needed to get jobs.

Amber Laferriere, 18, one of the first 20 students in the new program for young people seeking work, said without it, she would be staying home and doing nothing.

I know I can do it. Everybody else around here knows I can do it.
-- Quaheem J. Russell, PARTICIPANT IN JOB EDUCATION PROGRAM

WORCESTER -  By his own admission, Quaheem J. Russell was not the most dedicated high school student. 

Frequently absent from classes and unmotivated, the Worcester teenager came from a home led by a single mother who let her children learn things hands-on and make their own mistakes, he said. 

"School was one of the mistakes I made," he said of dropping out at 17. 

Now 18, Mr. Russell is signed up for the Worcester Community Action Council's new job and education center, a program funded with federal stimulus money and aimed at getting poor youths and East African women ready to work. 

"Our ultimate goal is employability," said Judy F. Finkel, the project director and a former Worcester Public Schools elementary school principal. 

Unemployment is a distinct problem for young people in the current recession. About 25.9 percent of U.S. workers ages 16 to 19 were unemployed in September, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. During the summer, when young people typically take seasonal jobs and new graduates seek permanent employment, unemployment among workers ages 16 to 24 hit 18.5 percent, the highest rate since recordkeeping started in 1948, the BLS said.

Young people in Massachusetts are working at the lowest rates since World War II, and successful programs aimed at preparing young people for jobs are not necessarily easy. They include intensive work with the youths in schools, outreach to prospective employers and months of follow-up, said Andrew M. Sum, director of the Center for Labor Market Studies at Northeastern University. 

"They need to be able to assess the kids well to get them work, and then go out and help develop jobs for the kids," Mr. Sum said. "If you only give kids a résumé and tell them how to look for work, it doesn't have an impact on the unemployment rate." 

Starting with about 25 people, many of them recruited through a summer jobs program that was funded with federal stimulus money, the Worcester Community Action Council is aiming to enroll about 100 Worcester residents in the job center over a period of about a year. About 10 in the first group are East African women, a nod to the council's agenda to aid immigrants. All will go through pre-employment training. 

"We have an employer advisory board that we work with for our education in jobs program," said Jill C. Dagilis, executive director of the Worcester Community Action Council. 

"Our niche is working with the youth more than the adult population. (Employers) have said, ‘We really need the young people to be ready to succeed.' That includes being able to write and read and do some basic math." 

The new job center will offer college readiness instruction, connections to training programs, help with career exploration, assistance with internships, job coaching and job placements. 

Because the first group entering the program faces other challenges - some are single parents, homeless, lack transportation or have learning disabilities - the job center will try to connect individuals to other services, Ms. Dagilis said. 

The council expects to operate the job center with a staff of eight, including a computer instructor, a job developer and a case manager. The budget of $616,446 for about 15 months came from a $1.1 million grant from federal stimulus funds, which the council also used to pay for food stamps, efforts to help the homeless and earned income tax credits for low-income workers. The council said the budget will go to salaries and benefits, computers, telephones, rent and other expenses. 

The job center covers about 3,600 square feet of space, one floor above the council's Main Street offices, and features green and yellow walls and used furniture donated by National Grid, the energy company. 

Amber L. Laferriere, 18, one of the first 20 accepted for the job center, bluntly described what she would be doing if not at the center. 

"I would be staying home, doing nothing," she said. 

Denise M. Peterson, 19, held a summer job at NeighborWorks Homeownership Center of Worcester under a program funded by federal stimulus money and is hoping that enrolling in the job center will get her on track for studies to become a pharmacy technician. The center's offerings can help her save money, she said. 

"They have all the training courses," she said. "It's free. I've been going to school and it's not free. It's like $1,000 for the training courses." 

Worcester is already home to a one-stop Workforce Central job center, where unemployed individuals can search for jobs or seek job search assistance. 

Jeffrey J. Mulqueen, chief academic officer for the Worcester Public Schools, said the community needs multiple supports for people seeking work or college. 

"When we have multiple opportunities for people to access work, it can only help, particularly when we consider the economic times today," he said. 

One of the challenges for the job center will come when the stimulus money runs out. 

"What we're hoping is we're going to be so successful there will be other funding opportunities," said Ms. Finkel, who has a doctorate in education. 

Mr. Russell, the second eldest of seven children, dressed in a suit and tie for the opening of the job center last week and said he feels an obligation to set a good example for his younger siblings by pursuing education and work. 

"I know I can do it," he said. "Everybody else around here knows I can do it."