The D.C. government will have paid nearly $28 million to its 2009 summer jobs participants when the final numbers are tallied next week, a troubling omen for 2010, when the initiative will be limited to six weeks and only $20 million.
Payroll for the nine-week Summer Youth Employment Program through Aug. 26 came to $25.28 million, according to figures provided by the Office of the Chief Financial Officer. The Sept. 9 final pay date is expected to add $2.49 million, bringing total payroll to $27.76 million, or about $3.8 million a week on average.
Given those numbers, Mayor Adrian Fenty will be challenged in 2010 to stay within budget as the D.C. Council has restricted the program to six weeks, 21,000 participants and $20 million. The $7.25-per-hour pay rate plus other costs threatens to bust next summer’s budget by the fifth week or earlier.
Dy Brown, spokeswoman for the Department of Employment Services, said the agency “will work to ensure that the District’s youth continue to have the opportunity to gain valuable work experience through year-round and summer employment,” despite having significantly less money.
DOES was originally budgeted $20 million for the 2009 summer initiative, but a reticent council authorized an additional $23 million to meet expenses. Between 15,000 and 21,000 youth — the number of participants declined week to week — worked for more than 400 employers at 1,100 worksites.
There will be no more pots to empty next year, Ward 2 Councilman Jack Evans said Monday.
“That’s as much as we have,” Evans said. “In the best of times, it was always pay what we had to pay because it’s a great program. But right now we’re in severe economic times and $20 million is as much as we have — well, unless the mayor can identify funds spent somewhere else and transfer it to this program.”
The jobs program was a top priority for the mayor given last year’s high-profile debacle, when the effort overran its budget by nearly $40 million, but struggles were still apparent.
DOES received roughly 1,500 “inquiries” per pay period, Brown said, though not all were complaints. Participants were often seen wandering the streets with little to do under little supervision. And contractors, even D.C. Council members, complained that they were assigned more youth than they requested, a sign that DOES exhausted its job placement locations.
