At first glance, Mayor Adrian Fenty’s 2010 Summer Youth Employment Program might seem like a good way to help young people earn pocket money while exposing them to the world of work. In reality, this “fake work” program takes money away from real job-creating businesses and teaches youngsters all the wrong lessons. The program was started two decades ago by former Mayor Marion Barry, and none of his successors has had the political courage to admit that it fails to achieve any of the goals described on the D.C. Department of Employment Services’ Web site. These include this one: “Offer District youth an opportunity to develop the skills, attitudes, and commitment necessary to succeed in today’s world of work.”
The unemployment rate is 9.5 percent nationally (10 percent in D.C.), and competition for every available job is fierce. But Fenty admitted at a Dupont Merchants Association forum last week that teens get ATM cards just for showing up. While this might be excellent preparation for working in local government, reporting to work on time in the private sector is expected, not rewarded. The program also aims to provide teens with “meaningful work experience.” But when the city spends more than $20 million to subsidize the experience, it’s a stretch to call it “work.” The same criticism applies to the program’s third goal: “Enhance basic academic, occupational, and other skills necessary for youth to obtain and maintain long-term employment.” Without real jobs, participants get no real job experience. And what private company or nonprofit trade association or advocacy group judges success not by how much it accomplishes, but by how many people are on the payroll? Or routinely overspends its budget by millions of dollars?
