TERRE HAUTE — The impact may be small. The concept may sound like just more federal spending.
But the Young Hoosiers Conservation Corps upgrading Indiana’s state parks will change lives for the better. That’s a good thing.
Ask adults the question, “What was your first summer job?” Most likely, they’ll launch into a detailed recount of washing dishes in a hotel restaurant or shoveling manure in a horse stable. They’ll remember their hourly pay (to the penny), their boss’ quirks, their goofiest co-workers, and their car back then.
The memories are mostly fond, but always indelible.
This summer, just three in 10 American teenagers will be building those memories and lessons through a job, according to predictions from the Center for Labor Market Studies at Northeastern University. That’s a sad statistic today. Years from now, the jobless kids’ lost summer of 2009 could become tragic, a chronic problem for them and their communities. Their development of good work habits — showing up on time, getting along with co-workers, following instructions and operating equipment — will be delayed.
Or worse.
Teens from low-income families tend to be the least likely to work a summer job, the Labor Market Studies stats show. Thus, these teens’ economic plight could linger into adulthood and someday get passed on to their children.
“The effect of [teenagers] not finding a job stretches far beyond this one idle summer,” Bill Stanczykiewicz, president of the Indiana Youth Institute, said Tuesday afternoon.
“The way our labor market works, the more you work today, the more likely you are to work in the future,” Joe McLaughlin of the Center for Labor Market Studies said by phone from Boston.
Last summer, finding work was rough for 15- to 19-year-olds. Just 32.7 percent of them worked, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. It was the lowest level in 60 years. Not surprisingly, the summer of ’09, will be worse. Unemployment for all ages is 10.6 percent in Indiana, nearly 5 points higher than a year ago. Teens not only are competing with displaced adult workers for fast-food, retail and warm-weather jobs that used to be the kids’ domain, but also now many of those employers have stopped or curtailed their hiring.
“There is a very limited amount of seasonal jobs, which is really going to hurt teens’ chances,” McLaughlin said.
The Young Hoosiers Conservation Corps will give hundreds of teens a golden summer-job opportunity. Their tasks echo those tackled by the Civilian Conservation Corps during the 1930s. A total of 2,000 young people, ages 16 to 24, take on projects the state parks have had to put on the backburner for years because of costs and staff numbers. They’ll help restore historic structures, like the Richard Lieber cabin at Turkey Run State Park, and staircases on popular trails at Shakamak State Park. They’ll remove invasive plants, clear scenic vistas, mend fences, clear brush and post signs.
They’ll earn $8.50 an hour, and someday tell their kids that.
The Corps is one of the smartest uses of federal stimulus funding yet, and the creation of Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels.
Because of requirements set by President Obama’s Workforce Investment Act, the YHCC workers must be between the ages of 16 and 24 and have a family income at or below the poverty level. Daniels’ administration placed a priority on hiring veterans and workers drawing unemployment first. Teens will undoubtedly be part of the mix, too.
Many would not have found work this summer, otherwise. For each one who spends June, July and August sweating, listening, repairing and building, their communities will have one more productive contributor someday.
Each Corps employee also will participate in an exit interview with the state. They’ll be entered in the state employee computer system, with ongoing job-skills assistance available, said Marc Lotter of the Indiana Department of Workforce Development.
“They’re going to have marketable skills,” Lotter said. “They’re going to be ready to re-enter the workforce.”
Like any other federal program, the YHCC has some glitches. The state backed off a previous idea to cut hourly pay for Department of Natural Resources seasonal workers, because it would’ve fallen below the new YHCC employees’ $8.50 rate. Now, the per-hour pay of other seasonal employees ranges from $8.10 to $9.25, said the DNR’s Phil Bloom.
Another flaw is the income guidelines. A teen whose family of four has a household income above $23,000, for example, couldn’t participate in the YHCC. “They’re going to have to ask mom and dad for connections [to job possibilities], and hit the private sector,” McLaughlin said of those teenagers.
Otherwise, those first-summer-job experiences will have to wait till next year.
Mark Bennett can be reached at mark.bennett@tribstar.com or (812) 231-4377.
Mark Bennett Opinion
MARK BENNETT: Effect of Young Hoosiers Conservation Corps will stretch beyond summer
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