City pilot program employ youth
By Rochelle Moore
Published in News on March 26, 2017 12:00 AM
The city of Goldsboro is getting ready to launch a new summer youth employment program that will offer teenagers minimum-wage jobs.
The city-funded program, which will be operated out of the Goldsboro Parks and Recreation Department, is expected to spend upwards of $45,000 to hire 28 part-time workers, including 26 youth, two counselors, equipment and supplies.
Additional costs are expected for the purchase or rental of a van, which will transport youth to different work sites within the city park and recreation system.
The city jobs are planned at $7.25 per hour and employment is planned for six weeks, from June 19 through July 28. Teens will work about five hours each day, five days a week, said Shycole Simpson Carter, Goldsboro community relations director.
The program is an outgrowth of a Goldsboro City Council decision, prompted by Councilman Antonio Williams, during a recent council retreat.
"What we want to do is create more than 26 jobs," Williams said during a community meeting Tuesday night. "We want to keep all the kids working. We want to keep them out of trouble. We want to give them the soft skills that they need."
The summer job program will also expose teens to government, with a planned trip to the N.C. General Assembly in Raleigh.
The Goldsboro Community Relations Department is coordinating the program, which also offers another 30 jobs through the Goldsboro Housing Authority and Wayne Community College.
The GHA and WCC plan to pay youth through their own funding sources, Simpson Carter said. The GHA plans to hire 15 teenagers, at $7.25 per hour, and WCC plans to hire 15 teenagers at $8.25 per hour.
Applications and details of the programs are being finalized, with plans to post job opportunities on the city of Goldsboro's website in early April, Mayor Chuck Allen said.