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Archived News Release — Caution: Information may be out of date. Archived News Release — Caution: Information may be out of date.
For more information call: (202) 219-6871
Secretary of Labor Alexis M. Herman today announced a grant competition
to select five new pilot sites for the Labor Department's Youth Opportunity
Areas Initiative. This initiative, which was launched last year and is to be
expanded nationwide, is intended to increase employment among out-of-school
youth in high-poverty neighborhoods.
"This initiative recognizes the significance of work by giving young
people the tools to find and keep jobs," Herman said. "It works with employers
and other members of the community to boost employment rates in poor areas so
that we can fundamentally change the quality of life in these neighborhoods."
The initiative emphasizes placing youth in private-sector jobs and
includes complementary efforts to keep youth in school, increase their
enrollment in college, and provide work experience in community-service
projects. Current pilot sites, which were selected last year and in July, are
in neighborhoods in Boston, Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles and New York City,
and in Clinton County and parts of Wayne County in rural Kentucky. Under the
Workforce Investment Act, passed by Congress in July and signed into law by the
president last month, $250 million has been appropriated to replicate
successful pilot programs in other high-poverty urban and rural areas.
The five grant recipients will be awarded up to $2.25 million each.
Winners will have three months to develop public-private partnerships to
operate the demonstration. The grant announcement was published in the Federal
Register on Tuesday and the competition closes on Dec. 7.
Archived News Release — Caution: Information may be out of date.
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