FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Wednesday, July 6, 2011

Contact: Brice Freeman, Communications, 410-396-1910, bfreeman@oedworks.com Kate Schmelyun, Communications, 410-396-7336, kschmelyun@oedworks.com Ernest Dorsey, Youth Services, 410-396-6722, edorsey@oedworks.com

More than 4,500 Baltimore Youth Report to Second Week on the Job through City’s YouthWorks Program An additional 600 young people to start work next week; YouthWorks employing approximately same number as last year despite expiration of federal ARRA funding Baltimore, Maryland (July 6, 2011) – More than 4,500 teens and young adults began their second week of work yesterday as part of YouthWorks, Baltimore City’s summer jobs program. YouthWorks places young people between the ages of 14 and 21 in work experiences with private sector, nonprofit, and city and state government employers throughout the city. In total, more than 5,500 young people have been offered employment through the YouthWorks program this summer. Approximately 600 additional young people will start work July 11 as part of YouthWorks’ second phase, which places workers in new positions as well as fills vacancies left by youth who were offered positions but did not accept. At a cost of $1,200 per participant to pay wages for the six-week 25-hour-per-week positions ($800 per participant working the four-week phase), several sources of funding are being utilized to operate YouthWorks. Despite the expiration of vital federal funding provided through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) that supported thousands of summer job placements in 2009 and 2010, YouthWorks will still employ the same number or more of young people who worked last year. Thanks in large part to funding in excess of $1.6 million from Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake and the Baltimore City Council, the annual $1 million in funding to serve those receiving public assistance and foster care youth, and the unprecedented $1.13 million provided from Governor Martin O'Malley's supplemental budget, the number of Baltimore's teens working this summer will be proportionally higher than most other municipalities across the nation. YouthWorks 2011 also received vital support from local businesses, foundations, community organizations and individual citizens. “I am grateful to the hundreds of partners who work hard to ensure that as many young people as possible experience quality summer employment,” said Mayor Rawlings-Blake. “YouthWorks is a vital component of our City’s menu of services for our younger citizens, creating a tremendously positive impact on our families, neighborhoods, and businesses. We all should be extremely proud of the fact that, in these difficult economic times, we have been able to put the same number of youth and young adults to work this summer as last year, despite not having access to federal funds.” The theme of this year’s program, Everyone Wins with Summer Jobs, describes the “ripple effect” of the YouthWorks program – benefiting the youth workers themselves, their families, the organizations and businesses where they work, the greater community, and the city as a whole. Many YouthWorks worksites are in high-growth industries, such as hospitality and tourism, health care and information technology. Most of these assignments are offered to older youth who are matched to jobs that reflect their career interests. Approximately half of the YouthWorks participants are 14 or 15 years old, most of whom are employed for the first time. Many are gaining business and office skills, while others are helping keep Baltimore's parks, playgrounds and open spaces clean. They are beautifying city neighborhoods by participating in community recycling activities and graffiti removal, and supporting the operations of community libraries, recreation centers, summer camps and senior centers. “We’ve seen again and again that a productive summer job can have a lasting effect on a young person’s life,” said Karen Sitnick, director of Baltimore City’s Mayor’s Office of Employment Development (MOED), which has operated the YouthWorks program for more than 30 years. “Through targeted matching of job assignments to older teens’ career interests and an emphasis on effective work behaviors, YouthWorks helps our future workforce develop the skills required to build careers and become effective employees.” YouthWorks operates for six weeks and concludes on August 5, 2011. For more information, visit www.oedworks.com. ###