Summer youth job applications taken

Staff report

YOUNGSTOWN

Applications will be taken next week from youths from age 16 to 24, who are seeking jobs in the summer youth employment program.

Youths may apply between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m., Monday through Friday, at the Mahoning County Department of Job and Family Services at Oakhill Renaissance Place, 345 Oak Hill Ave.

The income eligibility ceiling is twice the federal poverty level, which varies by household size.

For a family of four, the federal poverty level is $23,850 a year; so a member of a four-person household with an income up to $47,700 can qualify. To qualify, a household must also contain a child under age 18.

JFS is coordinating this state-funded program, for which $878,444 has been allocated in Mahoning County this year.

The Mahoning-Columbiana Training Association will administer the program, in which workers will be paid up to $10 an hour.

Last year, 240 young people working for 80 employers completed the program, and nine participants were hired by their employers after the program ended, JFS said.