Youth can get on-the-job training through county, city Learn & Earn program

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Youth can get on-the-job training through county, city Learn & Earn program

Jamie Martines | Tuesday, March 12, 2019 11:04 a.m.

Tribune-Review file photo

Marlon Hutson (glasses), 14, with Devin Bucaro,15, and other Pittsburgh Public Schools high school students brush primer on a wall along South Bouquet Street in Oakland on Wednesday, July 13, 2016. The kids are involved in the “Learn and Earn” Summer Youth Employment program, which will pay students to paint murals as they participate in work readiness classes.

Applications are available for the Allegheny County and city of Pittsburgh Learn and Earn Program.

Now in its fifth year, the program matches people ages 14 to 21 with a six-week summer job. It’s managed through a partnership among Pittsburgh, Allegheny County and Partner4Work, the public workforce development board for the city and county.

“We’re excited to see the growth and vitality going on in our community, but, in order to see that continue, we need to ensure that we are connecting our residents with the skills that the workforce needs,” County Executive Rich Fitzgerald said in a statement. “The Learn & Earn program helps us do that by providing our youth with real-world experience while also ensuring that they learn skills like communication and teamwork, which are in demand in today’s workplace.”

In 2018, young people were placed at 380 sites across Allegheny County, collectively earning more than $1.5 million in wages, according to a statement from the Learn and Earn program.

For example, about 100 students from the Pittsburgh neighborhoods of East Liberty and Lincoln-Lemington and from nearby suburbs participated in the Youth Enrichment Services program last year, based in East Liberty.

They researched community challenges throughout 15 neighborhoods across Pittsburgh, tackling issues like public safety, business development, high school drop out rates and community news.

“It shows that people do care about their community,” Martell Reese, a high-schooler from Pittsburgh’s East Hills neighborhood, told the Tribune-Review. “And maybe they can change the world with us.”

Reese and his teammates worked together to research public safety issues in Pittsburgh’s Homewood neighborhood and presented their report to community stakeholders at the conclusion of the program in August.

Other programs offer students the chance to study skills like photography, coding, computer programming and community organizing.

The application period ends May 31. More information about eligibility requirements is available at www.jobs4summer.org or at one of the 21 in-person application support centers throughout Allegheny County.

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