Sponsors (3)
Official title: To provide funding to summer youth employment programs to expand the availability of subsidized jobs for youths and to develop innovative program activities that improve academic, economic, and criminal justice outcomes for youths, and for other purposes.
Introduced February 18, 2025 by Mikie Sherrill · Last progress February 18, 2025
The bill expands paid summer jobs, supports, and evidence-based oversight to help underserved youth enter the workforce, but does so with new federal spending and rules that increase administrative burdens, create allocation and competitiveness risks, and could favor larger providers over smaller community organizations.
Young people (especially under-25, low-income, and unemployed youth) gain paid summer jobs and training that raise short-term income and improve work experience and long-term employment prospects.
Program participants receive coaching, mentoring, digital/financial literacy, career counseling, mental-health supports, and portable credentials (digital badges) that boost employability, school completion, and transitions to postsecondary education or careers.
Wrap-around supports (food, shelter, transportation, post-program financial assistance) lower participation barriers for low-income youth, enabling broader access to summer jobs and training.
Taxpayers face increased federal spending (authorizations totaling about $1.1 billion over five years) that could raise deficits or require offsets.
Grant applicants, program providers, schools, and governments will face substantial administrative and reporting burdens (applications, evaluations, coordination requirements) that can divert staff time from direct services.
Mandated funding set‑asides and fixed allocation rules reduce flexibility to reallocate funds if needs change or if one grant stream underperforms.
Based on analysis of 7 sections of legislative text.
Authorizes $200M–$240M annually (FY2026–FY2030) to fund competitive grants that expand and innovate summer youth employment programs with required work, supports, and multi-year evaluations.
Provides dedicated federal funding to expand and improve summer youth employment programs. The Department of Labor would receive annual appropriations for FY2026–FY2030 and must award competitive grants for program expansion and for integrating innovative approaches, require participant employment of at least four weeks at no less than minimum wage, and fund rigorous multi-year impact evaluations and an advisory board to guide grantmaking and evaluation.