Subsidized Youth Employment Program
YouthWorks is a state-funded youth jobs program, which provides funds that communities use to pay wages to low-income youth for summer jobs—usually in the public or non-profit sector. CommCorp administers the program on behalf of the Massachusetts Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development.
The primary component of the YouthWorks program is subsidized employment at public or non-profit agencies, departments and authorities. Participants should be employed at least 30 hours per week over a six-week period during the summer. Hourly wages are required to be no less than the Massachusetts minimum wage.
In general, participation in this program is limited to youth aged 14–21 whose family income for the most recent six-month period does not exceed the annual equivalent to be eligible to receive a free lunch in the National School Lunch Program.
Last summer, YouthWorks provided employment to 3,233 low-income youth across Massachusetts. Of all youth served, 88% were in-school, 5% had already graduated high school but were not enrolled in school, 1.5% were enrolled in a postsecondary program, and 4% were high school dropouts.
