Pennsylvania to fund jobs using federal stimulus money

Pa. to fund jobs with federal stimulus money
By Jane M. Von Bergen
Inquirer Staff Writer
Pennsylvania's state government will use hundreds of millions of federal stimulus dollars to provide government-subsidized jobs to up to 20,000 adults and young people.
How many will actually receive jobs will depend on how quickly local workforce investment boards can recruit employers and place people. The money runs out Sept. 30.
"I don't want to be in the situation where we have overpromised," said acting Secretary of Public Welfare Harriet Dichter, who announced the program yesterday with Sandy Vito, secretary of the state Department of Labor and Industry.
Under the program, the state will pay employees' salaries, with the hope that many workplaces will then hire the workers permanently. Eligible are those on public assistance or food stamps. Pay will be $7.15 an hour for young people and up to $13 an hour for adults.
"Together, we have the chance to make a real difference in the lives of low-income families," Dichter said in a statement. "Providing them with these opportunities connects them to the workplace, lets them earn some additional income, and builds new skills that will help them to be more successful at work."
Pennsylvania's unemployment rate was 8.9 percent in December, the most recent month for which U.S. Department of Labor statistics were available.
The state will draw the money from a $5 billion emergency stimulus fund created by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act under the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families block grant. TANF money funds welfare programs.
The stimulus money can be used for basic assistance, short-term emergency needs, and subsidized job programs such as the one Pennsylvania is setting up. Pennsylvania is eligible for $359.7 million in TANF emergency funds and has drawn $29 million of the sum for basic assistance and short-term uses.
"We are very pleased that the state has recognized the need for a jobs program and is taking advantage of the opportunity to fund it with stimulus dollars," said Sharon Dietrich, who heads the Community Legal Services employment practice in Philadelphia and has been advocating for the program.
"This program is a win-win for business, which can benefit from these subsidized jobs, and for the unemployed, who are desperately looking for work," Dietrich said.
"The key is to place people in meaningful work," said Gerald Birkelbach, executive director of the Montgomery County Workforce Investment Board. "We don't want one of the outcomes to be more government dependency. We want to look at it as a temporary way to upgrade a resumé during these challenging times."
Putting together the program quickly represents a managerial challenge, said Sallie Glickman, who heads Philadelphia's Workforce Investment Board. The easiest way might be a bulk placement, she said.
The program specifically requires that its participants cannot be used "when an employer has terminated individuals from employment or caused an involuntary reduction in its workforce to fill the vacancy with a subsidized worker," according to state guidelines.
That poses a problem. So many companies, such as Independence Blue Cross and Pfizer Inc., have had layoffs that it might be difficult to find employers who qualify.
Smaller employers might be able to use the help, but "we have to see how many dollars are there for administration," Glickman said. "Can we manage 2,000 work sites?"
Still, she said, "it's exciting to have the resources." Both she and Birkelbach will meet with their staffs next week to draw up plans.
Local boards must submit their plans to the state by March 30.
Contact staff writer Jane M. Von Bergen at 215-854-2769 or jvonbergen@phillynews.com.