City councilmember calls for hearings on Philadelphia Youth Network after summer of complaints about teens not getting paid

A city councilmember is calling for hearings into Philadelphia Youth Network after The Inquirer’s recent articles detailed complaints from teens who had to wait weeks to get paid for their summer jobs under the Work Ready program.

Councilmember Isaiah Thomas said he will introduce a resolution Thursday to authorize the Committee on Education to probe “concerns about delays in compensation for workers.”

“When we get young people who want to make the right decision, want to make a quality decision, or put them in a position to occupy their time in a positive way and put themselves in a position where they can advance their professional career,” Thomas said Wednesday, “the last thing we need is hurdles being put in the way that prevents them from being able to do that.”

“I did want to use my money and it was frustrating that they weren’t paying me at the time they said they were.”

Thomas said his office has employed youths through the PYN and he has been frustrated by the nonprofit’s struggles to pay its workers reliably.

PYN’s Work Ready program has been at the center of complaints this summer from providers, parents, and teen workers.

Sheila De La Cruz, a North Philadelphia teen who didn’t get paid until after their summer job as a Play Captain ended, said, “I did want to use my money and it was frustrating that they weren’t paying me at the time they said they were.”

» READ MORE: Philly organizations complain after nonprofit fumbles paying teen workers

The Inquirer reported last month that the heads of six organizations had complained about tardy or incomplete payments in an Aug. 15 letter to the Center City-based nonprofit.

Rebecca Fabiano, executive director of Fab Youth Philly, one of 80 organizations throughout Philadelphia that Work Ready steers kids to, said then: “I don’t know any adults who would come back to work after not getting paid their first two weeks on the job. … This is their very first job experience for most young people. And we are inadvertently teaching them that we don’t care about them.”

PYN has since vowed to make changes to its payment systems, to begin direct deposits, and to work more closely with providers.

» READ MORE: Philadelphia Youth Network promises changes in Work Ready program after summer of complaints

“Like many employers, we recognize the need for change to our systems and are addressing these challenges as we undergo leadership and staff transitions,” a spokesperson for the PYN said in an email Thursday.

“We look forward to discussing with our City Council partners the steps we are taking to identify solutions that include revamping our participant recruitment, onboarding process, supporting our contracted providers and youth, among other actions.”

For fiscal year 2023, the city Office of Children and Families gave PYN approximately $7.9 million in state and city money for Work Ready, which funds about half the salaries that Work Ready pays.

Thomas said he believes he will have all the support needed from fellow councilmembers to convene a hearing to examine PYN’s struggles to pay children, which Fabiano has called “an open secret among providers.”

He added: “Anybody who looks at this summer as well as last summer, I’m pretty sure they’ll say that we didn’t do a good job as a city, preparing for the constituents as it relates to needs, but specifically preparing for our children.”

Thursday’s City Council session is to be streamed on the city’s website at 10 a.m.