Clock ticks on Pa. subsidized-jobs program

With five weeks of unemployment benefits remaining to her, Pennsylvania's new Way to Work subsidized-job program looks a lot like a way to work for Debra Chambers of West Philadelphia, who lost her job in August 2008.

If, that is, enough employers learn about the federally subsidized program in time to hire Chambers and some of the other 582,000 unemployed people in Pennsylvania - unspent money from the federal stimulus goes away Sept. 30.

And if the bureaucracy at CareerLink, the state's official agency to link jobs and job seekers, isn't overwhelmed by the matchmaking task.

"When people find out about this program, CareerLink is going to be swamped," predicted Chambers, who worked for 11 years as a telephone solicitor selling pharmaceutical products to doctors' offices before her own office was downsized in a merger.

"There's a whole lot of people out of work," she said.

On Tuesday, in a made-for-TV news conference at which Mayor Nutter and city officials posed in front of a refurbished trolley inside SEPTA's headquarters on Market Street, Philadelphia rolled out its $48 million program - aimed at putting 10,000 to 14,000 people, including 9,000 teenagers, to work.

SEPTA officials promise they will hire some adults, especially for customer service.

Local officials need to make a splash because the program, funded through stimulus dollars, ends Sept. 30. The state has a goal of putting 20,000 to work, half of them in Philadelphia. Each county has its own plan.

Pennsylvania was entitled to apply for $359.8 million, but was late to devise a subsidized-jobs program, one of three possible uses for the money. Other states, including Delaware and New Jersey, started earlier. Pennsylvania's Labor and Public Welfare Departments approved local plans last week.

In Pennsylvania, where unemployment stands at 9 percent, the American Resource and Recovery Act money will subsidize wages up to $13 an hour for adults who, like Chambers, have dependent children and meet rather liberal poverty guidelines.

Employers cannot use this program to replace workers they have laid off or to interfere with the promotion of their own employees. They also must contribute by picking up payroll taxes and providing supervision.

"It'll be a huge win for businesses and nonprofits to grow their workforces while letting the federal government use its resources - they do print the money - and pick up the tab," Nutter said, who stressed the importance of getting the word out to employers.

The city is using CareerLink and private staffing agencies to screen workers.

In an ideal world, advocates for the program say, this federal money would act as a bridge for employers that would like to hire but want to wait a few months to see whether the economy improves.

With this program, employers can hire workers now. Then, the advocates hope, those workers will be moved onto company payrolls permanently when the funding ends and the economy improves.

In the meantime, there are some kinks to be untangled.

Leaders of county workforce investment boards, the entities charged with spending the federal dollars, met in Hershey on Thursday to work out administrative details, including tracking the results of the program.

There are also some complaints.

Some representatives of the Philadelphia Unemployment Project, an advocacy group that generally supports the program, complained at the news conference that it was not fair that jobs would go only to people with dependent children.

"How about all the rest of us who are unemployed?" asked Valerie Owes of Southwest Philadelphia, who said she had been out of work since March 2009. "We all have bills."

The Unemployment Project's director, John Dodds, acknowledged the problems and the time crunch. But, he said, when people like Chambers are coming to the end of their benefits, paid work for a few months beats no pay at all.

Chambers agrees.

"I don't want to be on welfare," she said. "I'm very stressed. I'm running around like a crazy woman, trying to jump before I'm pushed."

Information on Pennsylvania's Way to Work program is available statewide at 1-866-858-2753 or

www.paworkforce.state.pa.us.

Philadelphia employers, call 1-888-557-2535; job applicants, 215-557-2625; www.waytoworkphilly.org

Bucks County employers, 215-874-2800, Ext. 109; applicants, 215-781-1073, Ext. 2218; www.bc-wib.org

Chester County employers, 610-344-6900; applicants, 610-344-6900; www.chesco.org/wib

Delaware and Montgomery Counties: Use the state number and website.EndText