By: Jennifer Potash
A summer job program for economically disadvantaged youth in Princeton Borough and Princeton Township will be extended into the fall.
The joint Human Services Commission launched a work-study program this summer for 30 young adults between the ages of 14 and 20 to take enrichment classes in language arts and computers during the morning and work at various nonprofit groups in the afternoon, said Human Services Director Cynthia Mendez. The students receive a stipend for their work.
The program enrolled 13 participants, considerably less than the goal of 30, and had $28,822 left over from its $57,717 budget.
The Borough Council on Tuesday approved the request to use the funding for the fall program with a 5-1 vote. Council President Roger Martindell voted no, saying the budget presented was too vague.
A similar request will be made to the Princeton Township Committee later this month.
The Human Services Commission suggested continuing the program in the fall with some changes.
Participants would work at local nonprofit organizations after school for two hours. Saturday morning sessions, that include tutoring and cultural activities, conducted by a volunteer from the Bonner Foundation or Princeton University student volunteers, would be instituted, Ms. Mendez said.
About 15 slots are available to young people between the ages of 14 and 20 whose family incomes meet certain federal guidelines. The teen-agers who attended the summer session are invited to continue in the fall. Human Services will advertise the remaining open slots, she said.
The total cost of the fall session is about $20,000, Ms. Mendez said.
Mr. Martindell said spending what he said is $4,500 per person in the program seems too much.
"To put it in context, $4,500 would buy a homeless person an apartment for a year," he said.
Councilman David Goldfarb added that that amount of money would allow a borough family struggling to pay property taxes to stay in the borough another year.
Councilman Ryan Stark Lilienthal objected to the comparisons.
"I don’t think we should be getting into that game," he said. "You can do that with every single appropriation the borough has."
Ms. Mendez pointed out that several of the participants came from families with annual incomes of $6,000.
"The $824 (the participants) are paid for the program dramatically improves their quality of life as well as their families," she said.
Councilwoman Mildred Trotman said it was important to build on the success of the summer program and the fall portion would give the governing bodies an opportunity to compare which session is more effective.
