Applications for SuccessLink youth summer jobs program now open

Mayor Kim Janey today announced the opening of SuccessLink Summer Youth Job applications. SuccessLink is the City of Boston's online tool that enables Boston youth to register for summer jobs. Applications are open on the City's website now through May 9 for Boston teens aged 15 to 18. With the support of the Mayor’s Health Human Service (HHS) cabinet, the Department of Youth Engagement and Employment’s (DYEE) commitment to youth jobs remains steadfast in spite of the challenges created by the COVID-19 pandemic. The City will aim to provide 5,000 jobs to youth and young adults this summer across more than 170 nonprofit, community-based organizations and city agencies. 

"The SuccessLink Youth Summer Jobs program provides Boston’s youth with valuable skills and opportunities that will empower them and lead them to future success in the workforce,” said Mayor Kim Janey. “I encourage all Boston teens to apply for the program, as it will inspire personal growth and allow for a head start for future opportunities in the working world.”

In FY22 Mayor Janey will invest an additional $4.7 million in youth jobs, increasing the total budget to $12.5 million that translates to enriching youth jobs in organizations located in neighborhoods across the city to give youth early exposure to various career paths. In the summer of 2020, there was significant interest in the Learn and Earn Postsecondary Program. This engaged young people in college courses at partner institutions, such as Benjamin Franklin Institute, Bunker Hill Community College, Roxbury Community College, and Urban College of Boston, and provided career coaching to allow teens to earn their summer paychecks. A considerable number of youth engaged in virtual and hybrid project-based learning in partnership with Northeastern University/Practera and SuccessLink’s peer-to-peer partnerships. The most involved investments and commitments came from local partner organizations. Nonprofits, community-based organizations, and city agencies designed creative approaches to host young people in internships and summer jobs. 

Like last summer, SuccessLink will continue to offer a combination of hybrid, virtual and in-person work experiences in a range of fields, including the arts, government and advocacy, STEM, sports and recreation, childcare, education, and more. In partnership with DYEE, the Mayor’s Office of Workforce Development will continue the Learn and Earn Postsecondary program. Virtual experiential learning through project-based activities will also be offered, focusing efforts on providing jobs to vulnerable youth populations through the Massachusetts Commonwealth Corporation YouthWorks partnership. This partnership ensures disadvantaged, vulnerable and youth with identified risk barriers have access to employment opportunities.

As an additional youth leadership development initiative, DYEE is collaborating with the Mayor’s Office of Immigrant Advancement to further a Dreamers Fellowship initiative designed to engage immigrant youth. 

To further strengthen the Boston summer jobs program, DYEE has introduced a grant funding component for partner organizations as part of the SuccessLink Youth Employment Program. This new approach will provide selected grantees with an allocated number of youth positions, where the wages for the youth employees will be funded through a grant. The partner organization will be responsible for managing the recruitment, hiring, and payroll process for youth participants. The goal of this revised service delivery model is to increase job placements and improve quality experiences for youth and non-profits who partner with the City of Boston to hire and create workforce development opportunities for young people. 

With the introduction of grant partnerships, there are two ways for youth to get connected to a SuccessLink job:

• SuccessLink Direct Jobs: Youth will be hired by the City of Boston through the traditional SuccessLink portal to work across various organizations
• SuccessLink Grant Jobs: Youth will be hired directly through the grant partners’ online application process. 

Because of this change, the DYEE youth jobs webpage has been redesigned to help young people navigate the application, onboarding, and hiring processes. This ensures that youth and families have access to the resources they need to effectively navigate the employment process. 

The SuccessLink Youth Employment Program is largely funded by the City of Boston and is designed not only to recruit and hire youth, but also to ensure that their employment experience is engaging, meaningful, and serves as a building block for their professional development and personal success. DYEE also partners with a host of nonprofit organizations, city and quasi-city agencies, as well as other key youth employment providers across the city, supported with outside additional resources, including Action for Boston Community Development, the Boston Private Industry Council, John Hancock’s MLK Scholars, Youth Options Unlimited, and the Mayor’s Office of Workforce Development, to provide meaningful employment opportunities to a collective 8,000 youth between the ages of 14-21. 

Youth interested in applying to DYEE’s SuccessLink Summer Job Program must meet the following requirements:

• Must be a full-time resident of the City of Boston
• Must turn 15 years old on or before September 1, 2021
• Cannot turn 19 years old on or before September 1, 2021
• Must be legally permitted to work in the United States

For more information on DYEE’s summer employment program and additional youth resources, visit youth.boston.gov.

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