Detroit Evening Report: Detroit’s $100M jobs program praised by White House advisor

Detroit is launching a $100 million employment scholarship fund to encourage people who have not worked for several months to re-enter the job market.

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It’s part of the city’s Jump Start program scheduled to launch Tuesday, Jan. 31. Eighteen community organizations are partnering on the effort as participants get paid to complete high school degrees and receive occupational training. The program will use $40 million in American Rescue Plan Act funding.

“Jump Start is truly a national model,” White House senior adviser Gene Sperling said at a press conference last Friday alongside Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan. “It’s not reinventing the wheel, it is empowering the people who are already on the ground working with people.”

“You need me to help you through that paperwork? You need me to walk you through it? I got you, from start to finish. I will never stop giving back. I will never stop reaching back because I am Detroit and I am Detroit community,” Maxwell said.

Representatives for Detroit’s workforce development department says 1,200 participants will be able to utilize the program’s full slate of offerings.

“In the Jump Start Program, participants have a financial incentive to work hard and succeed, and so do the IDOs (In Detroit Organizations) that are helping them along the way,” said Duggan. “We really believe that this approach will result in a lot of Detroiters who had stopped trying to find work getting onto a path to gainful employment that can sustain them. We are deeply appreciative to President Biden for creating the ARPA program and making Jump Start possible.”

Other headlines for Jan. 30, 2023:

• Grant to convert vacant SW Detroit second-floor commercial spaces into affordable housing launches
• Brightmoor Artisans Collective expands programming to assist small businesses
• Motown legend Barrett Strong dies at 81