Monroe County officials are announcing the expansion of an after-school jobs program that looks to provide opportunities for at-risk youth.
The program is called ROC Your Job, and it originally got underway last January to help local youth aged 16 to 20.
County Executive Adam Bello announced on Monday that the program, which initially had space for 260 young people, exceeded expectations, providing jobs to 311 youths.
He said with the help of support from the area’s state lawmakers, there is now an additional $3.9 million in state funding to expand the program so that it can serve more than 340 teens.
It will also help serve local youth for the entire school year, through next June.
“The program is about more than a paycheck,” said Bello. “This is also how we address breaking the cycle of poverty and the disengagement from crime. It's about creating opportunities in communities with the highest rates of crime that have also been hardest hit by economic challenges.”
Arianna Parson is a senior at Rochester’s School of the Arts (SOTA), and she has already had an after-school job in the previous version of this program working at Geva Theatre. Parson said it’s been a real help in pursuing her career aspirations.
“I do plan to go to college for anything regarding theater, drama and music,” Parson said at a Monday news conference. “So this just furthered my idea that I really do love doing theater and acting in front of the camera and being paid for it. that's great too.”
In a statement, Dave Seeley, Executive Director for RochesterWorks said that “while the youth in the program learn valuable skills and earn and earn a competitive wage, the host businesses get the employee help that they need."
Local officials are hoping they can prompt New York state lawmakers to add funding again in 2025 to continue the Roc Your Job program beyond next June.
