Program aimed at teens of families getting income assistance has mixed results

A Nova Scotia program aimed at keeping teens in school who come from families collecting income assistance is being hailed as a success by the people who run it, but the participation numbers show the program has its struggles.

This will be the third summer for Career Rising, aimed primarily at 15 to 19-year-olds living in households receiving income assistance.

"They have told us we are getting it right and we're excited to watch the program participants moving through, who are rising and into post-secondary," Brandon Grant, executive director of employment support and income at the Department of Community Services, told a legislature committee Tuesday.

"People get skills and training, they get their first job and first paycheque and exposure to the industry and following that, if they complete the program, they have some money set aside for their post-secondary education."

The department's figures show between 35 and 40 per cent of those who have joined the program in the last two years have dropped out of it. Overall, it has only helped a tiny fraction of those who may be eligible.

How many teens were eligible to participate

Grant said in families receiving assistance, there were 3,057 teens provincewide in the qualifying age range, and about one per cent of eligible participants have participated.

Participants, according to surveys conducted on behalf of the department, expressed support for the program, according to Grant.

Of the 42 people who have completed the program, 27 graduated from high school or will do so this year.

One-third of those graduates are attending or plan to attend a post-secondary institution.

What participants get financially

There's a financial incentive for completing the program, which includes a two-week "skills development camp" and a summer job on a farm or an agricultural business. The province provides $1,200 and the Colchester Cumberland Community Credit Union sets aside $500 in an account for those who stay until the end.

Businesses are offered a grant equivalent to a minimum wage salary for the summer, but Grant said some businesses forgo some or all of the incentive.

"They believe strongly in the fact that they can support young people and they see it as being a part of a good business community to support young people in their community," he said.

Where the program is offered

The program is run out of four communities — Kentville, Truro, North Sydney and Bridgewater — but this summer teens from New Glasgow, Amherst, Cumberland County, Glace Bay and Sydney may be able to take part.

NDP MLA Susan Leblanc was generally supportive of the program, but she wasn't overly impressed.

"For those kids, it's probably a really wonderful experience and great program and it's probably doing what it set out to do, but it doesn't really go far enough," she said.

"There are so many more children connected with the ESIA [employment support and income assistance] system who aren't benefiting from this type of thing. And there's lots of other stuff that could happen for them."