This summer about 200 Centre County disadvantaged youths will again be able to find employment through a local work program. But due to budget cuts, the program will not be able to provide as many jobs as it has in the past.

The program, run by the Private Industry Council of Centre County, is funded by the Job Training Partnership Act, which allocates money to each county based on local unemployment rates, said Kerry Wiessman, planner/special programs supervisor for PICC.

"There is less need for us to offer a program to as many youths," she said.

The seven-year-old program once helped about 350 youths, but that was in the early 1980s when the unemployment rate was higher, said Frank Zook, assistant director of PICCC.

"As the unemployment rate goes down, so does the funding level," he said.

This year about 200 youths, aged 14-21, will be employed in jobs ranging from clerical, janitorial and landscaping work. Pay ranges from $3.80 to $4 per hour, Zook said.

About 75 percent of the youths in the program are chosen because they come from a low-income family, as outlined by the federal government. Others are selected because they have barriers to employment that include: teenage pregnancy, history of substance abuse, mental or learning disabilities, or a criminal record, Wiessman said.

Youths are chosen from the five school districts in Centre County and are recruited through school counselors and the local PICCC offices, Zook said. Although each district is equally recruited from, State College usually has few participants.

"Generally we don't have as much luck recruiting in State College because the kids there have better chances of finding employment," Zook said.

About 95 percent of the participants complete the program, Wiessman said.

"The purpose is to give them the skills and training that they need to become competitive in the work field," Zook said.