Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: A jobs for youth program? Are you sh*%#ing me?

Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: A jobs for youth program? Are you sh*%#ing me?:

A jobs for youth program? Are you sh*%#ing me?

by Mike Klonsky

Unemployment rate in Cook County is around 9% not including those who have given up looking. For black and Latino youth it's closer to 50%. For ex-offenders it is much, much higher. The record number of young victims of gun violence in Chicago streets this summer parallels the youth unemployment rates.  For Chicago area young people, unemployment, poverty and family income account for nearly all of the risk factors leading to juvenile incarceration. Yes, youth unemployment is a deadly business in this county.