Elizabeth Hill at Pawprints in Vero Beach for Workforce Solution's Youth Employment Program Photo: Scripps Treasure Coast Newspapers

But they might need to go without a critical injection of extra federal funds, and at least three agencies are considering scaling back or abandoning the programs that put cash in the bank accounts and job experience on the resumes of low-income and at-risk youths.

Florida’s 24 state-regulated regional workforce boards depend greatly on federal funding, and they received an added boost of $36.4 million, spread among boards statewide, from last year’s $787 billion federal stimulus package to run youth employment programs last year, this year and in the future.

Combined with regular federal funding, they received $65.2 million last year.

This year, the boards, which assist with job training and placement, aren’t guaranteed a delivery of extra federal money.

A $5.72 billion U.S. House of Representatives bill that would allocate $600 million for summer youth employment programs nationally is now in legislative limbo.

And some programs are being at least slimmed down to compensate for lack of extra federal money .

Such may be the case for Workforce Solutions, which serves Indian River, Okeechobee, Martin and St. Lucie counties.

“There are bigger areas of the state that are moving ahead" without extra federal funds, said spokeswoman Odaly Victorio. “We can’t afford to do that.”

The agency is waiting to see if it will receive extra federal funds.

Last year, Workforce Solutions injected nearly $1.35 million in federal stimulus funds into an on-the-job summer work experience program that matched 226 youths, ages 16-24, with 125 employers. The participants spent eight weeks filing medical records, sorting clothes, washing dogs and completing other jobs for public and private employers large and small.

Workforce Solutions paid stipends to the youths for their 32-hour weeks of work, instead of requiring employers to pay the participants a wage. The youths made $8 an hour. And a fortunate group of youths were offered jobs by employers after the program ended.

By this time last year, Workforce Solutions knew that it would receive nearly $3.5 million total for its youth programs, which also included paying for a simple job shadowing and readiness program for younger participants at local community colleges.

This year, Workforce Solutions is still waiting to find out whether it will receive any extra federal money.

“We thought we would have known in February, and we still don’t know,” Victorio said. “So, we’re a little frustrated.”

Workforce Solutions is reducing the on-the-job program to fewer than 100 participants if it doesn't get the extra cash. Even if it does get the extra money, it's scaling back its planned use of federal funds for the program to $800,000.

In that case, it would expand the on-the-job program to 300 youths, but it would not fund the job-readiness program for younger participants.

Ask a representative of one of the workforce-development boards what federal bill would give them their needed money and few could tell you.

The $5.72 billion U.S. House bill, proposed by U.S. Rep. David Obey, D-WI, allocates $600 million for summer employment programs nationally, via the Workforce Investment Act that gives the boards federal funds regularly. The majority of the rest of the funds goes toward disaster relief.