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YouthWorks Offering Automatic Banking To Teach Financial Responsibility

BALTIMORE (WJZ) -- Baltimore youth will not only be earning money this summer, they'll learn how to bank it.

The annual YouthWorks summer employment program is adding money management to the job experience.

Remember cashing your first paycheck?

These kids will skip the old school check cashing experience, and go straight to automatic banking.

Earn and learn. Baltimore kids have their work and their pay cut out for them this summer.

Baltimore young people talk about the benefits of the city's youth employment programs:

"It was very influential in the ways that I learned a lot of skills I didn't know before I started with YouthWorks."

"It's a good way to not be bored in the house. It's something for me to do."

"It's great because I love business, I love the aspect of it."

"I'm working with computers, programming, to make a new website."

And now there's an added benefit to those working with YourWorks: automatic checking deposit.

"This year, for the first time, every young person will get a pay card," said Jason Perkins-Cohen, with the Office of Employment Development. "It looks just like the debit card that's in your pocket, and it will have their name on it, it will have a unique number just like your debit card does."

YouthWorks hopes this will encourage financial responsibility.

"We know that income and security is really a root of a lot of the issues we have in the city, and so we want to start with our young people and help them establish a solid financial footing," Courtney Bettle, with Baltimore CASH Campaign, said.

Mayor Pugh speaks from experience.

"I know that I do direct deposit and one of the great things of direct deposit is more money stays in than goes out," she said. "If it's in your hand, you're ready to spend it, and this gives them an opportunity to save."

And the financial education that comes with it.

The city will release a video explaining how the new system works.

YouthWorks offers about 8,000 summer jobs for young people in the city.

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