Officials from the Camden Higher Education and Healthcare Task Force cite a 31 percent increase in residents working for the eds and meds - 400 new people making an average of $25,0000 - but it's unclear what those jobs are and whether they are full time with health coverage.
Less than 1.5 percent of the recovery dollars were spent on workforce development and job training.
In the one notable success, Respond, a longtime city nonprofit, used $1 million to build a training center for culinary arts, carpentry, auto repair, landscaping, and HVAC installation. There's a child-care center on site, and a class for teens from a juvenile-detention facility.
"Anyone . . . would agree that that was insufficient for the city of Camden," said Edward Gorman, president of American Community Partnership, which received $100,000 for a training facility yet to open. If his group had received $1 million, Gorman said, he would have trained 200 Camden residents in construction, 400 in culinary arts, and 500 as nurse's assistants.
Lack of jobs means fewer taxpayers. And by that measure, Camden has actually gone backward.
During the takeover, the city became twice as dependent on state aid - to the tune of $110 million annually, plus $308 million more for the schools. This contradicts a core mission of the law, to get Camden off the state dole.
As a self-sustaining entity, Camden barely exists.
Contact staff writer Matt Katz
at 856-779-3919 or mkatz@phillynews.com.
Tomorrow: How recovery efforts helped some residents but skipped over others.
