Lost in all the debate over Bain and Company's Mitt Romney slashing the state spending budget is the status of funding for summer jobs for city kids during the coming school vacation. Right now, there is great uncertainty about whether there will be any significant programs to help place Boston's young people in gainful employment once the school year ends.

For decades, the state and city government along with public-spirited firms have stitched together a patchwork of programs to put teen aged school kids in the workplace during their school vacation. The programs have multiple purposes, as the young people develop a large amount of self respect as they learn to earn their own way in life. In years past, the summer jobs programs also have been credited with keeping things calm in the neighborhoods.

But this year, with a soaring national unemployment rate and budget cuts at the governmental level, plus a weakened economy which leaves many local businesses looking for ways to conserve their funds, the outlook for summer jobs is bleak.

Enter ABCD, the city's antipoverty agency which has successfully managed a summer jobs program for the past 35 years. The agency this week is sending out an alert to area businesses, asking the private sector to step

up and lend a hand.

ABCD Executive Vice President John Drew says, "Every day we get closer to a summer in which too many of Boston's vulnerable young people will be on the streets- without a job, and without a safe place to learn and grow.

"For more than 35 years ABCD SummerWorks has made a difference for young people. Thousands of our community leaders took home their first pay check as an ABCD summer youth worker. They learned a work ethic and how to be part of a team," Drew says. "They worked in day camps and museums, in government offices and at the aquarium. They helped build boats in a Charlestown waterfront program and assisted in research offices at

world-renowned hospitals."

The young people are mostly in their mid-teens- 14 and 15 years old- and many come from housing developments, homeless shelters and the homes of the working poor. Drew says last year, there were three applicants for every job, and this year, "Youngsters leaving school will find nothing but closed doors."

"We are starting from near zero, and the need is greater than ever," he said.

This week, ABCD began the task of seeking support by sending letters to some 4000 Boston businesses, outlining the need and asking for the voluntary support. Businesses are asked to commit to hiring young people for the summer, from one or two to teams of five or ten.

"Things are quite bleak for the youngsters in the city," Drew says. "We desperately need funds and are turning to our friends and the greater public to help us help the kids this summer."

Local companies that can help are urged to contact ABCD SummerWorks program at 617-357-6000.

-Ed Forry