New program places young people in summer jobs

Tonya Johnston works in the career services office at Southwestern Community College. Johnston is employed through the Workforce Investment Act’s summer youth employment program. (LARRY PETERSON)

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Local teens Mark Lopez and Tonya Johnston say they may not have found summer jobs, had they not been accepted in a new youth employment program funded by federal economic stimulus dollars.

They are among 90 summer employees ages 14-24 from an eight-county region who met eligibility standards for the Summer Youth Employment Training Program (SYETP), which is administered through the Workforce Investment Act.

Barb DeVore, WIA regional coordinator, said the intent of this stimulus funding — $500,000 for an eight-county region — is to prepare young people to become employable, earn experience and make them better candidates for future positions when the funding stream runs out at the end of the summer.

Employers provide the opportunity and some supervision, but the employees are paid by the government program.

"It puts stimulus dollars back into the community, by providing meaningful work," DeVore said. "They get additional education about getting work, how to interview, and how to behave on the job."

"I was having trouble finding a job," said Johnston, 19, of Creston. "I saw an article in the newspaper about it. I wanted something different than factory. That's all I've done in the past. I plan on going back to school, but I needed work this summer."

Johnston is paid $8.50 an hour for secretarial work in the career services office at Southwestern Community College.

Preparation

Michelle Wilson, employment specialist at the Iowa Workforce Center in Creston, manages the summer program. She said employees are working eight to 40 hours per week, depending on the needs of the employer and the summer workers.

"They have to go through an actual interview, and the employer has the ultimate say if that is the student they want working with them," Wilson said. "We helped them prepare with workshops, a day of orientation on communication skills and etiquette on the job. They are grateful for the opportunity to work. Many of them weren't able to find anything on their own."

One of those was Lopez, 18, who will be a senior next month at Creston High School.

" It was pretty hard to get a job," said Lopez, who works as a groundskeeper for Creston Community Schools. "This has been good."

Gerry Latham, groundskeeper and maintenance assistance for the school district, said four youth workers are with the high school.

"We like it," Latham said. "We can always do something extra. We've been painting and refurbishing things, putting new rock around the track area. It's nice to have the help."

Wilson said youth workers were matched with career interest areas when possible.

"We have one person working as a naturalist assistant at a conservation area, and that is an area he is studying in college," Wilson said. "Another person is working at a summer day camp and helping with curriculum, and her degree will be in elementary education. We have a lot of people working maintenance for schools, cities and hospitals. Others are in offices. They are learning a lot."

Program criteria

There are restrictions in getting accepted. Wilson said the low-income criteria are lower than those used for food stamps. They also must be a U.S. citizen ages 14-24, and be experiencing one or more of the following challenges in meeting their goal:

Deficient in reading or math skills; homeless, runaway or foster child; pregnant or parenting; a school dropout; been treated for drug or alcohol abuse; member of a minority; have a disability (mental, physical or learning); or experienced trouble in juvenile court or legal matters.

DeVore hopes the summer youth employment funding continues after this year, even though it was originally designed for the stimulus package.

"We hope so, after putting all this effort into it," DeVore said. "We'd love the opportunity to do it again. It's good for the kids, that's obvious."