NOVA in the News

San Francisco Chronicle (Link to original article)
May 17, 2009

Stimulus creates jobs for disadvantaged youths

As part of the stimulus bill passed in February, Congress included $1.2 billion for youth employment, primarily a summer jobs program for disadvantaged 14- to 24-year-olds.

The federal money is being dispensed to state employment commissions. California's share, $158 million, is being distributed by the Employment Development Department through 49 regional Workforce Investment Boards. Most counties and some large cities have their own boards.

With little infrastructure in place and summer just around the corner, the boards are scrambling to find or create positions for low-income, at-risk youth.

"This is what I call a fast and furious program," says Rosario Flores, program finance specialist for the Alameda County Workforce Investment Board.

Most boards are hiring public or nonprofit agencies to run summer job programs in their communities. These agencies, in turn, try to place youth in public-sector, nonprofit or private-sector jobs. Regardless of the position, the federal stimulus money pays their wages, payroll taxes and other costs associated with the program.

Last week, the Alameda County board awarded contracts to five agencies that will find jobs, help train and monitor 684 youths.

The youths will earn minimum wage - $8 per hour - for about 200 hours over the summer, bringing their total pretax wages to $1,600.

All told, the Alameda County board, which received $2.1 million in federal funds, expects to spend about $1.2 million on youth wages and payroll taxes. An additional $800,000 will be divided among the five agencies running the program. The remaining money will be used to assist program operators.

Other boards expect to spend a similar proportion on wages versus other program costs.

The Solano County board set aside 65 percent of its $1.6 million grant "to be the wage pool," says its director, Robert Bloom. His program plans to hire 450 youth at minimum wage for 210 to 240 hours over the summer.

The Sonoma County board plans to find jobs for 250 to 300 youths and pay them $8 per hour for 168 hours of work. That works out to $336,000 to $403,200 in total wages, excluding payroll taxes.

That's less than half of the $1.2 million Sonoma County received in federal funding. The board budgeted conservatively because it expected to receive only $800,000, says Karen Fies, its executive director. It could end up paying more to youths who can work in August.

Program costs run high, Fies says, because the agencies need to screen applicants, provide transportation to and from work sites, supply safety equipment when needed and offer "educational components."

The Sonoma County program plans to rotate its youth workers among various "ecology-related jobs," Fies says. "If they are building birdhouses or bat houses, they will do the math to do the construction on that house."

Learning job skills

The purpose of the program is not just to provide extra income to poor families, but to "help economically challenged kids get ready in various ways to enter the job market," says Earl Johnson, interim director of the Oakland Workforce Investment Board.

To be eligible, applicants must be age 14 to 24, have a right to work in the Untied States and be "low-income" according to federal poverty guidelines, which vary by family size. A family of four must earn less than roughly $27,000 a year.

They also must be at least one of the following: deficient in basic literary skills; a school dropout; homeless, a runaway or foster child; pregnant or a parent; an offender; or have certain physical or learning disabilities.

In the Bay Area, the income requirement can be a barrier for some at-risk youth to qualify for jobs, says Fred Slone, workforce development manager for the San Mateo County Workforce Investment Board. "In our county, that is such a low hurdle," he says.

The summer jobs program is "a great piece of legislation," Slone says. But "this is one area where the requirement of the law makes it difficult to meet the needs of the community."

Some already interviewing

Some boards are further along in the hiring process than others.

The Oakland and San Francisco boards have not yet hired agencies to run their programs and so have no information on specific jobs.

Oakland, which received $2.7 million in federal funding, plans to hire as many as 1,000 youths this summer.

San Francisco, which received $2.3 million, plans to hire 450, says its director, Rhonda Simmons.

San Mateo started planning early and has already approved 10 programs for $800,000 in funding and 300 positions. It ended up getting more than planned - $1.2 million.

The Nova board, which covers northern Silicon Valley, is already interviewing applicants for a wide variety of positions.

"We have almost 40 different work sites," says Jennifer Springer, Nova's employment training manager. "The city of Mountain View has a library aide position. There's an office position through the Chamber of Commerce in Mountain View, camp counselor positions from city of Sunnyvale and YMCA. Cisco has five (nontechnical) positions," she says. Other jobs include working on an organic farm in Sunnyvale and in a recycling program for the city of Sunnyvale.

Nova plans to fill 200 positions this summer. The pay ranges from $8 per hour for high school students to $10 per hour for students with at least one year of college.

To apply for a job, youths should contact the workforce investment board in their area. To find boards, go to links.sfgate.com/ZHCY.

Summer jobs for youth

The federal stimulus act included money to provide summer jobs for disadvantaged youth. These are the amounts going to Bay Area Workforce Investment Boards
Workforce area Allocation
Alameda County $2,147,775
Contra Costa County 2,511,927
Marin County 360,067
Napa 185,673
Oakland 2,739,596
Nova (Northern Silicon Valley) 1,020,107
Richmond 741,907
San Francisco 2,321,988
San Jose/Silicon Valley 4,744,413
San Mateo 1,184,910
Solano 1,567,481
Sonoma 1,202,716

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