Employers Asked to Offer Youth Jobs

More than 4,000 Ventura County employers are being asked to provide jobs for youth this summer in response to federal cutbacks that have reduced funding for summer jobs programs.

Letters urging local businesses to make summer jobs available have been signed and mailed by the Ventura County Board of Supervisors.

The federal Summer Youth Employment and Training Program budget was cut by a third, so funding will subsidize 650 jobs this summer for Ventura County’s at-risk or low-income youth ages 14 to 21, said Maria Benavides, who directs the county program for the Ventura County Workforce Development Division.

Last year, 953 jobs were provided.

Officials of the agency, which administers the federally funded summer jobs program, will work in conjunction with the state Employment Development Department to identify more summer jobs for youth.

The letter states that the county’s goal is to create an additional summer job opportunity for every job subsidized by the federal government.

Money from the private sector for summer jobs would not be restricted to at-risk or low-income youth, but could serve any young person who wants a summer job, Benavides said.

Employers who have summer jobs or internships available should call the Workforce Development Division at 382-8625. Youths or parents interested in the program can call the division at 981-8781.