Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

Employer participation lagging in summer jobs program

Mayor Bob Filner and city council president pro tem Sherri Lightner appeared yesterday afternoon (May 30) at a roundtable to drum up support for Connect2Careers, the city’s teen summer jobs program formerly known as Hire-A-Youth.

“We need you to help our young people,” Filner told a crowd of prospective employers gathered at the San Diego Concourse downtown. “It makes exceeding sense to have them placed in real learning opportunities.”

In November the city, under the direction of then-mayor Jerry Sanders, allocated $200,000 to save the program from closing. This year, 377 applicants aged 16-21 had signed up to be vetted by specialists hired by the city before being sent out to interview for placement in paid internship programs by the time the presentation began. Only 53 employers, though, out of over 1,000 contacted, had agreed to participate, identifying 178 job openings among them.

Just 49 students have actually been placed through the program, which mostly runs from the last week of June through the second week of August. Students work a minimum of 120 hours during that time, and are generally paid between $8-12 per hour.

“We’re just two weeks away from beginning Connect2Careers,” Lightner said, repeating Filner’s call for more business community involvement, and noting that other cities have much higher investments in student jobs programs, such as New York, which she said spends $40 million annually on a similar program. “We need to do more – much more.”

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all

Previous article

Haunted Trail of Balboa Park, ZZ Top, Gem Diego Show

Events October 31-November 2, 2024
Next Article

Two poems by Marvin Bell

“To Dorothy” and “The Self and the Mulberry”

Mayor Bob Filner and city council president pro tem Sherri Lightner appeared yesterday afternoon (May 30) at a roundtable to drum up support for Connect2Careers, the city’s teen summer jobs program formerly known as Hire-A-Youth.

“We need you to help our young people,” Filner told a crowd of prospective employers gathered at the San Diego Concourse downtown. “It makes exceeding sense to have them placed in real learning opportunities.”

In November the city, under the direction of then-mayor Jerry Sanders, allocated $200,000 to save the program from closing. This year, 377 applicants aged 16-21 had signed up to be vetted by specialists hired by the city before being sent out to interview for placement in paid internship programs by the time the presentation began. Only 53 employers, though, out of over 1,000 contacted, had agreed to participate, identifying 178 job openings among them.

Just 49 students have actually been placed through the program, which mostly runs from the last week of June through the second week of August. Students work a minimum of 120 hours during that time, and are generally paid between $8-12 per hour.

“We’re just two weeks away from beginning Connect2Careers,” Lightner said, repeating Filner’s call for more business community involvement, and noting that other cities have much higher investments in student jobs programs, such as New York, which she said spends $40 million annually on a similar program. “We need to do more – much more.”

Sponsored
Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Playing field now leveled

Next Article

Questions about McCormack Jackson suit

Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

This Week’s Reader This Week’s Reader