Santa Ana : Youth Work Program Offers Employer Benefit

A Summer Youth Employment Program is expected to create jobs while offering employers sizable tax credits on salaries, city officials said.

All Orange County employers are eligible to hire from the pool of 16- to 22-year-olds in the program, said John Janda, a spokesman for Santa Ana Employment Services.

Youths are available for office, production, sales and service jobs, he said, and the Employment Services office will match prospective employers and qualified youths.

The Summer Youth Employment Program, part of the federally funded Job Training Partnership Act, is designed to help economically disadvantaged young people.

Keith Blunt, manager of the Employment Services office, said that with the tax credits offered through the program employers will be able to “hire a 16- or 17-year-old student for the summer at a final cost of only 15 cents on the dollar.

“At that rate, you can have the services of 20 young people for less than one at minimum wage. . . ,” he said.

“It’s an incredible labor bargain and a wonderful chance for our young people to have a productive, rewarding summer work experience.”

Interested employers should call the Employment Services office at 834-4091 between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. Monday through Friday.

Interviews are conducted without obligation. The office is at 410 West 4th St.