ANAHEIM : City to Offer Job Program for Youths

Come July, if city officials have their way, 24 gang members will be trading in their guns and spray cans for shovels and hammers.

Officials are already accepting applications for the Orange County Conservation Corps, which, despite its regional name, will be an Anaheim effort, at least for a while.

“For right now, it is just going to be an Anaheim program, but it has the potential to spread countywide,” said Steve Swaim, coordinator of the city’s anti-gang efforts. He said he has talked to officials in La Habra, Brea and Santa Ana about expanding the program. “It’s something we want to get our young people involved in.”

Patterned after the California Conservation Corps--which itself is modeled after the Depression-era Civilian Conservation Corps--the program will offer full-time, minimum wage jobs for up to 18 months to youngsters from ages 16 to 21.

Corps members will make repairs at homes of low-income residents, work in city cleanup efforts and environmental programs, Swaim said. The goal is to teach the youths a trade as well as basic job decorum and vital habits such as showing up to work daily--and on time.

Swaim said 32 hours a week will be spent at work, and eight hours a week will be spent in class.

“This is for kids who have dropped out of school, who have not passed their (high school equivalency test) and do not have many job skills,” Swaim said. “When they complete the program, they will have skills in carpentry, waste management and other areas and can make themselves a career.”

To pay for the program’s $300,000 annual price tag, the city has received about $200,000 in state and federal grants. The city is looking for private donations to fund the rest.

For Swaim, it is an investment in the future. “If we don’t reach these kids when they are 19,” he asked, “what will happen to them when they are 30?”