IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD : Hollywood: Jobs Help Runaway Youths Find New Direction

About 3,000 runaway youths are on the streets of Hollywood on any given day. Some turn to panhandling, petty crime, prostitution or the drug trade for survival money. The Los Angeles Free Clinic-Hollywood Center, the county’s only free clinic specializing in adolescent medicine, provides runaways from 16 to 23 years old with an employment alternative through Project STEP (Short-Term Employment Program). STEP recruits and screens youths through referrals from local shelters. The program underwrites worker’s compensation insurance, guarantees transportation and arrival time, provides on-site supervision and ensures proper worker documentation. The youths are are paid daily for their time on the job and in career and education workshops. The program provides employers with an easy way to hire reliable, unskilled workers, and it offers the youths work experience, income and a chance to begin a transition away from the streets to a more stable life. Since it began in 1990, 655 youths have received work assignments through STEP.

Population:

Hollywood: 216,802

Los Angeles: 3,485,398

Population by race and ethnicity:

Hollywood:

White: 51%

Hispanic: 35%

Black: 5%

Asian: 8%

Los Angeles

White: 42%

Hispanic: 35%

Black: 13%

Asian: 10%

Source: U.S. Census

HOW STEP WORKS

REQUEST

STEP meets personnel needs with two-day’s notice, but can usually meet employer’s needs within one day. Employers contract for youths on a daily, weekly, or longer-term basis at a starting rate of $5.75 per hour.

ASSIGNMENT

Youth workers gather at STEP offices in Hollywood, where they receive breakfast and a bag lunch and are driven to work sites. Work begins at 8:30 a.m. at jobs ranging from light clerical and data entry to general labor.

FOLLOW-UP

Work usually ends at 2:30 pm. Youths are driven to STEP offices to receive a paycheck for their day’s work and participation in a one-hour meeting to talk about life skills like job hunting, resume preparation, phone etiquette or money management. They also participate in therapy groups, receive referrals for high-school equivalency classes and enroll in a mentoring program with trained volunteers who offer personal and career guidance.

ONE PARTICIPANT’S EXPERIENCE

Alex Almanza, 20, full-time clerk at the Century City law firm of Stroock & Stroock & Lavan

I was having problems with my family; that’s why I ran away. I was kind of mad at them. I’m not mad at them anymore and we’re doing fine now.

(On the streets) I felt really hopeless and thought I was a lost case. I didn’t know what to do. It was real hard to find a job. I didn’t have any place to stay, I didn’t have any clothes, I didn’t have any place to take a shower. One day (last summer) I was at the Los Angeles Youth Network (a Hollywood-based shelter and drop-in center for runaway and homeless youth). A caseworker asked me if I had an ID and a Social Security number because if I did, I might be able to work with STEP. I said I did.

Once I found STEP, things started to get a little easier. They would pay me $27 a day. I could get a little money to buy clothing. They helped me to get into Covenant House (a Hollywood-based shelter for youth under age 21).

In the program, they’re checking on how you’re doing on the jobs and, at the same time, they’re teaching you how to dress, how to act on a job and how to go on an interview. I learned not to speak too loud or too low at work. In the morning, they give us some cereal and orange juice and they give us a lunch. Giving me something to eat meant much less worry for me. I was happy--that way I could concentrate on work.

I worked at different jobs. After two months, the STEP people asked if I wanted to go for an interview at this law firm. I said I would love to. They hired me out of four kids. I was so excited. When I first came here I was a little scared. Once I got the hang of it, I didn’t get nervous anymore. Now I feel comfortable and more confident, and I enjoy it, believe me.

By working at the law firm, I could save money. Now I have my own place. It feels great. When I was on the streets, I felt worried and afraid all the time, everyday--about being attacked, about where I was going to stay each night. Now I feel like somebody. I’m already making plans about what I’m going to do. I going to try my best to go to college next year. I was thinking of going to El Camino College. And I’d like to be a counselor for kids. Since I got lots of help, I would like to do the same.

Those who have hired Project STEP workers include:

Auto Rents

Children’s Hospital Los Angeles

Hollywood Arts Council

Hollywood Community Housing Corp.

Los Angeles Conservation Corps

UNOCAL

Universal City Nissan

Private individuals

WHO RUNAWAYS ARE:*

25% have problems with drugs or alcohol.

40% have a history of abuse or neglect.

50% have no home to which they might return.

25% are chronic runaways.

33% report having an alcoholic parent.

25% report coming from homes where at least one parent abused drugs.

*Estimates

Sources: National Assn. of Social Workers, the Salvation Army, Southern California Divisional Headquarters

TO GET INVOLVED

For information about mentoring, employment services or other support opportunities with the Los Angeles Free Clinic’s STEP program, call (213) 462-8632.