Media Release: LA County Kicks-Off Annual Youth@Work Program for the Summer 

Through Youth@Work, DEO places youth participants in various public, social, and private sector worksites throughout LA County including the County’s Department of Parks and Recreation, Walgreens, Antelope Valley Medical Center, LA LGBT Center, God’s Pantry, City of Compton, and hundreds of other host employers. Since July 2023, Youth@Work has placed 6,439 youth, amounting to a total of $13.2M in wages earned. 

“Youth@Work offers young people across Los Angeles County meaningful paid work opportunities with employers across sectors,” said Board Chair Lindsey P. Horvath. “This is a fantastic way to hone new skills, explore professions, and gain valuable experience that can propel young professionals into their next career. We are calling 14- to 24-year-olds across the County to sign up for one of the 10,000 internship opportunities now available.” 

“We need to ensure we give every youth, especially those currently in the County’s care and those transitioning out if it, access to job training and apprenticeships like those offered by the Youth@Work Program so we can equip them with the skills they need to become self-sufficient once they leave County care,” said Supervisor Hilda L. Solis, who represents the First District. “This is about working together to put transition age youth on a path to success and helping them become independent and productive members of society.” 

"I am proud that the Board of Supervisors continues to invest in our young Angelenos' futures through important programs such as Youth@Work and Summer Stars,” said Supervisor Holly J. Mitchell, Second Supervisorial District. “These impactful initiatives provide youth, who live in the Second District and across the County, access to paid work experiences, skills development, and the opportunity to explore a variety of career possibilities." 

“A summer job can be life changing for a young person,” said Supervisor Janice Hahn, Fourth Supervisorial District. “These are opportunities for teens and young people to not only learn new skills in summer jobs that pay good wages, but they can get their foot in the door in lifelong careers they could love.”  

“Youth@Work can connect youth to their first paid experience and can expose them to the world of work, so it’s an incredibly valuable resource,” stated Supervisor Kathryn Barger, Fifth Supervisorial District. “The program truly enriches youth’s lives by both helping them explore career pathways and connecting them with mentors that lead by example. Lives are changed by participating in the Youth@Work program.” 

“Each year, DEO supports thousands of young adults in preparing for and accessing their very first paid work opportunity, building exposure, skills and experiences, and our future talent pipeline,” said Kelly LoBianco, Director of the LA County Department of Economic Opportunity. “These are transformative experiences for not only our youth, but their families and our communities. We want all who can benefit - our youth and public, private and social sector employers - to sign up for Youth@Work today and connect to DEO for all of your hiring and training needs.”  

Recognizing the challenges faced by underserved communities, Youth@Work prioritizes youth with the greatest need, including those who are justice-involved, experiencing homelessness, have a disability, in foster care, Transitional Age Youth, low-income, LGBTQ+, children of CalWORKs households, pregnant or parenting.  

“I’m grateful for the incredible opportunity provided to me by Youth@Work program and the life changing experience,” said Benjamin Adams, a Youth@Work participant who enrolled with the Southeast Los Angeles AJCC and completed an internship at the Art Space of Huntington Park. Under the mentorship of the studio’s owner and supervisor, Benjamin was entrusted with responsibilities that provided an opportunity develop real-world entrepreneurial skills and offering insights that could only be gained in the workplace. “My experience not only allowed me to pursue my passion for art but has also given me a platform to grow and develop both personally and professionally, helping me overcome hurdles and embrace a brighter future.”  

Additionally, through this program, youth can participate in unique projects facilitated by innovative local partnerships within the public sector such as the Youth@Work Summer Stars program, which placed 90 youth across 46 LA County libraries to assist school age children in K-6th grade in high need areas with math and literacy tutoring services during the summer break.   

"Our collaboration with the Youth@Work  program has been a remarkable opportunity to engage young people in community service,” said LA County Library Director Skye Patrick. “The Youth@Work Summer Stars program has significantly supported our summer tutoring efforts, benefiting both the youth participants and the children in our community. The Library is thrilled to be the first job for the Youth@Work cohort." 

Other collaborations also include the Puente Hills Park Project, with the County’s Department of Parks and Recreation and Studio-MLA, the projects lead architectural design firm. Under the mentorship of the Studio-MLA, Youth@Work participants from La Puente High School, Los Altos High School, and Bassett High School in the First Supervisorial District  learn about landscape architecture, design, urban planning, and ecology while participating in the development of the Puente Hills Regional Park, the County’s first regional park in over 30 years since the start of this partnership in February 2023, more than 50 Youth@Work participants have been involved in the project, with more than 722 youth total placed overall in LA County Parks. 

“Many young people face challenging hurdles while looking for their first job. They may lack experience, confidence, or mentors. Youth@Work helps them on those first steps of their career journey, which could include working for us,” said Norma E. García-González, Director of the County of Los Angeles Department of Parks and Recreation. “The beauty of this program is twofold: young people gain valuable on-the-job experience, and at the same time, we are preparing our future workforce. 

“Studio-MLA staff have been blown away by these high school students. For many of them, this is their first ever job, and they have been able to develop and demonstrate professional level knowledge of concepts normally reserved for students at major universities,” said Rodrigo Rodarte, Project Lead from Studio- MLA. “The most rewarding thing is to see young people developing confidence and being paid for their perspectives and ideas in ways not normally seen in public high schools, especially in this community.”  

“This will be hugely important for the rest of high school and college, and into my career. I loved being able to work with my co-workers on different projects and collaborating to create plans for real projects in landscape architecture and urban planning,” said Jorge Espinoza, a Youth@Work participant assigned to the Puente Hills Park Project. “I am hoping to apply and be a part of the next cohort too and keep the work growing even more.” 

Youth can apply by completing the following interest form here. Employers interested in partnering with DEO and hosting youth, can get started here. Watch here to see DEO’s partnership with Parks and Recreation.  

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About DEO: The Department of Economic Opportunity (DEO), launched in July 2022, helps job seekers, entrepreneurs, small businesses, and residents access life changing opportunities, and is home to 18 local America’s Job Centers of California, LA County’s one stop shop that provides a comprehensive range of no-cost employment and training services for youth and adult job seekers, and employers. Stay connected with DEO! Follow @EconOppLA on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram, subscribe to our newsletter, or visit opportunity.lacounty.gov to learn about DEO services.