Connecticut Post Online (Bridgeport, Connecticut)
June 9, 2006 Friday
Bill expands summer jobs
BYLINE: CHRISTINA CRAPANZANO
SECTION: LOCAL
LENGTH: 346 words
Staff writer
MILFORD — About 40 teenagers and young adults will be given jobs through the city’s Summer Youth Employment and Training Program — thanks to a federal bill that expands the income-eligibility guidelines for prospective applicants.
Lisa Streit, director of Milford’s Employment and Training Administration, said the program targets underprivileged youths 14 to 21, placing them in jobs with service organizations and businesses.
“It’s a summer work experience program for kids who meet income guidelines or have some barrier to employment,” she said. Streit said custodial assistant positions, as well as positions at the Milford/Orange YMCA, Milford Hospital and local day-care facilities are tentative work sites for the program. Applicants’ eligibility for the program is based on financial need and family size.
This year, the program eligibility guidelines were extended to not only include students who receive free lunch in the Milford school system, but also students who receive discounted lunch.
Frank Milone, youth programs manager at the New Haven Workforce Alliance, which distributes federal funds to New Haven County youth programs, said the eligibility extension was a result of a bill passed earlier in the year.
“Part of the bill was to make it more accessible, so more people can be eligible,” he said. Because of the eligibility extension, Streit said she anticipates an increased number of applicants, who will then have to participate in a lottery system to receive positions. “If there are more applicants than slots, we do a lottery,” Streit said. “Once chosen from the lottery, we interview all the kids and ask for their first-, second- and third-choice job, and try to match them as best we can depending on circumstance, or travel situations.”
Last year, about 25 people were placed on the waiting list. The program application is due by 6 p.m. today. Applications should be brought to the Parson’s Government Center at 70 W. River St. In addition to the four-page application, applicants must also submit documentation of financial eligibility.
