Stimulus cash helps youths

A $3 million slice of federal stimulus money will go toward youth-employment programs in Seattle and King County, helping put 850 low-income and at-risk youths to work this summer.

For the past several summers, the programs — which include Youth Care and Youth Source — could afford to place only about 200 youths.

The programs address a growing national trend in which youth are unable to find jobs, partly because they do not have the skills of more experienced workers.

The recession has made the problem worse, said Margret Graham, a planner at the Workforce Development Council of Seattle/King County, a nonprofit that received the $3 million in funding. Nationally, Congress approved $1.2 billion in funds for youth-employment projects.

"This is something that was a crisis anyway, and in a bad economic times it makes it tougher for young people," she said. "Low-income, at-risk people who don't have the connections that others do are the ones that suffer the most."

Between 2003 and 2006, the number of people ages 16 to 24 increased by 14,539 in King County, but employment in that group fell by 9,303 people, Graham said.

The new infusion of cash will pay the wages of youth ages 14 to 24 who are disadvantaged, which can mean a variety of things, including that they dropped out of school, were involved in gangs or have a disability.

"We realize those kind of labels might be kind of scary to employers, but these are young people who we work with really intensively and get trained and prepared before they get to the job site," Graham said.

Michael Grabham, owner of The Finish Co. in Seattle, recently hired two people full time who began as interns through such youth programs. He hopes to have two or three more such interns this summer.

"We want to be involved in the community, and we get an employee who we can help train to do things The Finish Co. way, not some other method that may or may not be correct," Grabham said.

The internships last six to eight weeks and pay the minimum wage.

The labor is free to employers, which is "always a benefit, especially in this environment," Grabham said. And it "takes the risk out of finding someone who isn't a good fit."

A few months ago, he hired Juan Romero after the 17-year-old finished a Youth Source internship with the company.

"He's really energetic and enthusiastic and wants to learn the trade, which is something we can do," Grabham said.

Romero said Youth Source teaches the importance of showing up on time and working hard.

Without the program, he said, "I'd probably be struggling looking for a different job that I wouldn't like as much."

Melissa Allison: 206-464-3312