Summer Youth Employment Program creates opportunities for county’s young people

At Southworth Library in Dryden, Kylanni DeJesus, 14, of McLean, has kept busy this summer shelving books and helping to run the library’s summer reading activities. His favorite part?

“That we get paid to do fun activities with kids,” the teenager said with a smile, adding, “I also like putting books back on the shelves and stuff. It’s relaxing, in a way.”

One of his favorite parts of the job, which was facilitated through the Tompkins County Workforce Development Summer Youth Employment Program (SYEP), is hosting a game day with younger children every Friday. Recently, he taught them how to play the card game Spoons.

“It was fun watching them learn,” said DeJesus, who said he hopes to continue his work at the library in the future. “I’m probably going to do it next summer, as well,” he said.

SYEP is a 6-to-8-week paid work experience for young people ages 14 to 20. Participants have the opportunity to explore their interests and career pathways, develop workplace skills and engage in learning experiences that help in developing their social, civic and leadership skills. 

In addition to the income it provides, experience in the workforce and interaction with working adults can help youth recognize the importance of educational achievement and expand their education and career goals.

Diane Pamel, Southworth Library director, said that the teenagers add a special dynamic to the summer programs. “It gives validity to programming when the cool kids are doing it with you,” Pamel said. “They just have a lot of patience and connect with the kids on a different level. It adds a lot and brings a little bit more energy.”

This is the second year the library has participated in SYEP, and Pamel said that the several members on board this summer are willing to assist in almost any area, providing a huge amount of help during the library’s busiest season.

“And it’s good for the teens, too,” Pamel said. “They get to learn some responsibility — what it means to have a job and show up — so it really benefits them as well as us.”

DeJesus said he learned how to fill out a timesheet and started a bank account where he can deposit the money he makes this summer, two real-world experiences he probably would not have had at his age without SYEP.  

DeJesus said that the process for signing up for SYEP was pretty straightforward. “Once I got the hang of everything I had to do, like the timesheet, it was pretty easy,” he said.

He encouraged other young people to participate in SYEP.

“It’s kind of scary, starting work, but it actually isn’t that bad, and as long as you’re trying your best and stuff, you’ll be fine,” he said.

A major goal of SYEP is to help area youth overcome some of the common barriers to securing employment.

“We help young people secure their first, or just early, job opportunity in the working world,” said Scout Frost, communications specialist for Tompkins County Workforce Development, at their Ithaca office. “Whether it’s learning soft skills or hard skills, we want them to feel like they are capable of being independent early on and gaining confidence in the professional world.”

Frost said that another main goal for the immediate future is more outreach to the wider Tompkins County community, both in terms of potential work sites and employees.

“We don’t want to be just serving people in walking distance right here in Ithaca,” Frost said. “This is a countywide initiative, and even people who live out in Groton, we want them to know this is something they can participate in.”

“When you live in a rural area, there can be difficulties and additional barriers with transportation and access to community resources, especially with young people, who may not have a driver’s license,” Frost added.

In Freeville, Maurice Hill, owner of mobile car detailing service Hills Fresh and Clean, said he plans to be involved with SYEP in the future after seeing his daughter, Nevaeh Hill, 16, have a good experience with it this summer working for her father’s company.

“She loves it,” he said. “It’s actually her first job.” And while Hill said his daughter has her sights set on college after graduation, he appreciates the experience it’s given her.

Hill has also employed young people through the county’s JobLink program, which employs youth ages 14 to 24 year round. He had such a good experience with JobLink that he ended up hiring the first three employees he received through the program full time.

He appreciates the exposure it gives his young employees. “Some kids want to be entrepreneurs,” he said, “but they’re not able to see the ins and outs of how a small business runs. Here, they can interact with me and watch me take payments, book appointments,” he said. “They ask questions about how I opened the business. It gives that type of insight for kids who might not be going to college.”

Frost said that it is encouraging to see how the program can motivate young people.

“It’s really exciting to see how thrilled young people are to get out there, engaging people beyond the schoolyard and having these first experiences of learning how to do things in the real world, gaining in confidence and skills,” they said. “I see that it works for people, and the young people get really excited about it.”

“There are some cases where, after the period of time, they are hired by the worksite and paid by the worksite,” Frost said. “It can be a pipeline for workers into certain areas, and it really helps that younger people understand that these [jobs] are options for work. … It’s great because it exposes people to more typical jobs than they would see in school. A big part of what’s tough in job seeking is not knowing what’s out there.”

Still, there is more work to do.

“There’s a lot more need out there that we still need to address,” Frost said. “Getting the word out is tough, but we’re letting our legislators know this is worth funding and continuing to fund.”

SYEP receives its funding from the New York Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance.

Workforce Development also works with Ithaca Youth Bureau’s YES program for summer youth employment and was able to fund work experiences for at least 71 youth. The oversight, administration and effectiveness of SYEP is led by Workforce Development’s leadership and the Workforce Development Board’s Youth Oversight Committee, which is made up of leaders from the private sector, community-based organizations, agencies and education providers.

Frost is working to reach other community organizations with the message that partnership is welcome.

“We’re letting them know this is a worthwhile thing that exists in the community that can be expanded out to other organizations, but there is more that can be done,” Frost said.

Tompkins Workforce Career Center is located at 171 East State St. in Center Ithaca on the second floor. For more information about its programs, visit www.tompkinscountyny.gov/wfny.