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

LOS ANGELES — The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors and the County’s Department of Economic Opportunity OR DEO July 3 kicked off its Youth@Work program, announcing the availability of up to 10,000 paid employment opportunities for local county youth. 

Youth@Work connects marginalized and underserved youth ages 14 to 24 to 160 hours of paid work experience, often their first exposure to the world of work, with local employers in high-growth and emerging industry sectors such as hospitality, trade and logistics, advance manufacturing, IT, health care, and the public sector – including the County of Los Angeles. 

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. 

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.  

Additionally, through this program, youth can participate in projects facilitated by  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.   

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.