Via Dana Tims, The Oregonian 

Multnomah County Commissioner Loretta Smith knows first-hand the value a paying job can have for a teenager.

In 1980, Smith was a job seeking 16-year old living in Michigan. Application after application went nowehre.

Then her English teacher unexpectedly offered a job entering test socres into the offical grade book. Money for the internship. she learned, came from a federal jobs- training program.

"That meant so much to me at the time," she said this week. "It was just a huge opportunity that came along at the perfect time."

Now Smith is offering the same opportunity to others by championing the Summer Youth Connect program at Multnomah County. The program is on track to provide paying summer internships to 100 people ages 16 to 21, double the number who landed similar positions last year and four times as many who participated in the program's 2011 inaugural year.

Ther program is part of a larger public-private effort to find jobs for area youth, who are on the short end of the worst employment rate since the end of World War II.

Only one in four teens who want work this summer will be able to find a job, according to Worksystems, a nonprofit job-training organization focusing on Portland and Multnomah and Washington counties.

For poor teens and students of color, the outlook is even more dismal, with unemployment rates of close to 90 percent, said Heather Ficht, Worksystems' director of youth workforce services.

The program targets underprivileged youth who likely would not find jobs otherwise.

"What we are really doing is growing the next generation of young leaders," Smith said. "And there is no better way to do that than by offering kids the chance to work."

The county isn't alone in efforts to create summer internships for youth. Portland plans to offer 97 internships this year, with Oregon's Department of Human Services offering another 90. TriMet is sponsoring 30 internships. and Washington County and the Port of Portland are offering 14, and nine, respectively.

Here's how the program works:

Worksystems, through its SummerWorks program sends out notices to high school counselors and other community-based organizations to advertise the openings. It then provides job training prior ro placement and screens and matches eligible youth based on their skills and preferences.

Ongoing job coaching is also offered. Worksystems handles and funds all payroll processing, taxes and insurance. 

Internships. paying minimum wage, typically last six to nine weeks during the summer for a total of 190 hours of work. An employer sponsorship of $2,000 covers all the wages and other direct costs, while simultaneosly leveraging an addiontal $1,000 per intern in services offered by Worksystems. 

"I guarantee you that kids participating in this program are going to find themselves headed in the right direction," Smith said. "I've never seen a gang member doing a drive-by on their way to work."

One significant stumble did occur earlier this year when Portland Mayor Charlie Hales, in one of his first prominent decisions, said he was going to help solve the city's budget shortfall by trimming the $194,000 needed to sponsor 97 internships for at-risk youth.

Smith, alarmed at the move, invited Hales to a one-on-one breakfast. 

"I just had to give him an opportunity to really see that this is going to change the lives of so many underserved families," Smith  said. "He finally said, after further review and listening to community members, that this is something he just had to put back."

Dana Haynes, Hales' spokesman, confirmed the account. 

Looking ahead, the future of the program remains uncertain, given looming money shortages. For now, however, a new batch of interns will soon be working in every county department, from information technology to business services to animal services. 

By Dana Tims