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SYEC Home Project Outcomes Project Partners Youth Agencies Project Hosts Contact SYEC Brochure |
The unemployment rate for teens and young adults in Sonoma County is soaring, and as many as one in five find themselves both out-of-work and out-of-school. Recognizing the need to connect youth and young adults to summer jobs in Sonoma County, a coalition was built and the Summer Youth Ecology Corps (SYEC) was born. The Sonoma County Summer Youth Ecology Corps (SYEC) is an effort begun in the summer of 2009, supported by a partnership between the Sonoma County Water Agency (SCWA), the Workforce Investment Board (WIB) and Youth Council, the Sonoma County Human Services Department, the Sonoma County Office of Education (SCOE), and a number of governmental and private non-profit organizations with an educational or environmental mission. SCWA engaged New Ways to Work to support the project planning process and identify quality conservation-related work projects for youth to complete. The WIB has selected the Youth Agencies who place and supervise youth at the project sites as a key component of the Sonoma County Summer Jobs Program. SYEC 2010 In 2010, Sonoma County received approximately $850,000 in Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) and Workforce Investment Act funds. The dollars were supplemented with flood control monies from the Sonoma County Water Agency, plus contributions from Kaiser Permanente, Exchange Bank, the North Bay Labor Council to create a Summer Jobs Program for teens and young adults ages 14-24. In many communities throughout the country, youth employment dollars are being allocated in a scattershot manner. But in Sonoma County a coalition of partners created a comprehensive program that:
The project partners work closely together to support all aspects of the Summer Youth Ecology Corps. They include the following organizations:
The Youth Agencies, selected by the Workforce Board and Youth Council to implement the Summer Jobs Program, manage the direct service aspects of the SYEC. They serve as the employer of record and provide training and orientation for local SYEC staff and participating youth and young adult. They provide transportation for and daily supervision of the SYEC crews, ensuring that crew members have the necessary safety gear, tools, and materials to complete tasks in a safe and efficient manner. They also collaborate with project hosts in their region of the county to manage each crew’s work and support the educational aspects of the program.
The 160 youth employed in the SYEC are working with 17 Project Host organizations on 44 projects, including stream maintenance, trail building, and habitat restoration in projects across the county. Hosts include the Sonoma County Water Agency, the Sonoma County Agricultural Preservation and Open Space District, Sonoma County Regional Parks, the cities of Santa Rosa, Petaluma, Healdsburg, and Cloverdale, and ten ecology and conservation related non-profits. |
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