He had just graduated from high school in Oakland and landed the two internships simultaneously through the foundation, which helps youth find employment through the Oakland Mayor's Summer Jobs Program.

Mendoza was fortunate. The summer job market has been tough in recent years, said Al Auletta, executive director of Oakland's Workforce Investment Board. The board helps coordinate the Mayor's Summer Jobs Program.

This year, the summer job market is looking up. Auletta is "guardedly optimistic" about filling 600 jobs this year.

"That will be 25 percent more than last year, but it won't cover every young person," he said. "There are people pounding the pavements trying to develop jobs for young people of Oakland this summer. The city of Oakland itself will be hiring 99 students."

For many teenagers, getting a summer job is a rite of passage. It's a way to earn extra money, build a resume and job skills, and, in some cases, it can lead to a full-time job. Bay Area public and nonprofit agencies are working to help teens find summer employment.

Mendoza worked with the Spanish Speaking Citizen's Foundation to make sure that other teens got placed in jobs and was an aide to City Council President Ignacio de laFuente. The foundation is one of several community organizations that supports the Workforce Investment Board, which represents government, organized labor, community groups, education and business. The boards serve job seekers and employers throughout the Bay Area.

In Oakland, young people from 16 to 21 who apply for a summer job through one of the city's partner agencies will be screened, trained to apply for employment and matched with an employer through that agency. If an employer cannot be found for a student, then that young person gets further training, said Dynell Garron, coordinator of the Mayor's Summer Jobs Program.

Mendoza not only got a summer job but a full-time job for the rest of the year. And because he did, he put off his college education. But he will enroll in Laney College in September to study engineering, he said.

One of his summer jobs in de la Fuente aide Carlos Plazola's office was to register voters in the Fruitvale District.

"I started in the office in 1 Frank Ogawa Plaza and then went to Unity Council in the Fruitvale," Mendoza said. "There I got to interact with more people in two months and got a raise after the internship to $11 an hour. Then the Spanish Speaking Citizen's Foundation called me back to work in the Mayor's Summer Jobs Program in a professional capacity at $12 an hour."

The federal government used to subsidize summer youth jobs under the Job Training Partnership Act, but that was eliminated and replaced by the Workforce Investment Act of 2000. The Workforce Investment Act called for the creation of Workforce Investment Boards, referred to as WIBs, which are organized by individual counties and cities, or consortiums of counties. The boards have individual job placement programs and priorities, including in some cases summer jobs for youth.

The Workforce Development Board of Contra Costa and its Youth Council provide year-round employment and academic services to about 400 youth in Contra Costa County, excluding the city of Richmond, which has its own work force investment board, said county work force board coordinator Joyce M. Lawrence.

The Youth Council places youth in paid work experiences, internships and job development services through a collaboration among the county's youth service providers and four One-Stop Career Centers. These providers conduct work-readiness orientations and help young job seekers fill out applications, develop resumes and prepare for interviews. Also, the board links to summer job opportunities with cities and their parks and recreation departments.

In Richmond, teens from 15 to 18 can go to the one-stop shop at 330 25th St. to apply for one of the 200 jobs created by a coalition of labor unions, the private sector, city and county. Sal Vaca, employment and training director for the effort, said the application leads to a reading and math test and career questionnaire of likes and interests, then applicants are matched with their interests and employers.

"You have to compete in the interviews," Vaca said.

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