Residents aged 16 to 18 can work at a summer job for eight weeks starting June 9 and earn up to $2,400 in sectors such as health care, information technology, marketing and construction, among others.

Applications for Summit County’s annual Summer Youth Employment Program (SYEP) opened April 1. Residents are encouraged to apply as soon as possible.

To help applicants connect with the right summer employment opportunity, Summit County’s Department of Job and Family Services teamed up with Youth Success Summit and Jobs for Ohio’s Graduates (JOG) to create a universal application for several programs.

Once an application is submitted, staff will determine which program the youth are eligible to join. Some programs have household income requirements (cannot exceed 200% of the federal poverty level); applicants will be notified if they do not qualify to participate.

Blessing Black worked at Aspire Employment last summer.
Blessing Black worked at Aspire Employment last summer as an employee of Summit County’s annual Summer Youth Employment Program. Applications for the positions opened April 1 — residents aged 16 to 18 can work at a summer job for eight weeks starting June 9 and earn up to $2,400 in sectors such as health care, information technology, marketing and construction, among others. (Photo courtesy of the Summit County Executive’s office.)

To address barriers to banking, program organizers are partnering with Buckeye State Credit Union to offer youth banking accounts that do not require a parent or guardian as a co-signer for 16- and 17-year-olds.

Buckeye is also providing personal financial coaching to participants to help them understand how to use their account, avoid scams and set goals.

DJFS will use funding from the national nonprofit Cities for Financial Empowerment Fund’s Summer Jobs Connect initiative to offer additional cash incentives for youth to participate.

In 2024, nearly 800 teens collectively earned more than $1.5 million working with 335 local employers. (Video testimonials from past participants can be viewed at youthsuccesssummit.org/summer-youth-employment-program/.)

Families looking for summer employment for a teen with a disability should contact Kenneth A. Crookston with Opportunities for Ohioans with Disabilities at Kenneth.Crookston@ood.ohio.gov or at 216-956-5843 for more information.

Questions? Contact Jobs for Ohio’s Graduates at 330-374-9477 or email success@jogworks.org.

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Editor-in-Chief (she/her)
Zake has deep roots in Northeast Ohio journalism. She was the managing editor for multimedia and special projects at the Akron Beacon Journal, where she began work as a staff photographer in 1986. Over a 20-year career, Zake worked in a variety of roles across departments that all help inform her current role as Signal Akron's editor in chief. Most recently, she was a journalism professor and student media adviser at Kent State University, where she worked with the next generation of journalists to understand public policy, environmental reporting, data and solutions reporting. Among her accomplishments was the launch of the Kent State NewsLab, an experiential and collaborative news commons that connects student reporters with outside professional partners.