(C) Verite News New Orleans This story was originally published by Verite News New Orleans and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . City officials say payment problems for teen workers fixed [1] ['Khalil Gillon', 'More Khalil Gillon', 'Verite News'] Date: 2024-03-11 New Orleans city officials say they are making a slew of changes to ensure participants in the city’s youth workforce programs get paid for their work on time this year — something that didn’t happen last summer. Many youth workers who participated in the program last summer received paychecks more than a month after the program had ended, and one teen had to wait more than two months to be compensated for work completed during the summer, according to news reports. The problems that led to those delayed payments have now been fixed, said Sunae Villavaso, the director of the Mayor’s Office of Workforce Development, during a New Orleans City Council committee meeting on Tuesday (Mar. 5). Villavaso blamed most of last year’s payment delays on parents and guardians who entered wrong information on applications, including incorrect bank account numbers; mistakes made during the department’s data entry of handwritten information on paper applications; and worksite providers who failed to send in correct timesheets. Villavaso and officials from the New Orleans Recreation Development Commission told councilmembers that they are now paying youth workers with paper checks, instead of direct deposits. Other changes the city is making include creating a new online application system that is “streamlined” to reduce human error, refusing incomplete applications and setting deadlines for worksite providers to submit timesheets, Villavaso said. Those changes are meant to circumvent the paperwork problems that delayed payments last summer. Youth participants in the city’s work program last fall got paid on time, showing the changes are working, Villavaso said. “We came together and made sure we each tightened up our ship and our programs,” Villavaso said. This year’s Mayor’s Summer Youth Employment Program is currently budgeted for 350 spots, but Villavaso is asking for an additional budget allocation to fund hundreds more. “Last year, with your support of $2.1 million, we served over 1,000 participants. In 2024, with the allocation we currently have, we can only serve 350, so I’m hoping that with the $2.1 million, we can get back to last year’s level,” Villavaso told councilmembers. Councilmember Helena Moreno said she was concerned that even with the changes the city has implemented, the application process and website may still be too complicated. She said the program still required too much information from its participants and that the website doesn’t clearly separate requirements for applicants who are 18 or older and those who are still minors. “It shouldn’t be harder to apply for a youth summer job with the city of New Orleans than it is to get hired at McDonald’s,” Moreno said. Villavaso said many of the pieces of the information the city gathers from applicants are necessary for work permits. Both NORD and the Office of Workforce Development have begun accepting applications for their summer programs. According to NORD, 485 young people have applied to its stipend-based teen career camp program for this summer so far. The city is accepting applications for the mayor’s summer program for teens until March 24. Related Stories Republish This Story Republish our articles for free, online or in print, under a Creative Commons license. [END] --- [1] Url: https://veritenews.org/2024/03/11/city-officials-say-payment-problems-for-teen-workers-fixed/ Published and (C) by Verite News New Orleans Content appears here under this condition or license: Creative Commons BY-NC-ND 3.0 US. via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds: gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/veritenews/