__________________________________________Ask the DA
 

Does your office offer summer jobs to young adults who are not lucky enough to obtain a job through the lottery system run by New York City’s Summer Youth Employment Program? 

My office is currently considering the establishment of a summer high school internship program for teenagers who live in Brooklyn. Unfortunately, like our other existing internships for college and law school students, the high school internships will probably be unsalaried. But despite this, in my opinion, offering youth the opportunity to work in a professional law office for several weeks each summer promises to confer upon them skills and benefits which money cannot buy. 

Working in a professional environment helps introduce youth to the adult workplace, where behavioral expectations often vary widely from those in schools. It also gives young adults the opportunity to learn valuable employment skills, develop self-confidence, and pattern their behavior on positive adult role models. 

Exposure to a professional office can also inspire youth to formulate and pursue various career goals. For instance, college interns who have served in my office have often gone on to attend law school, and several have become prosecutors in my office or those of other district attorneys. 

For a number of years, my office has been involved in other types of programs for Brooklyn’s youth. We work closely with the borough’s high schools to develop various community service projects. This past year, several students from a local high school performed a service project in my office’s Domestic Violence Bureau, for which they received school credit.

For more information about TADD, please visit my office’s Web site at www.brooklynda.org. To have your questions answered in a future column, send them to asktheda@brooklynda.org.