Crime

OHA Helps to Fund Mayor Summer Jobs Program

Published

13 years ago

July 28, 2013

This summer, over 1,000 youth will be working through the Mayors Summer Jobs Program, thanks to a major donation from the Oakland Housing Authority (OHA).

After federal funding for the program dwindled, OHA along with other major donors stepped in to make up the difference and this year 40 percent more youth will have summer jobs.

The program has partnered with local agencies including the George P. Scotlan Center Youth & Family Center, Lao Family Community Development, The Unity Council, the East Bay Spanish Speaking Citizens Foundation, Youth Uprising, and Youth Employment Partnership to employ over 1,300 young people. Jobs will last six weeks with youth working in office administration, childcare, recreation centers, and other city jobs.

Courtesy of the Oakland Housing Authority

“This effort to provide our young men and women the access to their first job, is something that can have a profound impact on them for the rest of their lives,” said OHA Executive Director Eric Johnson.

Seeking to grow the program, the Mayor’s Office fundraised and received help from donors including OHA, Bank of America, Wells Fargo Bank, East Bay Community Foundation, Ramsell, Recology, Kaiser Permanente, and The Clorox Company. This was the first year OHA worked with the program as the largest donor providing stipends for 300 OHA youth residents to support job training.

However, none of the funds towards the program came directly from the city and local agencies say more funding is still needed to serve the youth of Oakland. Berkeley and Richmond both have a program, YouthWorks, that offers summer employment to youth funded directly through the city.

“We want the city to have more funding for us to serve every youth so they can get the work experience they need,” said Tracy Vo, a youth counselor at Lao Family Community Development which is employing 35 youth this year.

“Many youth do not have summer jobs. We need year-round funding to keep the program running for those who are interested.”

The Scotlan Center, a multiple partner in the Mayors Summer Jobs Program, hired youth through the program this summer. Last year, the center did not participate due to a lack of funding.

“The city is really concentrating on youth having sustainable employment during the summer,” said Morris Larry, fiscal officer at the Scotlan Center. “The need is so great that it can never be enough to keep the kids in a safe and workable environment. We’re going to need some local and private funding inside the city to help out.”

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AG Bonta Announces Action on Cryptocurrency, Sextortion Fraud – Increasingly Targeting Gen-Z

California Attorney General Rob Bonta is warning residents about a surge in cryptocurrency fraud and online sextortion schemes that increasingly target Gen Z through social media platforms. With internet-based scams costing Americans nearly $21 billion in 2023, Bonta highlighted how artificial intelligence and deepfakes allow criminals to impersonate loved ones and promote fraudulent investment groups. The Attorney General’s Office has already shut down over 100 fraudulent websites and is now utilizing new legislative tools to recover assets for victims. Read more.

Published

5 minutes ago

November 3, 2026

Post News Group

By Bo Tefu, California Black Media

California Attorney General Rob Bonta warned residents about rising cryptocurrency fraud and online sextortion scams, urging Californians to recognize warning signs and protect themselves as scammers increasingly target younger people through social media.

Speaking at a news conference on Oct. 19, Bonta said Americans lost $20.9 billion to internet-based scams in 2025, including $11.4 billion to cryptocurrency scams. He said artificial intelligence, deepfakes, and malicious smart contracts have made fraud easier to carry out and more difficult to detect and prevent.

While older Californians remain targets, Bonta said his office has seen a sharp rise in reports of Gen Z consumers being targeted on platforms such as Twitch, TikTok, and Instagram.

One growing scheme involves so-called rug-pull scams, in which fraudsters promote low-priced stocks or volatile cryptocurrencies through online investment groups and streaming communities. After generating interest and driving up prices, scammers sell their holdings, causing values to collapse and leaving investors with losses.

Bonta also warned about sextortion, in which scammers trick or coerce victims into sharing explicit images before threatening to distribute them to friends and family unless they pay. He advised victims not to give in to demands, saying scammers often do not release the images when victims refuse to pay. Instead, he recommended ignoring and blocking the perpetrators.

Another scheme, known as recovery fraud, targets people who have already lost money to cryptocurrency scams. Fraudsters impersonate blockchain recovery specialists or law enforcement officials and demand additional payments while promising to recover stolen assets.

Bonta urged Californians to be skeptical of promises of large returns on small investments, fake cryptocurrencies resembling established ones, and celebrity endorsements that may have been generated using artificial intelligence. He also warned that scammers can use AI to impersonate loved ones through manipulated video and audio.

“Never use a crypto ATM,” Bonta said, emphasizing that transactions can be difficult to trace and reverse and that the machines lack adequate consumer protections.

His office has shut down more than 100 fraudulent websites over the past two years that collectively scammed victims out of at least $8.3 million, he said.

Bonta also highlighted Senate Bill 1208, which he said was recently signed into law. The measure allows law enforcement to petition a court to return seized cryptocurrency to victims, including when alleged perpetrators are outside U.S. jurisdiction.

Residents who have fallen victim to scams can report them to the California Department of Justice at oag.ca.gov/report.

Bonta also urged victims not to feel embarrassed, stressing that scammers are responsible for the harm they cause.