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Archived News Release--Caution:
information may be out of date.
For more information call: (202) 219-8211
Five U.S. cities are getting grants of about $2.2 million to duplicate
the success of pilot projects that get kids off the streets and into jobs. The
money will be used to help young people in the poorest areas of Baltimore,
Detroit, Denver, Oakland and San Diego.
"These grants ensure that our economy makes use of the talents and
abilities of everyone who wants to work," Vice President Al Gore said in
announcing the funding from the Department of Labor. "These funds ensure that
the important contributions that young people in these cities have to make are
not overlooked."
"These grants offer hope to left-out kids in left-behind communities,"
Secretary of Labor Alexis M. Herman said. "Our model projects for youth
employment taught us the key strategies for success: focus on the whole person,
engage the whole community. The proposals we have chosen build on these
strategies."
The cities proposed projects that follow several key principles that
worked well in earlier demonstration projects:
- engaging the whole community in a partnership in which the city,
schools, businesses and community organizations all contribute some part of the
mix of services;
- put the solution where the problem is, in the high poverty
community;
- focus on a central location with a "one-stop" center for
services;
- provide alternative education and dropout prevention;
- provide job training and job placement services.
In all five cities, employment advocates will work closely with
unemployed young people to assess their abilities, recommend training and run
GED courses. The young people will be directed to training in career fields
represented by local employers.
Local schools will offer alternative education programs, dropout
prevention and a program to encourage college attendance. Many employers have
pledged support and jobs.
"We are building a Youth Opportunity initiative based on the work
accomplished in the first demonstration projects in Houston, Los Angeles,
Boston, Chicago, New York City and Clinton and Wayne counties in rural
Kentucky," Secretary Herman said. "Young people in poverty areas have the same
hopes and dreams as their peers in the suburbs; they just don't have the same
opportunities and resources. This initiative creates opportunities."
Projects funded by the earlier grants demonstrated success in placing
young people in jobs and in completing their education. Houston, which began in
1996, has placed 385 young people in jobs, Los Angeles has placed 270 from its
Watts neighborhood and more than 200 were placed in Chicago. Since three more
cities joined the program in 1997, Boston has placed 60 in jobs, New York
placed 75 and rural Kentucky placed 56. In addition, more than 500 young people
from these blighted areas have taken GED courses or entered community colleges
or four-year colleges.
"These cities produced first-class plans," said Ray Bramucci, assistant
secretary of labor for employment and training. "The applications told us who
would be helped, who would do the training and who would hire the young people
who complete the training. They have built the local partnerships and included
the elements to make the project work."
Archived News Release--Caution:
information may be out of date.
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