have had very limited contacts with Regional Manpower Administrations, and those whose contacts have been less infrequent have received assistance that relate to the preparation of a budget or filling out

forms. Careful research in many areas crucial to the success of youth work programs is almost nonexistent. In this regard we might ask: What factors should be considered when selecting work-station supervisors?] How do we train them? How effective are paraprofessional staff when used to counsel disadvantaged youth? What theory of counseling is most appropriate for working with disadvantaged youth? Can a successful Remedial Education Program be worked out that does not require college trained teachers? How does one teach a young male trainee, for example, to withstand the kinds of frustrations characteristic of the world of work without becoming too easily discouraged? No serious attempt has yet been made to determine whether the greater employability of 18 year olds is a function of schooling or age.

As federal poverty programs faced public and legislative scrutiny and criticism, and had to compete for funds with new programs and agencies, they were called upon increasingly to justify their continuation by showing "results." To be sure, the "results" expected by the federal agencies of the public at large usually have been neither explicit nor realistic. Under any circumstances research on program effectiveness is extremely difficult to perform. In general such research requires that the program to be evaluated remain relatively constant during the period of evaluation so that meaningful data can be

accumulated.

We must reject the tendency to respond to the problem as though it were either a short-run or temporary crisis. The problem must be

viewed as both complex and long-term, requiring complex and long-term solutions. The Department of Labor must undertake activities designed to reduce our ignorance and increase our knowledge about many aspects of problem, knowledge that must be acquired to enhance the quest for solutions. We need expanded efforts in experimentation, demonstration and research dealing with such varied subjects as the specific impacts of automation, the effects of youthful unemployment on family life and the youth himself, and the systematic evaluation of current program efforts. There is a great need to develop and expand non-traditional education-for-work programs that focus on those who terminate more traditional schooling. This will serve the dual purpose of both delaying entry and providing better preparation for eventual entry.

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WHY THE RE-DESIGN WON'T WORK

The development of specifications for a functional model Neighborhood Youth Corps Program is a task of sufficient magnitude and complexity as to require resources far beyond those previously provided in the Out-of-School Program. Such a program must employ a close, personal relationship between the enrollee and those who must manipulate his environment. The program must permit enrollees to enter, advance, and leave, so far as possible, on the basis of criterion performance measures. This moves away from a de-humanized program which is timebound to a program that is performance based. Such a program must be adaptive or responsive to individual enrollee differences. Operationally this means that the program must permit enrollees to move through it at different paces and in different combinations of work-training experiences that fit differences in learning styles and background. It must also accomodate different patterns of interest by permitting in-depth experiences in areas of enrollee choice. The program must draw from, relate to, and be accepted by the local community.

A typical need of an

People fail in all kinds of endeavors. adolescent is to try and perhaps to fail. But we can try to minimize failure and one sure way to do this is to capitilize on the experience

of the past.

Work Experience

National efforts to reduce poverty remind us that the overall terms of the battle between the individual and society have really not changed;

it appears so only because major theoretical interest has been confined

to those individuals--middle and upper class, brighter, better educated-

in the most favorable position.

But for the majority of young people,

and not just the poor, the world of work still presents itself as a wall

which they must somehow penetrate.

Their work per se is not likely to

be intrinsically interesting or challenging and their personal interests and capacities not so relevant to the job. In addition, non-college bound youngsters are operating in a labor market relatively more favorable to the buyer, and their individual interests and capacities are of less value to them negotiating for a job. What, then, are the key factors in providing occupational satisfaction and successful integration in society for disadvantaged youth? To find answers to this question we must move beyond the cluster of statistical measures describing the poor to consideration of broad cultural patterns, values,

and motivation.

The concept of work experience as outlined in the New Design is that: "Work experience is worthwhile only to the extent it is necessary in preparing the youth for a competitive job...and while work habits cannot be taught effectively in a job vacuum, they can be learned quickly if intrinsically necessary to a real job sought by the youth."

The above statement is both untenable and ill-advised for the

following reasons:

A. Work experience as it relates to most disadvantaged
youth is a valuable tool only if it is supported by
such other services as counseling, remedial education,
job development, etc. By itself it is hardly sufficient
to rehabilitate the disadvantaged, many of whom have been
so wounded by their life experience as to be comparable
to the handicapped insofar as normal employment is
considered.

B.

C.

Many Neighborhood Youth Corps projects have been limited to working with public and private agencies. With limited or no inroads into the private sector and limited funds for job development, limited placements result.

The employment problems of youth below 18 years are of such special character that most Manpower Programs make no pretense of job development for 16 and 17 year old youngsters. To some degree this represents a "no program land" of job development. It is not the fault of work experience neither as a concept nor as a process that a very large percentage of enrollees age 16 and 17 who left the Neighborhood Youth Corps within six (6) months of entry and did not get a job, but rather it is a condition of the labor market.

.

D. The basic reason for high unemployment among youth is that
the opportunity structure within the labor market is too
narrow for most youth, particularly Black and Puerto
Rican youth.

The basic task of a youth program is to widen the opportunities

for employment, and the secondary task is to prepare youth to take The latter is largely accomplished

advantage of those opportunities.

through work experience.

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