Impact on the Community (From Breakthrough for Disadvantaged Youth, P 5-36, 1969, William Mirengoff, ed. - See NCJ-75406)

• NCJ Number: 75407
• Author(s): E M Glaser; R Wickland
• Date Published: 1969
• Length: 32 pages
• Sale Source: National Institute of Justice/
• Publication Type: Program Description (Model)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This study evaluated the impact made on public and private agencies by the experimental and demonstration (E&D) projects funded by the Manpower Administration between 1963 and 1966 to meet the employment needs of disadvantaged youth.

Abstract

An introductory summary of the survey's findings discusses the problems encountered by the E&D projects in securing cooperation from local and national agencies and then identifies new approaches tested by the projects which have been adopted by established institutions. This evaluation was based on a review of over 50 E&D projects and 1 visits to 14 important sites where staff members were interviewed. Specific attention was given to the projects' effect on the Department of Labor, Department of Health, Education, and Welfare, the Office of Economic Opportunity, and the Department of Housing and Urban Development. In regard to the private sector, the evaluation considered employers' associations, labor unions, national organizations serving youth, and private educational associations. On the State and local level, the study examined the projects' relations with State employment offices, schools, vocational education programs, law enforcement agencies, antipoverty programs, health and welfare departments and public employers. Although the impact of E&D projects were considerable, they were not entirely successful. Efforts to obtain cooperation from established agencies and institutions may have met with varying degrees of success due to negative attitudes toward the projects, insufficient resources of permanent agencies, and inadequate preplanning time. Obstacles hindering the optimum use of E&D outcomes included poor planning and few systematic evaluations which could validate the projects' findings. Recommendations are outlined to increase the projects' impact through planning strategies, expanding a successful demonstration project, and monitoring graduates of E&D projects. Because the insights, new procedures, and skills developed by the E&D projects have not been systematically recorded, some coordinating body should be created to collect, analyze, and disseminate this valuable information. One footnote is furnished.