Recruitment and Community Penetration (From Breakthrough for Disadvantaged Youth, P 37-58, 1969, William Mirengoff, ed. - See NCJ-75406)

• NCJ Number: 75408
• Author(s): J M Martin
• Date Published: 1969
• Length: 22 pages
• Sale Source: National Institute of Justice/
• Publication Type: Program/Project Evaluation
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This report assesses the recruitment techniques and community penetration efforts used by the experimental and demonstration (E&D) employment projects for disadvantaged youth funded by the Manpower Administration in the 1960's.

Abstract

It is based on data submitted by the E&D projects visits and on site to seven projects. In the initial phases, many projects failed to compile basic demographic data on potential recruits or delineate a geographic area of operation. Reliance on outside agencies for trainee referrals was common. This practice not only creates an oversupply of expectant recruits but also robs the parent organization of control over the flow and characteristics of trainees. A review of elements that should be considered when using an outside agency for referrals includes case illustrations. Assigning staff members to seek out potential recruits on a personal basis is a preferred approach, but outreach methods often screen out the most seriously disadvantaged youths. Examples of projects which ignored handicapped or poorly motivated youths demonstrate the need for a recruitment policy that chooses individuals because they have police records or mental and physical problems. Also many E&D projects did not use a project's reputation among its target population to attract recruits. Studies have shown that potential trainees are sensitive to a program's social prestige and that projects which award special privileges or stipends tend to be more successful. The poorest recruitment techniques involved the use of mass media. Although trainees and their families can play an important role in recruiting clients, only a few projects attempted to penetrate their target communities through the planned use of informal peer, neighborhood, and family relationships. Special techniques to recruit youths in rural areas are described, involving cooperation from local community leaders and transportation arrangements. A discussion of a work program's power to hold recruits covers testing of potential recruits, stipends, and reduction of delays between application and actual participation in the project. Few E&D projects attempted to understand trainees or plan programs in terms of social relationships or cultural backgrounds. The author's philosophical viewpoint regarding social welfare programs is presented in an appended article.