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Youth Employment Programs Are Vital

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By IMANI ASUKILE

Tribune correspondent

Published: August 22, 2008

The Neighborhood Youth Corps is one of the forgotten units of the nation's war on poverty.

The federally funded program, created by the 1964 Equal Opportunity Act, paid economically disadvantaged youths minimum wage to work in the community. Youths worked in schools, community-based organizations and public service agencies. Participants were expected to gain valuable job experience, make a difference in their communities and earn a dollar or two. The concept wasn't new; it could be traced back to the Civilian Conservation Corps created by President Franklin Roosevelt's New Deal, but it was new to this generation. It operated from the mid-1960s and ended just a couple of summers ago.

The program targeted economically disadvantaged youths of ages 14 to 21. It was perceived as a black program, but whites were employed, too. The summer component of the program was most popular for several reasons. The summers didn't present as many schedule conflicts and offered the opportunity to work full time. The sense of independence that youths gained from paying for some of their own way was an incentive, too. (As youths, we all wished, at one time or another, that we had a job and did not have to take so much grief from our parents about their money.)

Over the years, Congress revised the program, which effectively took on the names of the laws that governed it, such as the Comprehensive Employment Act or the Job Training Partnership Act.

NYC Was Pivotal In Community

The Neighborhood Youth Corps had a large presence in east Pasco County and Brooksville, where I became acquainted with the program.

Locally, Dade City native Ouida White was a member of NYC, which she credits with providing valuable job experience. The director of Saint Paul Missionary Baptist Church's youth department and Girl Scout leader worked as a recreation leader at Dade City's Lake George Community Center.

"I was employed, on and off, from age 14 to 21," she said.

In the program's early days, black schools in rural communities were the largest hosts to the youth employees. It had a large presence in urban black communities also. Schools hired the youths to work in the kitchen, as teachers' aides, or wherever their talents were needed. In Dade City, the Moore Mickens Complex, which included the black elementary and high schools, got its money's worth out of the program.

As a teen, White helped custodian Dudley Trueblood clean buildings.

Other government and public service organizations were a little slow to come on board, but eventually they did. White also worked for the state Department of Health and Rehabilitative Services transporting juveniles to the detention center in Ocala and at Jones Nursing Home in Dade City.

Social and economic conditions in the South were undergoing radical change in the mid-'60s, when NYC started. Black youths wanted a future with options other than agriculture. For example, in early June, when the work thinned out around here, some families became seasonal workers. They followed the seasons, migrating to Maryland, Delaware, New Jersey and other northern states to work the fields until the oranges were ready in late October. Sometimes, children missed the early part of the school year because their families were still on the season.

By the 1960s, young people wanted something different. NYC was not the panacea, though it was a beacon of hope.

NYC offered 40 hours a week of work during the summer and part-time work during the school year. This was just what the doctor ordered for teens who did not care for picking oranges. I can remember that in the late-'60s, some of the workers earned as much as $90 per month.

A family could get by with two children working on NYC, which also served as a dropout prevention enhancer.

During this time, it was still a part of black culture for children to share a part of their earnings with their parents to help cover household expenses. Their earnings made a difference.

In Brooksville, I still can remember the older children catching the Greyhound bus to Tampa to purchase school clothes at the end of summer with part of the money they earned from NYC.

As a teenager, Brenda Joyce Barker, now an employee with the state Department of Children & Families, worked in the Pasco County Tax Collector's Office during the summer. Securing a job in a government office was big achievement; only the best of the best got those assignments. These were students who could adapt to the dress code, spoke the language and had the maturity to ride out the tough times.

Let's Bring Back The Program

It was through NYC that I discovered my leadership skills. Like White and many others, I had several jobs, but being a part of the team that built Kennedy Park Little League into a solid youth development program remains a crowning experience in my life. I became an assistant director and served as president during the late-'80s. It fostered leadership skills in the youths at a very critical time in our community's history: integration. We provided the manpower for park maintenance, but most importantly, we coached the teams, umpired, ran the concession stand, kept records and had a good time. The testaments of those involved have one common theme: Kennedy Park made a difference in their lives.

In the '80s, I worked as counselor for the program. I had success assisting some of the high school graduates who were in need of direction in their lives. Some had tried college, but it was not right for them at the time. Yet, the Hernando County Sheriff's Office hired two of the people we worked with as correctional officers, and another was hired by the Hernando County clerk of the court. Two have been in their jobs for more than 20 years. There are many more of these stories.

The sad thing is that the program has disappeared. The beneficiaries assumed the program would be automatically funded annually. Big mistake. Someone needed to make some noise.

In my opinion, there should always be a federally funded summer youth employment program. The original mission is as relevant today as it was yesterday. Bring back summer youth employment.

Imani Asukile, a Hernando County native, is a longtime Dade City resident and one of the founders of the African American Heritage Society of East Pasco. To suggest a column, e-mail to

idasukile@yahoo.com.

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