What the Obama Administration Needs to Know About Reaching Youth

In the effort to guide our youth in a direction that promotes financial economic opportunity, continued growth, and enhanced education, it is imperative that the Obama administration take a long hard look at the signals that they send. Time has proven that the old method of doing things is simply that—old.

Youth are non-responsive to the methods that brow-beat them, and attack the popular culture that they have embraced and identify with. The fact that popular culture is often at the core of their personalization, is a fact that must be understood and dealt with in a manner that separates whatever disdain may be held by policy makers for this popular culture from the positive that can be derived and utilized in reaching them on their level.

By understanding what motivates and drives our youth, recognizing and acknowledging their concerns, and making a genuine effort to relate to them by creating some sort of common ground, policy makers open the lines of communication and begin to bridge the gap that has been ever-widening. The age old “Father knows best,” theory has been generally based on a platform that suggests that “I talk and you listen.”

This dominant and dictatorship method does not work, and often serves to make youth “turn up the volume” of the music in their heads. When it becomes clear that they are the only ones grooving to the beat of what drives them, they shut down and look elsewhere to find the answers and help they need. Often times, they don’t find it, and the downward spiral becomes a cycle of despair and inevitable doom.

Obviously as concerned citizens, no one wants to see a child fail, however not many policy makers are willing to take a step back and realize that perhaps their methodology is one of the barriers that makes success a pipe dream versus a reality for our nation’s youth and young adults. Policy makers and society as a whole have to shed their judgmental ideations about the popular culture teens have adopted, and begin to ask the hard questions. What is the message?

 The seeming fixation on fast cash and “Pimpin Rides’” don’t necessarily indicate that teens condone the methods of obtaining the lifestyle depicted, but it does indicate that financial stability is of huge importance. Teens want to have some control over their futures and having grasped the dynamics of society, they do understand that money brings power. What parents, educators, and teen programs must do is find the thread that ties the ability to gain financial prosperity with the necessity of becoming educationally, emotionally, and physically sound.

 By making this connection, policy makers have introduced a path that is alternative to the negatives that they perceive in popular culture, and still strikes commonality with youth by addressing their underlying concerns about their future. Connecting with youth is by far a task that is ongoing, and requires policy makers and practitioners to develop a systematic way of utilizing youth popular culture, peer influence and youth involvement in a way that promotes life, freedom and young people’s future economic opportunity.

 This stuff is not taught: it’s caught. Policy makes must keep their thumb on the pulse of what relates to youth. The difference is that with today’s youth, that thumb cannot be used to apply the pressure of dominance that once worked. Teens are smarter and more conscious than ever, and want to be acknowledged as the authority of what is important to them as opposed to being told that they are giving up on their country when they drop-out of school. Adults must relinquish this notion, and consider that it’s us who gave up on them.

Brown Jobs Now!

 

By Edward DeJesus

 As a youth workforce development professional for the past 20 years, I have rolled with the punches, promoting and carrying out the order of the day in the effort of preparing youth for the employment world. First, I was told to emphasize pre-employment work maturity competencies, then focus on high stakes high standard testing.  From there I was prompted to help build an employer demand driven workforce system. And now — Green jobs.  At this stage, I have grown weary of following an uninformed agenda. How is it that those who don’t work in the field can make up these terms for those who do, as if they have a better read on the young people we serve?

 Let’s keep it real for a minute. The young people I work with are facing challenges that reach far beyond the realm of pre-employment work maturity training.  How do you hold youth accountable to high standards when they’re dealing with the issues of a substandard living system?  How exactly do you take the hardest to serve, most at-risk youth and turn them into Lockheed Martin’s employee of the month six months later? I may be a lot of things, but magician is not one of those things, and it is that sort of unrealistic thinking that made the employer demand driven workforce system laughable. So now, I can’t help but wonder what miracle they want me to perform with Green Jobs.

 Now don’t get me wrong – saving the planet and job creation is a good thing. Many of my colleagues would have me hog-tied and bull-whipped for speaking out against any job creation strategy that would put opportunity in the path of blue collar workers. And I agree. But I think there is something else that we are missing. We’re missing the power and potential of Brown Jobs. What is a Brown Job? Brown Jobs reflect the ultimate in reciprocity. These are the jobs where the unemployed are trained to help the unemployed, the poor are given the opportunity to help the poor, and the undereducated are trained to educate the uneducated.  These are the jobs where those that are forgotten and overlooked become the advocates for those who look exactly like they did once upon a time, with the most important aspect of their job is to make sure that they are not overlooked and undervalued again.

 Community service, right? Wrong. Brown jobs are career tracked jobs that are tailor-made for the most disenfranchised.  Do-good students from Ivy League Colleges and Universities looking to spruce up their resumes won’t fit the bill because this type of work requires the ability to relate on a level that goes deeper then something you’ve “read about.”

 Why Brown jobs? Simply put, the hard work has to be done by someone and who better than the youth who have lived the struggle? After all, the real battle often takes place in the communities well after the hours of 9 to 5. Who better than youth to fit this bill? I often ask my listening audience: “Are you willing to miss your son’s football game or your daughter’s piano recital to meet with youth leaders at 10:00 pm to organize against the local employer who refuses to hire youth within the community?” Most teachers are ready to pack up shop by 3:00 pm, so who else is going to take on this task?

 There are none better than the youth we serve to fill in these gaps. Why? Because they are already there! Any youth worker will tell you that our goal is to make sure that when youth leave our program, our program never leaves them. Let’s put these youth to work in Brown jobs, uplifting their peers, community, and improving the educational and workforce system. The benefits for such an investment will be huge.  The Brown Job Industry would fulfill the following:

•  Sufficient job creation for poor unemployed youth.
• Youth entry-level positions that allow for rapid progression through a combination of experience, education, and on-the job training.
• Long-term benefit within affected communities and the society as a whole.  

 The only way to effectively reach the youth is with help from the youth.

 This is a concept we as youth workers have embraced for several years. It only takes a couple of seconds of observation to see the enormity of the gap in communication between the average middle class educator and the young people they are supposed to assist. Instead of considering the road that has been traveled, many educators sit on their side of the table, judging the young person they see on the other side of the table.  Before properly assessing the situation, acknowledging the challenges that were overcome up to that point, they’d rather declare that they don’t have a chance. They’d rather assume there must be some sort of gang affiliation, or question why they dress or look the way they do.

What they need to say is, “I feel your struggle and I understand your hustle. Let us work together to find a way out of this mess.”

 Who understands youth better than youth?

 Though I constantly hear clueless policymakers speak about reducing the drop-out rate, solving the unemployment rate, and getting more youth off the streets and into programs, they tend to get quiet when the question of where all these new teachers and support are coming from. They’re talking a good game, but if you can’t deliver, why waste the breath?   

 While the Bureau of Labor Statistics is unable to give a straight answer on green jobs creation, they sure know about the growth of human service occupations.  With a 34% increase in the next few years, jobs will be plentiful. The number of social and human service assistants is projected to grow by nearly 34 percent between 2006 and 2016, which is much faster than the average for all occupations. Besides, aren’t we the human service agencies that they are talking about? We are the ones that will need trained culturally competent workers?  I think I got it right?.  My target audience is not the dentists or computer engineers. My presentations are designed for the direct human service organizations or those pretending to be one.  We are the ones who will be creating the jobs, and who better to hire than the young adults we love and transform our educational and human service system?

 Simple!

 It is my opinion that more youth will find more successful, productive work in the human service system than in the green industry, which may lead to nothing more than moving shrubs and clearing bushes.  The report, 7 Myths about Green Jobs published by the University of Illinois and Case Western University challenges the efficacy of the Green Jobs Model. Programs already have a hard time getting youth off the streets and into the construction labor unions. What makes the Green Industry any different? I say let them work of us.

 There’s one caveat. It is our responsibility to make these jobs permanent and incorporate them into the matrix of our human service system. For the past three years, YDRF has pushed Peer Support Workers (PSWs) as an entry level entrée to the workforce development system. Groups of trained and paid youth with intent focus on program and peer development activity should adorn every school, GED class and Job Training program.  The PSW will have a detailed career track to other positions in the organization and within the civil service system.

 It should come to us as no surprise that if we keep using traditional measures to select teachers and youth workers, those who fall outside those traditional measures will be discounted and overlooked. Consequently the Ivy League student gets more opportunities to work in the hood than the committed, ex –offender who knows the error of his ways and is committed to making sure no one walks down that path.

 If we continue to use these traditional measures for building the human service workforce, we will get the same substandard, lack-luster results we’ve always gotten, and we will deny the opportunity of a new breed of workers to carry the torch to take their peers into the 21^st Century, fight injustice, and advocate for those who are undervalued and overlooked.

 The new Brown economy is an economy of service to our fellow humans, the ones who need it most. It is ready and waiting for us to put it in force.  Let’s put those who’ve been there, back there and watch what happens.

 Edward DeJesus is the President and Founder of the Youth Development and Research Fund (www.ydrf.com). Reprint permitted with full reference to author and YDRF.

Summer Jobs Article Debate- Join in

Mark, thank you for your response. I welcome the free flowing debate that the internet offers and democracy provides. I am in total disagreement with your conclusion that the Washington Post is a supporter of youth employment, namely the summer jobs program. They have consistently refused to write anything about the high youth unemployment rate and the need for more youth employment services. Moreover, the majority of the Post’s articles regarding the summer jobs program have been nothing but acrid criticism.

Now Mark, I am going to assume that you have been in youth services for quite some time. As a youth service advocate , I have been trained to use an asset based approach to working with, and supporting youth. A main part of this approach entails looking at what others don’t see. Here’s what I see:

1. 200 youth wanted a job!

2. DOES had only a “1%” disqualification rate. (201 out of 21,000) They are doing better than the Obama administration!

3. A major lesson was learned: “youth workers are incredible people. How were they able to get serve so many youth in such a short of time?”

Mark, I would never excuse a poorly run program nor would I ever criticize programs for policy mistakes.

In New York , I met Mr. Smith, the Director at the new River Bank State Park in Harlem . Mr. Smith had more than 40 years of youth service under his belt and I admired him for his commitment. For opening day, the State brought in 1000 children from all over Harlem to participate in a day of festivities and fun. The state spent thousands of dollars on new flowers and shrubs to beautify the park. On opening day I stood in Mr. Smith’s office as his staff came screaming in: “Mr. Smith, Mr Smith!” They yelled. “The kids are destroying all the flowers, the kids are destroying all of the flowers!” Mr. Smith calmly looked over his shoulder at his staff and stated in a smooth clam voice: “They are not destroying all of the flowers, they’re destroying 30% of the flowers.”

99% of the youth served by DC and those served in the summer of 2009 will be served well. Will 1% fall through the cracks? Probably. Will we get the policies and resources to make things right? Probably not?

—————————————-

I would say that you have seriously misinterpreted the Washington Post article article, which I also read this morning. The article was > about the serious mis-management and mis-operation of the summer  youth employment program in the District last summer, that  resulted in many poor quality employment opportunities, lost  opportunities for employing additional youth, and wasted financial  resources, the combination of which will likely discourage youth,
 employer, and provider participation in the program this coming  summer unless significant corrections are made to program  management and operations. There was nothing in the article
 indicating that summer youth employment programs are not  important, and, in fact, the Post editorial staff has long been a  proponent for increased and enhanced summer employment
 opportunities for youth in the District. The problems in last  summer’s program as reported in this article point to the need for  the District to run a more effective and efficient program, not to
do away with the program. What, you would choose not to run the story because some yo-yo reader interprets a poorly run program to mean there should be no program at all?

Michael Steele – Forget Hip-Hop—Get Culturally Competent

Michael Steele is not the only one confused about how to relate to our nation’s youth.

Many republicans, as well as Democrats, fail to realize that by using commercial hip-hop, they inadvertently promote many of the behaviors that they rave against. Bottom line: politicians have little information on how to connect with young adults, and Michael Steele incorrectly thinks he has to dress, act and talk like young adults to connect.

Yes it’s true Michael Steele, we have to many 8 track political parties in a MP3 world. Politicians, policy makers and educators all have been slow to catch up to the rising waves of youth interests and ways to use those interests to promote political participation and educational achievement. They might as well stuff a Bee Gees eight-track into the machine and get ready to do the hustle. Just realize, young adults won’t be willing to join in.

But they will join in, not through hip-hop, but through Youth Cultural Competence.

YCC is not about hip-hop. It’s about the conscious and strategic use of the following three elements to produce youth participation in the electoral process.

Youth Involvement – Listen to youth and get them involved. In order to reach youth you need help from the youth.

Positive Peer Influence – The power of peer influence is much stronger that that of the republican party. Use it as a force to promote political participation. Hire youth to send a message out about the importance of the political process. After all, they live in public housing, attend public schools and take public transportation – it just makes sense.

Youth Popular Culture – For the most part, current youth popular culture has had a limiting and destructive impact on the future economic life chances of the youth served in programs across the U.S. Turn this tide around, developed a strategy which uses the current interests of youth to emphasize political involvement and empowering values.

YCC is not multi-culturalism, which focuses on general ethnicity and race. YCC understands that young adults have their own cultural capital, and it uses that capital to reach and engage youth. Hip-hop is just one from of youth cultural capital. Not every young person is into hip-hop or wants to rap.

Also understand that commercial hip-hop has been misdirected and misguided by corporate interests and greed – just like Wall street. . If you use the culture, make sure to take out the commercial. The simple rule: if it does not promote life, freedom and future economic opportunity; it’s not entertainment. It’s attempted homicide.

Finally being YCC means continually adjusting to the cultural interest of the youth. Remember jazz? What was once rebel music quickly became the choice of the older generation.

Young people connect to adults who respect their youth culture. They appreciate adults that validate the cultural capital that they have taken on as part of growing up. When politicians negate the cultural capital of young adults, they devalue the young adults. In an urban culture, where respect is premium, consider the inevitable turn-off to politicians when young people’s culture is “disrespected.”

So relax Republicans – or you will find yourself trying to Krump dance. Get connected to our youth by connecting to them.

Edward DeJesus is the author of Countering the Urban Influence – Reclaiming the Stolen Economic Fortunes of America’s Youth. He can be reached @ www.ydrf.com.

Senate Committee Approves Solis as Labor Secretary

By Mike Hall
In One week after postponing a confirmation vote on Hilda Solis as secretary of labor, the Senate Health Education, Labor and Pensions Committee today approved on a voice vote President’s Obama’s choice to lead the Labor Department and sent the nomination to the full Senate for confirmation. That vote could come tomorrow.

The Solis nomination was announced in December, and her confirmation hearing took place Jan. 9. But Big Business groups and a number of Republican senators have loudly, and at times almost hysterically, complained about Solis’ long record of support for working families and unions.

Committee Chairman Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.) has called Solis “a tireless champion for working families.”

After eight years of the Bush administration’s Department of Labor under Elaine Chao—trashing workers’ rights, weakening workplace safety rules, ignoring wage and hour violations and siding with Big Business at about every juncture—the idea of a labor secretary siding with workers must be terrifying to some.

Most of the criticism centers on Solis’ support of the Employee Free Choice Act, which she has co-sponsored in the House. Republican senators have even suggested that if confirmed, Solis should be barred from advocating for the restoration of workers’ rights to form a union and bargain for a better life, as the bill provides.

Says AFL-CIO President John Sweeney:

Senate Republicans can’t just oppose a secretary of labor because she supports working Americans and favors curbing excessive corporate power.

Article printed from AFL-CIO NOW BLOG: http://blog.aflcio.org

What No Youth Workforce Program Wants to Talk About

Recent data suggest that workers’ rights training and education substantially improves the pay and benefits received by young workers. The question is how many job training programs teach participants about worker’s rights?

 

On average, unionization raised young workers’ wages 12.4 percent – or about $1.75 per hour – relative to young workers with similar characteristics who were not in unions.

Read the report:

http://www.cepr.net/documents/publications/unions_and_upward_mobility_for_young_workers.pdf

What Programs Need to Teach: Staying Alive

In an era where workforce development providers are trying to reach hard to serve youth, there is a growing percentage that face a tremendous barrier to obtaining gainful employment – death.

A new report by professors at Northeastern University finds murders of African-American teenagers have risen 39% since 2000 and 2001. What implication does this have for workforce development systems? In a system that is trying to reach a large percentage of African American males whose lives in essence are in jeopardy, programs are hard-pressed to incorporate lessons of survival along with the designated job skills. Is it possible to prepare them for the workforce without first preparing them to stay alive and free? Read study:

http://www.neu.edu/nupr/news/0109/Fox_Swatt_Homicide_R.html

The Community College Debt Trap

During this very harsh economical time in our country, working adults and parents are not the only ones feeling the strain. A growing number of students are finding themselves strapped with the financial burdens of credit card debt before they even leave for college. A recent Congressional hearing highlighted the marketing practices used by credit card companies to unfairly target students, pulling them into the abyss of high interest debt before they have acquired a substantial means of income.

In addition to the weight of credit card debt, upon arriving at an institution of higher learning, several students acquire the added responsibility of student loans. This creates an enormous strain which is exacerbated when those students do not complete their course of study.

Given this growing problematic trend, it is crucial that Youth Workforce Programs educate youth about this situation and warn them of the pitfalls of credit card debt. By preparing them early and teaching them to deal with this issue in a responsible manner, we can bring this trend to a swift end.

Watch Congressional Testimony

Don’t Let Change Stop On Nov. 4 – Create Jobs for Youth

 

America needs change. We’ve all known this for years, and we finally have a President Elect who shares the vision of a better America. The change campaign swept through this country, prompting millions of youth to take make their voices heard at the polling place, emphatically declaring that the time is now. However it’s one thing to talk about change, we must also be about it. Now that we have the power to effect change, what will we do with it? The time to roll up our sleeves is upon us and we all need to get busy. With an economy that is plunging daily, we must now examine the roots of this problem and devise a plan that effectively and inclusively involves all Americans in restoring our country and spreading the wealth equitably.

 

Presently, the employment rate is at rock bottom. Layoffs abound, and the unspoken last hired, first fired rule is in effect. At the same time, drop-outs rates are escalating, community college completion rates worsen and many youth workers who find themselves competing with college educated adults for a minimum wage job that will barely keep gas in their cars. Despite these facts, we’ve always known that large companies don’t hire those under age 25 for career level positions, not even at the entry level.

 

When the current outlook is so bleak, is it any wonder that youth are wondering why they should strive to enter the workforce or complete their education?

The recent election created a movement within the youth community that encouraged them to act, that convinced them that they matter, that change could occur. In fact, President Elect Obama got 23 million youth to the “polling place.” Now the question is: What will we do to get them to the “market place.” What do we need to do to ensure that the most disenfranchised of our youth get a chance at opportunity?

 

Change is coming, but where will it land? Will it hit the schools and youth programs? If we were tired of 8 years of backwards administration, we must be sick with 30 years of backwards youth policy. Although youth culture and the economy have dramatically changed in the past 30 years, many of our programs have not.  We have to many 8-track programs and policies in a MP 3 world. I am not talking about computers and Star Trek distance learning systems (they don’t work), I’m talking about the technology of youth engagement – a science that for many program programs means nothing more than letting youth rap at the local youth conference.

 

Our youth facilities are still trying to crank up the 8-track player and wondering why youth aren’t listening. Sadly, we think technology is the answer.  The youth who need our help want “High Touch and High Tech.” We are just getting the later. The cracks in misunderstanding between your average middle class teacher and hard to serve student have turned to craters.  It is a sad state of affairs when we have invested more research and time in making the things  of our world work better, but our interpersonal relationships remain stagnant. We are losing our youth, and unless we continue to promote change in every aspect of our lives, we will only be talking about it, and as we all know, talk is cheap.  

 

 

If President Elect Obama got youth’s attention through bottom up, grassroots efforts and organizing; then we need a bottom-up grassroots approach to youth education and workforce development.

 

At no time in history has the challenge to the future economic opportunity of out nations’ youth been most at-risk.  The rising cost of college, and the lack of any tangible success for the sacrifice perpetuates the cloud of despair that is the reality that many youth face. Has it ever been more apparent that we need change? There is a glaring neon sign that says now is the time, but where do we start?

 

Here are some suggestions:

 

-Encourage active participation of youth, obtaining their input in redesigning current programs and policies.

-Create a service corps of well trained and properly supported youth in the community promoting life, freedom and FEO (credentials, skills, degrewes, networks and work experience).

-Invest in research to determine why our youth and workforce system has been unable to engage the youth they are intended to reach.

-Incorporate workers’ rights training and education in all curriculum and job training programs

-Ensure that youth culturally competent mental health and substance abuse counseling is made readily available.

-Guarantee transitional jobs for all program graduates.

-Promote the use of the youth cultural competence approach to change program climates and community direction.

 

Engaging and supporting disconnected youth comes with many challenges. Yet the results of our success will impact all facets of society and rebuild stronger communities. Let us listen to their voices as they share their ideas for eradicating the perpetual cycle of poverty and inequality that they are caught within. Let their voices guide us to learn new ways to replace this despair with hope, healing and confidence in a newer, brighter tomorrow.

 

Reach all Youth

 

Edward DeJesus

 

 

What the Election Means to this Youth Worker

A major reason for my denial was the conditions I experienced during my travels from state to state. Not much consideration is given to those who are left behind, the discarded inhabitants of this country, the poor, undereducated, in short, the primarily black and Latino communities. 

 

If you asked me yesterday, no mater what the polls said, I would have declared that there is no way a Black Man will become President in America, at least in my lifetime.

 

 “If you can’t see it, how can you fix it?” I often inquire during my numerous keynote speeches. The conclusion I came to, was that America was not interested in fixing what is broken, but rather that it was content to allow the status quo to remain. After all, America’s constant disregard for those matters of importance to me were smacking me right in the face on a daily basis. If I can see it, then so too can America, and yet they chose not to act. What more proof was needed?

 Education is grossly underfunded, and the best practices and ideas often never make it to see the light of day. Funding of other programs that make no real impact seem to garner more attention and action. Income distribution was important as long as it was going in a direction opposite those communities that needed the most help. As far as I was concerned America not only didn’t get it, they probably never would. 

 

 But last night, America set me straight. Now don’t get me wrong I am not a sophomore when it comes to interpretation of polling results. There is still a gap in those who chose change and those who did not. I am not naive enough to believe that those of the old guard will now open the floodgates of opportunity to those communities who have been calling on it’s country to show them support, however I think we are embarking on an incredible journey. No matter how I (or the Pundits)  slice it, this election  has renewed my faith it America’s willingness to make things right and the possibility of a community organizer’s struggle.

 

Reach all Youth,

 Edward DeJesus