Neighborhood Youth Corps Research Articles

Launching the War on Poverty: An Oral History (review)

Reviewed by: Launching the War on Poverty: An Oral History Jeffrey Helgeson Launching the War on Poverty: An Oral History. By Michael L. Gillette. (New York: Oxford University Press, 2010. Pp. 480. Illustrations, notes, bibliography, index. ISBN 9780195387278, $24.95 paper.) Michael L. Gillette has assembled an invaluable insider’s view of the planning, funding, and implementation of President Lyndon B. Johnson’s War on Poverty. Readers of the Southwestern Historical Quarterly will be particularly interested in this second edition of the book, which not only reveals the influences of Texas and the South on the making of antipoverty policy, but which also benefits from its use of LBJ’s tape-recorded White House telephone conversations. LBJ’s insights supplement interviews completed between the 1960s and the 1980s with forty-nine policymakers. Together, they provide a unique view of the best intentions, achievements, and limits of one of the farthest-reaching and most controversial flurries of federal social legislation in U.S. history. Launching the War on Poverty offers a spirited defense of the antipoverty policies created between 1964 and 1967. Gillette’s emphasis on the enduring influence of the War on Poverty runs counter to much of the recent historiography of late twentieth-century politics, which focuses on the rise of the New Right and the concomitant collapse of liberalism. Yet Gillette insists that the War on Poverty remains relevant because every major program founded through the Office of Economic Opportunity (OEO) other than Neighborhood Youth Corps has survived nearly fifty years. Even the most controversial notion of “citizen participation has gained a wide acceptance, and a former community organizer occupies the Oval Office” (402). Gillette also highlights the limits of U.S. antipoverty policy. The poverty warriors themselves looked back from the 1970s and 1980s with a critical eye. They noted that they had underestimated how difficult it would be to eradicate poverty, oversold the potential of federal action to reduce poverty in the short run, and never had enough funding to carry out their grand plans. Moreover, for policy wonks in the audience, Gillette’s subjects detail the bureaucratic challenges of innovating and coordinating programs in a new government agency like the OEO. Gillette’s interviews paint a complex picture of LBJ’s influences on the War on Poverty. He was “a modern populist,” Gillette argues, who had learned the importance of helping the poor from his experiences as a schoolteacher in rural Texas and in his experiences with the New Deal’s National Youth Administration (xvii). The president gravitated toward the fight against poverty, and believed in the importance of the government in that fight. As one close advisor put it, LBJ was “the last New Dealer, in the sense that he would do anything to feed the kids . . . and for old folks,” and he would support clearing obstacles to civil rights [End Page 324] (388). Yet there were limits to his vision. He would not tolerate the “maximum feasible participation” of the poor in the War on Poverty to challenge the political status quo. “I’d a whole lot rather have [Chicago Mayor] Dick Daley . . . handling millions of dollars” than private organizations, LBJ said in 1964 (90). And as it became clear that some local people would use antipoverty agencies as means to challenge their representatives for influence in their communities, Johnson was inflexible. “To hell with community action,” he declared. Johnson had to be convinced by Bill Moyers and others that they had to “prove that a community can get together to solve its problems” (148–149). It is easy to get lost in the details of these interviews, but that is a small price to pay for a book that gives the reader such a unique view into American public policymaking. There is no better measure of the contingencies that shaped antipoverty policy than these interviews’ insights into the personal prejudices and rivalries, academic assumptions, individual aspirations for power, regional alliances, and even wagers on the golf course that determined the course of antipoverty programs. Jeffrey Helgeson Texas State University-San Marcos Copyright © 2012 The Texas State Historical Association

Effects of Counselor Supervision on Group Counseling: Client's Perceived Outcomes

Two hundred and fifty Neighborhood Youth Corps participants experienced group counseling over a 10‐week period. Approximately half of the groups were conducted by five counselors who were supervised by a practicum instructor, and the remainder of the groups were led by unsupervised counselors. The participants in the supervised counseling groups were more positive toward their experiences than were those in the unsupervised counseling groups. The need for continuing supervisions or consultation of counselors is emphasized.

Research projects involving inner city high school students

An account is given of some research projects undertaken by inner city high school students in the Physics Department at Drexel University during the last four years. The students, from low income families, are sponsored by the Neighborhood Youth Corps (which was established by the Economic Opportunity Act of 1964) with the hope that they will gain worthwhile work experience. Individual projects have included measurement of noise levels around the University, frequency analysis of impulsive sounds, effect of water content on Young’s modulus of various woods, effect of sulfuric acid exposure on the mechanical properties of wood, and the effect of air pollution, in the form of SO2, on the mechanical properties of wet wood. This latter project is being pursued vigorously; new and interesting results appear to be emanating from these particular studies. The article ends with the author’s feelings and conclusions about such a program, gained from four years of experience.

Improving job performance of Neighborhood Youth Corps aides in an urban recreation program.

In most federal job training and employment programs, trainees' pay is not contingent on job performance, but upon physical presence. This study sought to increase the job performance of seven Neighborhood Youth Corps workers being paid an hourly wage for serving as aides in an urban recreation program. When thorough job descriptions and threatened termination of employment were insufficient to maintain adequate job performance, an attempt was made to make the hourly wage (required by the Neighborhood Youth Corps program) more contingent on job performance. When the number of hours credited the workers on their payroll sheets was proportional to their rating on a simple checklist of job performance, rather than to the number of hours they were present, their job performance was maintained at near-perfect levels. Although this simple semantic shift in emphasis-from "hours worked" to "hours worked"-was still interpreted as meeting the Neighborhood Youth Corps requirements for hourly pay, its behavioral effects were substantial. This simple procedure might be used in other training programs handicapped by hourly wage requirements.

A Cost-Effectiveness Analysis of In-School and Summer Neighborhood Youth Corps: A Nationwide Evaluation

A Cost-Effectiveness Analysis of In-School and Summer Neighborhood Youth Corps: A Nationwide Evaluation

Psychological factors associated with drug and alcohol usage among Neighborhood Youth Corps enrollees.

Psychological factors associated with drug and alcohol usage among Neighborhood Youth Corps enrollees.

Design of a Procedure for Health Screening of Rural Adolescents

TODAY rural young people have limited access to professional care because most health professionals are concentrated in urban areas. The medical and dental problems of these young people are similar to those of their urban contemporaries. In addition, many rural families have low incomes, and the children receive less than the minimum care received by their urban peers. Ideally, all young people should have complete medical and dental examinations and regular medical and dental care to enhance opportunities to achieve on the job and to live fully. In rural areas, however, the few already overworked health professionals cannot perform all the necessary examinations. The West Central Wisconsin Community Action Agency, Inc. (West CAP), an agency of the Office of Economic Opportunity in Menomonie, was confronted with the health problems of youth in recruiting young people for Neighborhood Youth Corps (NYC) jobs. The NYC had been arranging with local employers to give youths from low-income families meaningful summer job experience. The program was supplemented by NYC counseling on employer-employee relationships. Employers and counselors in past programs had noted many health needs of these young people. Miss Friewer is laboratory evaluator, Health Care Facilities, Illinois Department of Public Health. Dr. Rimel is professor, education and psychology, Stout State University, Menomonie, Wis., and president, West Central Wisconsin Community Action Agency, Inc. Miss Erlandson is education consultant, Wisconsin State Division of Health, Eau Claire. Mir. Watson is a graduate student at Stout State University. Tearsheet requests to Miss Frances Friewer, 1822 South 6th Street, Springfield, Ill. 62703.

Group counseling with Neighborhood Youth Corps trainees

How can we help urban youth who are ghetto dwellers and school dropouts break the cycle of failure, poverty, and alienation that follows them into adulthood? The Neighborhood Youth Corps was provided to offer some solutions to this problem. Their program content heavily emphasizes work experiences for unemployed youth but also provides for personal and vocational counseling. This article describes and evaluates a group counseling program, run in conjunction with the Neighborhood Youth Corps, which attempted to reduce the alienation that keeps youth within the poverty‐failure cycle.

Classroom in the Out-of-Doors

"To date [the land laboratory] includes op portunities for (1) summer gardening and Christmas tree planting programs for elemen tary students, (2) vocational horticulture and construction programs for disadvantaged youth, (3) science field trips for elementary students, (4) work stations for Neighborhood Youth Corps members, and (5) planned visits by con servationists interested in promoting conserva tion education."

A Benefit-Cost Analysis of the Neighborhood Youth Corps: The Out-Of-School Program in Indiana

Earnings of 604 participants in Neighborhood Youth Corps programs in five urban areas of Indiana and of 166 eligible nonparticipants (the control group) were examined in this study. On the basis of cost data and regression analyses of 1967 earnings, the following conclusions were reached: (1) The earnings gain as a result of NYC participation is substantial for males and high benefit-cost ratios are obtained by society. Thus the NYC program is much more than an aging vat for male participants. (2) Female participants, however, increase their post-program earnings very little and their benefit-cost ratios for society are almost always below one. (3) High school dropouts benefit more from the program than do graduates from high school. Therefore the program should continue to serve dropouts primarily. (4) The longer the participants remain in the NYC, the greater are the increases in post-program earnings. It appears, therefore, that if society wishes to increase the earnings of individual participants, the optimum strategy is to encourage early dropouts to remain in the program as long as possible.

Anti-Poverty Programs and Delinquency

The author is Director of the Social Science Department of National Analysts Inc., having joined the professional staff of this research organization in 1965 as a Study Director. He holds a B.A. in psychology from Temple University and a Ph.D. in sociology from the University of Pennsylvania. While pursuing graduate studies at the University of Pennsylvania, Dr. Robin was an instructor in sociology, and he was awarded the Finnegan Prize for the best piece of original research in the area of deviant behavior. Dr. Robin has served as a Research Assistant in the Department of Psychiatry of the University of Pennsylvania in connection with a study of indices of depression among psychotic patients, and as Research Assistant with the Center for Criminological Research, and Senior Research Assistant at the same university's School of Social Research Center. The author served as consultant to the President's Commission on Law Enforcement and Administration of Justice, and his study Member Delinquency in Philadelphia appeared as the lead article in the recently published Juvenile Gangs in Context. This Journal has published the following of his works: Gang Member Delinquency: Its Extent, Sequence and Typology, Vol. 55, at 59; Pioneers in Criminology: William Douglas Morrison, Vol. 55, at 48; and Justil5;sble Homicide by Police OffiRcers, Vol. 54, at 225. The effect of anti-poverty efforts on delinquency is explored in the present paper within the context of the in-school Neighborhood Youth Corps, one of the largest, best known, and most favorably received Federal programs of its kind. A control group of eligible applicants who were not admitted to the program was randomly and specifically established for research purposes, thus eliminating the self-selection factor. An extensive analysis of the police contact histories of the control and NYC enrollees disclosed no evidence that working in the program reduced their encounters with the police.

The Neighborhood Youth Corps

The Neighborhood Youth Corps

Youth Tutoring Youth

"The National Commission on Resources for Youth must now depend on the initiative and vision of school administrators who will be able to see the long-range benefits of tutoring for their students and be willing to implement the program. They are the key people in making the goals of the Neighborhood Youth Corps a reality."

Health Study of Adolescents Enrolled in the Neighborhood Youth Corps: Pilot Screening Program

Health Study of Adolescents Enrolled in the Neighborhood Youth Corps: Pilot Screening Program

The Direct Effects of Federal Manpower Programs in Reducing Unemployment

An estimate of the direct effects of federal manpower programs on the unemployment rate is made quarterly for the years 1965 through 1967. Four manpower programs are included in the estimates: Neighborhood Youth Corps, On-the-Job Training under the Manpower Development and Training Act, Community Action (paid nonprofessionals), and College Work Study. These programs accounted for an average of nearly half a million jobs in 1967. The study indicated that the programs led to a reduction of 0.15 percent in the over-all unemployment rate in 1965, 0.3 percent in 1966, and 0.4 percent in 1967 (from 4.2 to 3.8 percent). The Neighborhood Youth Corps accounted for two-thirds of the total reduction in 1967. The four programs had a far greater impact on the unemployment rate of youth aged 16-21, resulting in a reduction of 2.5 percent (from 13.5 to 11.0 percent). Because the study considers only the effects of four manpower programs, it underestimates the total effect of federal manpower programs in reducing underemployment. Since the study considers only direct effects, it also excludes the reduction in unemployment caused by increasing the skill of the labor force and the multiplier effects of government spending. A rough estimate is also made of the effect of four new manpower programs on employment in the third and fourth quarters in 1967. Because the new programs were just getting under way, the effect was negligible.

Psychological characteristics of Neighborhood Youth Corps enrollees.

Psychological characteristics of Neighborhood Youth Corps enrollees.

NEIGHBORHOOD YOUTH CORPS: OVERVIEW

The National Catholic Guidance Conference JournalVolume 12, Issue 1 p. 88-90 NEIGHBORHOOD YOUTH CORPS: OVERVIEW ALLIENE C. HOOD, ALLIENE C. HOOD Archdiocesean Vocational Service New York, New YorkSearch for more papers by this author ALLIENE C. HOOD, ALLIENE C. HOOD Archdiocesean Vocational Service New York, New YorkSearch for more papers by this author First published: Fall 1967 https://doi.org/10.1002/j.2164-5183.1967.tb00270.xAboutPDF ToolsRequest permissionExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL Share a linkShare onFacebookTwitterLinked InRedditWechat Volume12, Issue1Fall 1967Pages 88-90 RelatedInformation

" ... to the Advantage of Secondary Education"

A group of principals tell how the Neighbor hood Youth Corps is helping boys and girls in their schools. As one NYC enrollee said, "I know that someone cares."

Guidance As Viewed Through the Neighborhood Youth Corps

A Neighborhood Youth Corps director looks at some of the practical problems encountered in working with disadvantaged young people.

HEALTH OF ENROLLEES IN NEIGHBORHOOD YOUTH CORPS

The medical examination records of the first 165 enrollees in one urban Neighborhood Youth Corps were reviewed. The review revealed that the majority of the enrollees were in need of medical or dental services or both. Problems in the identification and treatment of medical conditions in this group are discussed. The importance of advanced planning of health care for this group is emphasized, and suggestions are made for such a health plan.