.MTE0MA.MTE0MA

MEMORANDUM TO: Mr. Dan E. Sweat, Jr. Director, Governme ntal Liaison City of Atlanta FROM: T. M. Parham ·/ Executive Administrator Economic Opportunity Atlanta, Inc. DATE: May 17, 1968 ~Tj) The Ne ighborhood Youth Corps (Out-of-School) program for EOA is b e ing reduc e d by the U.S. Department of Labor beginning with a n e w budget year beginning July 7, 1968 from 4 4 0 slots to 330, a cut of 25%. For the past few weeks we have been under orders not to fill vacancies until we've reached 80% of our currently allotted 440 slots. Conversations with Re gional Labor Departme nt officials, specifically Mr. Ludwin Branch, Director of the Bureau of Work Training Program and Mr. Sam Lubin, indicate that t his is a result of a national reduction in funds for this program. Othe r informa tion which has come~to me from personal contacts indicate th e possibility · that mon e y is b e ing shifted from on e region of the country to anoth e r in order to provide additional youth job opportunitie s in some of the larg e r cities. Mr. Bill Allison on a recent trip to Chicago was informe d that that city rec e ived 15,000 additional NYC slots for the summe r. I plan to check on this nex t week whil tl in Chic a go for anothe r mee ting. It is my furth e r unde r s tanding from th e Regional Offic e that th e Ne ighb o r hood Youth Corps (In-School P r ogr am ) op erate d b y th e public school is exp e ct e d to b e cut 15 - 2 0"/4 for th e n ex t school y ear , howeve r, it is tru e th a t the Atl a nta Public Scho ol s h ave b e e n a warde d 300 ext r a s lo ts for th e s umme r. I a ssume th a t wh e n �Mr. Dan E. Sweat, Jr .. -2- May -17, 1968 the summer slots expire the 15-20% cut will be imposed and the schools will have fewer jobs opportunities for youth next school year than this school year. As I indicated to you this is one of the most practical programs ever deve loped r egarding employment opportunities for youth. It has not been as attractive to boys as to girls but it has enabled many youngsters to secure some well supervised work training experience, make . some money, and move on to better jobs and/or advanced edcuation. In addition to these values, the work performed by these youngsters has been extremely valuable to the public agencies where they have been employed. Unle ss there is some other program b e ing d eveloped which will accomplish these same aims, it is extremely unwis e to further limit our potential for job opportunities for these young people between the ages of 16-21. As you well know the number of youngsters looking· for ; such opportunities has increas ed far b eyond the availability of jobs . I cannot unde rstand, without furth e r explana tion, the line of r eas oning which p rompts this action from Washington. It would be appreciated if this could be called to the attention of Mayor Allen and that h e b e asked to inquire of National Administration offici a l s why this is occurring. TMP/gj �