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MEMORANDUM TO: Mr. Dan E. Sweat, Jr. Director, Governmental Liaison City of Atlanta FROM: T. M. Parham Executive Administrator Economic Opportunity Atlanta, Inc. DATE: May 17, 1968 ~ The Neighborhood Youth Corps (Out-of-School) program for EOA is being reduced by the U.S. Department of Labor oeginning with a new budget year beginning July 7, 1968 from 440 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:,/4 of our curre ntly allotted 440 slots . Conversations with Regional Labor Department 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 fo r thi s progr am. Other infor ma tion which has come to me f r om persona l conta cts indicate the possibi lity that money is being shifted from one region of the country to another in order to provide additional y outh job opportunities in s ome of the larger cities. Mr . Bill Al l i s on on a rec e nt trip to Chicago wa s informe d that t h at c i t y r ece ive d 1 5 ,000 a dditiona l NYC s lots for the summer. I p l an t o check on this next week while_. in Chi cago for another meeting . It is my fu r the r understandi n g f r om th e Re g i ona l Off i ce that t h e Neighbor hood You t h Corps (In-Schoo l Program) operated by the public school is expected to be cut 15-20:,/4 for the next school year, however, it is true t h at the At lant a Publ i c Sc hools hav e b een awa rded 300 e x tra slot s for the s ummer. I ass ume that when �Mr. Dan E. Sweat, Jr. -2- May 17, 1968 the summer slots expire the JS-20"/4 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 developed regarding 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. Unless there is some other program being developed which will accomplish these same aims, it is extremely unwise 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 increased far beyond the availability of jobs. I cannot understand, without further explanation, the line of reasoning which prompts this action from Washington~ It would be appreciated if this could be called to the attention of Mayor Allen and that he be asked to inquire of National Administration officials why this i s occurring . TMP/gj �