FALL, 1967-XVlll, NO. 3 87

NEIGHBORHOOD YOUTH CORPS-

AM ALTERNATIVE TO DELINQUENCY

JACK HOWARD Former Administrator, Bureau of Work Programs

US. Department of labor

In our society a person’s employment deter- mines more than anything else what life he will Iead and how others will regard him. Other factors such as family, wealth, race, and age exert an influence on their future, but for most young people, securing a j o k o n s i s t e n t with their aspir- ations-is a crucial prerequisite to their having a stake in the law-abiding world.

In 1955, Justice J. Musmanno presented a dis- senting opinion in the Holmes Case before the Pennsylvania State Supreme Court. He well ex- pressed what a juvenile court record can mean to a young man or woman who attempts to secure a stake in that world. I want to read you an excerpt from Justice Musmanno’s remarks:

(6 . . . a juvenile court record is a lengthening chain that its riveted possessor will drag after him through childhood and adulthood . . . It is equally a delusion to say that a juvenile court record does not handicap because it cannot be used against the minor in any court. In point of fact, it will be a witness against him in the court of business and commerce. It will be a bar sinister to him in the court of society where the penalties inflicted for deviation from conventional codes can be as ruinous as those employed in any criminal court. It will be a sword of Democles hanging over his head in public life; it will be a weapon to hold him at bay as he seeks respectable and honorable employment. . .”

In the last few years we have attempted to close the gap between social promises and social prac- tices, but the youthful offender continues to be one of our knottiest problems.

In their summary report, the President’s Crime Commission verified what you, I’m sure, have seen first-hand in the courtroom:

A majority of all people arrested for major crimes against property in 1965 were under 21 years of age.

One in every nine youths will be referred to juvenile court in connection with a delinquent act before his 18th birthday.

Approximately 30% of all persons arrested are under 21 years of age.

Recidivism rates for young offenders are higher than those for any other age group.

The unemployment rate for youths aged 16-21 is almost three times that of the overall national average.

It’s more difficult for youths under 21 to find employment; therefore it’s easier for them to slip into anti-social behavior. And once convicted of an offense, it becomes even more difficult for them to find a decent job. Clearly it is with young people that prevention and rehabilitation efforts are most needed and hold the greatest promise.

We all form opinions of ourself based on how others see us and react to us. Even though young

88 JUVENILE COURT JUDGES JOURNAL

people may resist lectures, ignore appeals, even reject handouts, they do respond to opportunities for responsible involvement.

A dramatic demonstration of this occurred dur- ing the recent racial disturbances in Tampa, Flor- ida. Most of the fighting and looting was brought under control, but neighborhoods still crackled with tension. Fifty-one Neighborhood Youth Corps enrollees and alumni formed a nucleus of 136 youths who volunteered their services for peace patrols.

The youths, wearing white helmets for identi- fication, roamed their areas urging others to re- main calm. They approached smoldering groups of people, encouraging them to disperse, to go back to their homes. They jotted down license numbers from cruising cars and reported suspicious activity to the police. Only two fires were reported and vandalism was a t a minimum during the time the volunteer youth squad was on patrol.

Why did these youth, residents of the very neighborhoods that erupted, become keepers of the peace? Because they were given the opportunity for responsible, constructive involvement.

JACK HOWARD

Recently, George Washington University made a study of several out-of-school projects. In examin- ing the police records of enrollees, they found

The ideal program for youth gives them an alternative to crime. It absorbs their immediate attention. It improves their chances of finding satisfying work. It allows them to participate in community activities. And it gives them a better understanding of their government and the law.

In the past three years the Neighborhood Youth Corps has offered young people these opportuni- ties. The young men and women in NYC are often the same ones you see before you in court. We seek out the unemployed youth with the arrest record.

Many young people have been referred to Neighborhood Youth Corps by law enforcement agencies and juvenile authorities. Many of these same officials attribute declines in delinquency and vandalism to initiation of an NYC project in their city.

Last summer, the mayor of Butte, Montana, stated that when NYC “came to town” delin- quency decreased 50% during a nine-month period in 1965.

A judge in the Dayton, Kentucky area has attributed a 30% decline in delinquency to Neigh- borhood Youth Corps activities.

fewer police offenses occurring after enrollment in the NY C program.

Police in other cities report reductions in juue- nile crime ranging from the lowest rate of increase in 5 years in Washington, D.C. to an 80% decline since initiation of NYC in Kinlock, Missouri.

These incidents are too numerous to be coin- cidental. If a youth is allowed to participate in society he will no longer regard authority and community institutions as “the enemy.”

Part of the success of our program is due to the support we have received from you and your associates. I hope we will continue to work to- gether-serving the troubled youth before he is arrested as well as afterward.

I want to share with you ways in which law enforcement officials, juvenile authorities, and the Neighborhood Youth Corps have cooperated in the past. They may suggest possible areas for future cooperation.

The initial and most frequent contact young people have with the juvenile justice system is with the police. How the policeman handles that contact, and the youths’ undeystanding of the reasons for the contact, are of great importance. Too often, both parties view each other with suspi- cion and lack of understanding.

FALL, 1967-XVll1, NO. 3 89

The Neighborhood Youth Corps has developed Police Cadet Programs in three cities-Newark, New Jersey; Paterson, New Jersey; and Detroit, Michigan. The Police Cadet Corps helps prepare young people for careers in law enforcement-a field in which there is a critical manpower short- age. The services performed by the cadet also free regular policemen from more routine tasks so they may concentrate their time on professional com- munity protection.

Equally important are the fringe benefits. The cadet, in his uniform is a natural community relations vehicle. He can help shape the links of communication between the police department and the disadvantaged community. Other youths in his neighborhood may aspire to law enforcement ca- reers when they see proof that someone from their block can make it.

Finally, the cadet, even if he does not make a career of public safety, wiIl have a better under- standing of, and respect for, the law. Through their association with the young cadets, the police will gain insight into the problems and frustrations of the poverty culture and of minority groups.

Young people entering the Police Cadet program receive training and instruction in police regula- tions, criminal codes, traffic violation procedures, the American Constitution, individual rights, and basic self-defense. Their assignments may include working on the teletype, telephone, radio and records in the precinct room. Or they may be assigned to traffic duty, hospital security, school crossing, and pedestrian control details outside the precinct.

Between arrest and adjudication there is a no man’s land, where a great deal more can be done for vouth. Could you encourage the development of a Police, or possiblv a Court, Cadet program in vour community? First-time offenders or iuveniles arrested for petty crimes could be referred to these programs for work experience and rehabilitation.

A Court Cadet Program could include adults as well as youth. New Careers, an adult-work training and experience program administered by the Bu- reau of Work Programs, seeks to prepare unem- ployed adults for careers in public service. Through locally sponsored projects, a cadre of support per- sonnel can be trained to serve in the fields of health, education, welfare, and public safety. These workers will help expand and improve public services by freeing regular staffs from tasks that do not require strictly professional expertise.

The George Washington University study of juvenile court judges indicated one of the major problems facing your profession is inadequate counseling services and lack of professional staffs to work with the young offender. An adult or youth Court Cadet Corps can relieve your staffs from many tasks and expand your present services. They could serve as neighborhood workers, reach- ing and working with youth before they become delinquent. Court Cadets could serve as assistant counselors and outreach workers for youth who are on probation. They might visit correctional institu- tions or half-way houses, planning rehabilitation programs for young people keady for parole.

Too often probation means minimal supervision, at best. Internment often means “storage”. In a system where the only alternatives to ou+right release of a youthful offender are probation and internment, the Neighborhood Youth .Corps can play a vital role in rehabilitation.

The County of Westchester in New York spon- sors a Neighborhood Youth Corps project which is operated by the Department of Probation. All 40 youths enrolled are either on probation for a juvenile offense or they are on parole from a correctional institution. The Chief Probation Offi- cer of the county attends all court hearings of a juvenile nature. He works closely with the juvenile court judge in referring youths to the project.

The Youth Leadership Council, composed of current enrollees, gives recruits their initial orien- tation into the program. The council works on the buddy system, assigning one of its members to EerVe as an assistant counselor to the newcomer.

If serious disciplinary or adjustment problems arise on the job, the council is the first to approach the youth involved. If possible, a solution is worked out between the youth and other con- cerned parties without further referral. The coun- cil’s important role in decision-making helps these young people develop a sense of self-determination.

All participants meet twice a week for two hours, with a trained psychiatrist, for group ther- apy. The group explores adjustment problems to the job, to each other, to their supervisors, and to society in general. Again, they have the satisfac- tion of airing their own ideas and opinions and in planning their own future.

Indicative of the program’s success in rehabilita- ting young offenders, is the fact that over 75% of the young people are hired for permanent jobs in the same agencies where they worked as enrollees.

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Can you plan to work with probation and parole authorities in your city to set up a similar pro- gram? Can you encourage other juvenile authori- ties to refer youths to Neighborhood Youth Corps projects?

What are the possibilities of establishing Youth Leadership Councils under sponsorship of the Ju- venile Courts?

Young people serving on the Council could travel to different neighborhoods in the commu- nity, helping young people work with their prob- lems before they commit an offense. The Leader- ship Council could make recommendations and sug- gestions to the police or to the coukt. They could serve as a vital link of communication between their neighborhoods and juvenile authorities. They might pinpoint potential trouble spots and assist in working out solutions to a problem before i t ex- ploded.

There is a natural empathy between young people with similar backgrounds. Possibly a court- sponsored Youth Leadership Council could suc- ceed in changing anti-social attitudes among their peers where authority figures have failed.

Can you encourage development of half-way houses that are not merely detention oriented, but that provide training, counseling, and community service opportunities for internees?

Can you influence more correctional institutions to provide rehabilitation for young inmates through basic literacy instruction, job training, counseling, and job placement upon release? Sev- eral similar programs have been funded by the Department of Labor a t Rikers Island in New York City; a t the Draper Correctional Center in Elmore, Alabama; and at the Youth Center in Lorton, Virginia.

Can you develop a Neighborhood Youth Corps project that would in effect take the place of detention, probation, or internment for the youth- ful offender?

The Federal Public Defenders in Chicago spon- sor an NYC project in cooperation with the U. S. District Court of Eastern Illinois. Young people enrolled in this project receive training at a local business twice weekly. They are assigned to work in the Federal Courts, in the FBI, and in other Federal Agencies in Chicago. Each attorney as- signed to an indigent case has an NYC enrollee working with him-typing briefs, delivering mes- sages and reports within the court, and assuming other clerical duties.

The youth, through their work, gain valuable insight, and exposure to, America’s system of

justice. In turn, adults working in the system begin to recognize these young people as responsi- ble, involved citizens. Again the placement record is good. Many youths are hired on a permanent basis by the courts and by the FBI after proving themselves on the job.

Can you arrange work sites within your court for NYC enrollees? They could serve in the Court Clerk’s Office, in the Bailiff‘s Office, and in the court library. You could use them as outreach workers, as assistant counselors, and as assistant probation and parole officers.

Many of the youth enrolled in NYC projects in Denver, Colorado, were referred to the program by the Juvenile Court Judge in that city. For some, participation in NYC is a condition of probation. They are working; they are earning wages; they are receiving counseling and remedial education. They are receiving the support necessary to help them become productive, responsible adults. In most cases they would not receive these services during ordinary probation.

A major goal of the Neighborhood Youth Corps project in St. Louis, Missouri, is to prevent youth crime and to rehabilitate the youthful offender. The City Juvenile Court Judge is chairman of the board of directors of the organization that spon- sors NYC.

Parole and probation officers work closely with NYC staff-referring youngsters to the program and conducting follow-up studies of youth who terminate from NYC. Regular visits are made to correctional institutions in the area, to arrange for placement of parollees in NYC.

If a youth referred to NYC by juvenile authori- ties is not eligible for participation, the NYC placement staff arranges for a security bond and attempts to find the youth a permanent job.

A volunteer panel of lawyers lends its services to any enrollee who is arrested on a criminal charge. Many counseling and guidance sessions for en- rollees have concentrated on the role of the police and the need for law enforcement in a free society. Juvenile Courts in the city have provided speakers and staff for counseling sessions to explain ’ to enrollees the functions and purposes of the court. The Community Relations Director of the Police Department has worked with NYC to develop cards which explain to youth their responsibility as citizens and also their rights as citizens. Young people in NYC are assigned to the St. Louis courts, where several of them are serving as as- sistant probation officers. They serve in the police

FALL, 1967-XVlll, NO. 3 91

department where their work assignments are similar to those of the police cadets mentioned earlier.

A study conducted by the NYC project director in St. Louis found that many young people referred to the program had had as many as 60 previous contacts with the police. After participation in NYC the recidivism rate among these youths dropped sharply. I t continued dropping as they completed their NYC experience and moved into permanent jobs.

All three parts of the juvenile justice system- the police, courts, and correction-can develop more effective ways of dealing with young people. You and your associates can wield considerable influence in bringing about these changes.

A young person who chooses crime has seldom

The U. S. Labor Department’s Neighborhood Youth Corps has made good that commitment for the majority of youth served during the last three years.

A private research firm recently conducted a follow-up study of nearly 2,000 youth who had terminated from out-of-school NYC projects. This study revealed that approximately 9% months after termination, 49% of these young people were either working or enrolled in advanced training programs. Another 10% had gone back to school.

These figures are particularly gratifying in view of the fact that before NYC most of these young people were unemployed, school drop-outs. Many had dropped out of society, as well, and were existing in grim poverty. - -

been given many alternatives. We can give him These young people were given alternatives. that alternative by giving him the opportunity for They chose to stake their claim in the law-abiding responsible involvement. We can help prepare him world. I seek your continued involvement in our for adulthood as an employed, aware, and con- mutual efforts to help young people find their cerned citizen, alternatives. 8

THE: 1967 SUMMER COLLEGE GROUP PHOTO

Thirty-two American judges and two magistrates from England attended the four week program last July in Colorado. Seated are Gerald B. Gersey, Assistant Dean and John F. X. Irving, Dean. The college will be offered again in 1968: