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1991.10.21 :  Grants -- Under-Employed Youth

Contacts:  HHS Press Office (202) 245-6343
DOL Program Office (202) 535-0672
October 21, 1991

       Labor Secretary Lynn Martin and HHS Secretary Louis W.
Sullivan, M.D., announced today the joint funding of 15 projects.
Totaling $l0.75 million over a three- to five-year period, the
grants will provide multiple services for under-employed youth.
       The projects are located in 10 states throughout the
country. Some are designed to establish effective service
delivery systems for youth with moderate and severe disabilities. 
Others will focus on youth who are criminally at-risk.  Each
grantee will develop approaches to mix or integrate different
services, such as health, education and employment, into unified
systems aimed at helping youth find and retain permanent,
unsubsidized jobs.
       "These projects are promising because of their focus on
youth who are physically or mentally handicapped, and therefore
may suffer resulting multiple barriers to employment," said
Martin.  "They demonstrate the commitment of federal agencies to
work together to develop approaches that aid in increasing the
employability of highly at-risk youth.  They also are an
important part of the administration's effort to develop a far
more effective school-to-work system."
       "The youth we are trying to reach with these funds rarely
have one single problem which is standing between them and a
job," said Sullivan.  "Often they have dropped out of school, may
be abusing drugs and have no employed role models.  By providing
multiple services to overcome multiple problems, these 'service
integration' systems should be in a better position to help youth
secure and maintain jobs." 
       Six grants will support demonstration projects to develop
approaches that use co-workers and volunteers to support young
people with moderate and severe disabilities in the transition
from school or supported work environments into unsubsidized
employment.  
       Located in Nashua, N.H.; Boston, Mass.; Portland, Ore.;
Minneapolis, Minn.; San Francisco, Calif.; and Rockville, Md.,
they are part of school-to-work initiatives undertaken by both
departments.

       Three grants will support projects for criminally at-risk
youth.  Located in Detroit, Mich.; San Diego, Calif.; and
Monmouth, Ore., the intent of this three-year demonstration is to
use a service integration approach to move young people who are
in the custody of the courts, at risk of being incarcerated or
who already have criminal records into jobs and independent
living.

       Grants also have been awarded to six Youth Opportunities
Unlimited (YOU) sites to supplement ongoing projects.  Located in
Baltimore, Md.; Philadelphia, Pa.; San Diego, Calif.; Los
Angeles, Calif.; Tunica and Quitman Counties in Mississippi; and
Columbus, Ohio, these grantees will improve educational, training
and employment opportunities for youth living in high poverty and
high crime areas.


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