Box 22, Folder 18, Document 29

Box 22, Folder 18, Document 29

DRAFT:6/2/67

RECOMMENDATIONS

The Task Force recommends a number of specific proposals
designed to offer incentives for the integration of Negroes with
whites, to raise the level of social services to the poor within
the central city or to create a more stable middle-class society
within the city. Naturally there is a great deal of overlap
between the objectives of each of these recommendations. None of
them are pure "integration" or "up-lift" or "civilization" programs.
We have made some judgments on the practicality of each of these
recommendations. They are divided into those which might be possible
under present social circumstances and those which depend on more
fundamental changes in the attitudes of the American people.

Employment is the most meaningful, direct and permanent means
of providing the poor American with an opportunity for full
participation in society. The following recommendations regarding
employment are intended for the short run, say the next five years.

1. The major problem with federally espported manpower programs
is fragmentation between Cabinet agencies and within Departments.
This proliferation of manpower programs, often with a special target
group for each program, only compounds the difficulty of any city or
agency has in designing and implementing a comprehensive and
comprehensible employment and training effort.

The Task Force recommends the consolidation of presently



separated manpower programs into a single comprehensive manpower



grant. This move would allow development of sufficient local
2
manpower programs under the aegis of a single agency to

absorb the important functions of recruitment, selection and processing,
training, placement and follow-up of the poor. A first step would be the .
consolidation of those programs administered by the U.S. Department of
Labor including institutional training, on-the-job training, neighborhood
youth corps, concentrated employment program, and the employment service.
Strong incentives for cooperation with vocational rehabilitation, and OEO
employment operations should be explicit in the legislation,

2. In the absence of significant consolidation nahaven tbe o tans;
the Task Force recommends an exnansion and refocusing of the on-the-iob
training program to vrovide higher subsidies to private industry to under-
take the trainins of the poor. It has become clear that without the
close cooperation and participation of private industry that permanent
and meaningful employment will not result from even excessive employment
and training expenditures. Reimbursement for training cost should be
doubled and perhaps quadrupled and the 26 weeks presently allowed should
be expanded to a full year. OJT should provide for a greater staff for
job development and for counseling and follow-up after placement in a job
training position.

3. OJT is most relevant in the development of conmercial and manu-
facturing jobs for the poor in the area of the central city. In order
to compensate for the decline of these jobs in the city the Task Force
reconmends an expansion in public employment - the Task Force recommends

an expansion in the new careers idea in public employment such as


embodied in the Scheuer amendment to the Economic Opportunity Act.

This program combines the advantages of providing entry level employment
for the poor with meaningful grading in work and professional training.
When operated successfully it serves the goal of enrichment as well as
that of assisting in the creation of a more stable middle class in
central cities. This recommendation also takes into account the dramatic
expansion in service related éuployient in the public sector.

4, The Task Force is impressed by the number of employment
opportunities lost to central city residents because of their lack of
access to the newer centers of employment in the metropolitan area, The
HUD financed demonstration in the Watts area of Los Angeles has indicated
the important relationship between deficient transportation to those sites
and the willingness and ability of area residents to accept employment and

training. We recommend an expansion in the number of such projects in



major metropolitan areas which would include either new mass transit routes
or subsidized fares.

5. The Task Force reconmends a joint effort by HUD and the Department



of Labor to negotiate the national model arrecment for employment with



the building trade unions which would permit Iarse scale slum rebuilding



experiments to make greater use of slum labor. We recognize that this the



implenentation of this reconmendation would not solve any significant
proportion of the employment problem but it would have useful symbolic

value in the ghettos of central cities,
It is becoming increasingly apparent that integration of economic
classes is a critical factor in educational achievement. The recommendations
of the Task Force reflect this relationship.

1, Any program of Federal aid for elementary and secondary school



construction should offer incentives for facilities designed to increase



the integration of students. For example, "bonus" funds would be



avaihble for educational parks within cities, suburban exhange schools -
and for consolidated school districts. In addition, funds for the
modernization and replacement of older school plants in central cities.
should be offered.

2. To help increase the mobility of the ghetto child and to make
possible a variety of new educational institutions, we recommend a program
of educational subsidies for low-income children which would be administered
as scholarships for use at any approved elementary and secondary educational
institution, Those funds which did not have the effect of integrating
“poor children with affluent children, would be available for compensatory
educational programs in the central cities. Presumably, some parents may
wish to have the "scholarships" aid in the creation of new institutions
which might be operated by universities, corporations or neighborhood
groups,

The Task Force recommends the following program(s) to assist returning
servicemen who come from low-income backgrounds, (TO BE FILLED IN LATER -
IDENTIFIED AS A GAP) |

GAP - HOUSING RECOMENDATION

GAP + OTHER EDUCATIONAL RECS
There are a number of recommendations wihich the Task Force
feels are clearly beyond the capacity of the American political
system at the present time, either because of their outright
integrating objective or because of institutional defects not likely
“6 be resolved in the immediate future. These include:

1. A-program which would operate much Like the GI Bill of
.Rights which would place entitlements in the fhands of the poor to
maximize personal choice in selecting educatiq@nal, training and

employment assistance. The funds could be used by the individual



to gain certification in regular educational finstitutions or for
training on the job with the employer receivimg reimbursement for
his training costs. The great advantage of this approach is in
avoiding the seemingly endless tangle of referrals, delays, and
‘insensitivity encountered in the present, fragmented system.

2. A program of bonuses tied directly to the degree of
integration achieved in a school district, up to 25% Negro enrollment.
Such a program would focus very clearly on integrating currently
all-white suburban districts.

3. An expanded housing subsidy program sshich would grant or
loan funds to Negroes for down-payments on homes outside the central
City, CC. ccrsescceene

4. The development of metropolitan-wide institutions which
would be responsible for opening housing and exxsployment opportunities

for central city Negroes. To facilitate increased housing for Negroes,



the Federal government might institute a revolving development fund

which would be available to these institutions. etc.ee.e.