Box 15, Folder 12, Document 15

Box 15, Folder 12, Document 15

ABSTRACT OF YOUTH OPPORTUNITY PROGRAM ~ 1968

The overall objectives of the Youth Opportunity Program are to
provide needed services to the poor,unemployed, Socially retarded, culturally
deprived and academically delinquent youth. The major efforts of the Youth
Opportunity Program are aimed at eliminating these conditions, ,

The 1968 Youth Opportunity Program is coordinated’ by the Atlanta
Children end Youth Services Council. The Council is serving as staff to
the Metropolitan Youth Opportunity Council.

Every community organization, social agency, Neighborhood Service
Centex, youth club and other private non-profit groups were invited to submit
programs and alternatives which could be operated with or without federal
funding.

Employment:

Seyeral agencies and organizations will be giving assistance to the youth Si

employment aspect of the Youth Opportunity Progrem. The following agencies i :

will furnish jobs: xe
National Alliance of Businessmen 3,300 GF gek we
Summer Recreation Proposals 1,000 XP \
Federal Agencies . 700 “\ f° Sy

State Agencies
Subsidized Jobs (Neighborhood Youth Corps,

Vocational Education, Title I, etc.) 600
Miscellaneous Placement - Youth Opportunity

Campaign 500
Total Committed ------ weno e nee nn eet 6-100



The Youth Employment Center, Georgia State Employinent Service, will be
responsible for screening, counseling end placement in the youth employment
phase of this prograu.

Education:

In the educational aspect of the Youth Opportunity Program, efforts will be
made as follows:

1. To provide needed remedial and tutorial programs for
poor youth;

2. To provide vocational information and educational activities
needed by youth to enter into the labor force;

3. To allow creative and innovative educational procrams not
pros
possible duying winter months;

“En ‘. ;
4, To allow coupling of educational, employment, cultural
enrichment, and recreational programs;

5. To offer programs and courses not generally available
. to poor youth during regular school year.

The major operating programs will be summer schools operated by the Atlanta,
Decatur, Fulton and Dekalb Counties School Systems. A fee is charged for
these schools; however, the Atlanta Public School System has indicated that
no needy child will be denied admission to summer school because of moncy.
PTA's and other community groups are promoting attendance of summer school
for children needing remedial work. ;

In addition to the regular summer program, several special prograins will be
provided under Title I and IIT EASA by the Atlanta and Dekalb County Boards
of Education.

Recreation:

The goal is to provide available recreational and/or leisure time activities
in amount of frequency and distence,

It would be interesting to bricfly summarize the recreational aspects of the
Youth Opportunity Program, A total of 35 proposals will be proposed, The
federal budget request on these proposals totals $600,000.

An integral part of the recreational-cultural aspect of the program will be
resident and day camping programs. Effort was made to increase the number

of day and resident camp slots available to poor children and youth. Presently,
slots are available for 2,538 youths in resident and day camp activities in
this program. Many egencies are making many of their regular summer camp slots
available to poor youth. These include the Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, Camp Fire
Girls, YMCA and YWCA, Bethlehem Centers, etc. These organizations will provide
day and resident camps for non-members. In addition, the City of Atlanta
Recreation Department will operate a camping program, The Jewish Community
Center will make its day camp facilities available to groups of poor youth
throughout the summer.

Many youth will spend weekend camping trips at the State and National Parks,
Equally important is the fact that these projects will employ approximately
1,000 poor teenagers and young adults. _

Operational Organizations:
The City of Atlanta Parks, Recreation and School Departments will carry
the major responsibility for the recreational program. Jn addition, the

cities of East Point and Roswell will provide special recreational prograus.

The United Appeal Agencies, the KOA Neighborhood Service Centers, and several
community-based youth and young adult groups will provide special programs.


The members and associate members of the Arts Council will provide meaningful
art and cultural programs. In order to supplement these programs, several

businessmen and women as well as several club groups will provide special \
programs of recreation for needed children and youth. \ TS
} /
ue 7

Cultural and Arts Programs:

There are a total number of fourteen cultural part and cultural programs serving
30,600 children and youth and employing 6,950 youth. In addition, arts and
crafts programs will serve another 11,370 children and youth.

Agencies providing these services include:

Central City Neighborhood Service Center;
Academy Theatre; .

Ruth Mitchell Dance Company;

Dekalb YWCA;

Atlanta YiCA;

Central YWCA Program;

Grady Homes Cownunity Girls Club, Inc.;
Metropolitan Boys' Club, Inc.;

Butler Street YUCA;

10. Workshop, Incorporated;

ll. Summerhijl-Mechanicsville Neighborhood Service Center;
12, City of Atlanta Parks and Recreation Department;
13. 4H. R. Butlex School;

14, Gwinnett County EOA

WMnI DLS wh

Adult Volunteer Program:

I. Intxreduction - A key to success of the entire youth opportunity program will
be the number of volunteers recruited, The manpover needed to carry out the
many activities in this program is too numerous to be obtained from the limited
funds available, Effort will be made to recruit, train, and place a total of
500 full and part-time volunteers.

These volunteers will serve in a variety of way, such as camp counselors,
employment interviewers, geme room supsrvisors, gym instructors, coaches,
tutors, bus supervisors, homemaking teachers, arts and crafts instructors,
and hundreds of other types of leadexs,

Ji. Recruitment - Recruftwent of volunteers will be primarily through public
media, speaking engagements, brochures and flyers. A full page ad will
be placed in the three major newspapers. The Federal Goveriment, Labor
Unions, several trade associations, professional organizations, churches,
and religious groups will be solicited for volunteer services. The Federal
asencies are esking all of its 27,000 volunteers} to work in this progrem.

“TIL. Training - Training of the voluntecrs WIT be done by VISTA, the American
Red Cross, and the user agencies. % i 32
f fA
My ae
; gq * fy
‘ ) i




IV. Placements - A special volunteer placement committee is nacumtie at work
and will place the volunteers :

Special Events:

An important part of the Youth Opportunity Program will be special events.
Several special events will be planned and implemented by the individual
agencies and organizations. The School and Recreation Department are now
planning special events such as Jr. Olympics, Field Days, Chattanooga~Atlanta
Games, and other similar events. §

In addition, arrangements are being made to obtain tickets and admission to
movies, theaters, athletic events, and cultural activities. Bus, plane, train,
and boat trips are being arranged, Picnics, outings and special sight-seeing
tours are being arranged. ‘The & Specia I-Events-Sub-Cowilittee-is—heing che ixed”

-by—Mis~Steve Fox.

Transportation:

One of the most crucial and critical problems to be solved in the Youth
Opportunity Program is transportation, Ninety-five percent of all the

proposals submitted

requires transportation, The present plan is’ to

centralize all transportation and dispatch by request and regular routing.
The buses will be obtained from the following sources:

The Atlanta Transit Company;
The Third Army and Other Military;
The Fulton County Schools;

“The Dekalb Comaty Schools;

Private ovners of buses used by the Co-inties;
Church-owned buses;

The Greyhound Bus}

The Trailways Bus

The Continental. railways Bus;
The major rail companies;
State National Guard

An estimate of the transportation necds is illustrated by the requests made in

submitted projects.

An estimated $158,000 is needed to provide the needed

transportation for resident camps, day camps, trips and tours.
P PSs y ps, P

fe