Box 2, Folder 24, Document 40

Box 2, Folder 24, Document 40

October 7, 1969

Mr. Charles L. Figley
% Dr. Mario Hidalgo
Coordinator of Youth Activities

City Hall

Honolulu, Hawaii 96815

Dear Mr, Figley:

I am pleased to furnish you the following information concerning
Atlanta's Youth Commission and its overall effectiveness in deal-
ing with youth problems of this city.

The Mayor and the Board of Aldermen established the Youth Coun-
cil in February 1966, to carry out the following specific objectives:

ls

2.

To develop community programs designed to prevent and
control juvenile delinquency; ~

To coordinate activities of agencies devoted to the welfare
of youth and the prevention of delinquency;

To implement preventive programs through all means avail-
able to the city departments and private agencies;

To collect, correlate and disseminate information, state-
ments, and data on the subject of children and youth;

To conduct investigations and any and all other activities
necessary to effectively perform its purpose.

It is the mission of our Council to coordinate some 85 agencies
offering direct youth services and some 30 agencies offering in-


direct services to children and youth in the Metropolitan Area.

The Council serves as the overall coordinating agency for the
city's Youth Opportunity Program. Said Council pulls together

a Metro-Atlanta Youth Opportunity Council consisting of repre-
sentatives fppm several business, civic, religious, private and
public groups. This Council makes recommendations to the Youth
Council's Board regarding program priorities, distribution and
hours of operation. Such recommendations are made on the basis
of researched and evaluated needs and gaps undertaken by the
Council's staff...in the areas of employment, recreation, educa-
tion, art, camping, transportation, volunteers, special events,
social services, special programs and public relations,

For your benefit, Iam enclosing a copy of our 1969 Youth Oppor-
tunity Plan.

It is my strong conviction that youth have a very essential and
important role to play in any community, for youth, in fact, con-
stituess the citizens of tomorrow.

A big part of the urban problem is essentially a youth problem in
terms of human resources and development; and any urban plan-
ning must take into consideration this very important ingredient.

I would recommend that youth be intimately involved in any coordina-
ting activities aimed at helping youth.

I would specifically recommend that:

l. youth serve ofithe Board of Youth Commission;

2, youth serve in an advisory capacity to your City Planning
Department;

3. youth serve in an advisory capacity to your Board of
Education;

4. youth serve as consultants to your Recreation Department;

5. youth serve as consultants to your Public Employment
Agency; '

6. youth serve as consultants to the Mayor's Office.
The problem of youth unrest is certainly one to be dealt with. This
is not only true in Atlanta, but is the case in every major city in the
nation,

Atlanta's approach to dealing with this problem centers around the
_general lack of services, commitments and interest on the part of
larger communities. In this respect, the Atlanta Youth Council has
been very effective in getting agencies to provide more services on

a need basis; the result being those youth most in need of the services,
receiving it. In addition, the total community has been alerted to

the pressing need for providing adequate and effective services for

all youth in the Metropolitan area,

It is my feeling that Atlanta has been very successful in this regard
and while all of the youth problems have not been solved, the success-
ful involvement of the total community on youth problems is the neces-
sary ingredient to successfully solving these problems.

IT hope this brief explanation has been helpful to you and will assist you
in planning and coordinating the various services in your city.

Sincerely yours,

Ivan Allen, Jr.
Mayor

1AJr:sm