By Shannon Holmes
May 23, 2005

The city of Los Angeles Workforce Investment Board Youth Council sponsored the Crossroads Conference May 11, an annual policy symposium for elected officials, managers of youth'serving organizations, business leaders and local leaders to propose policy recommendations. Paul Harrington, PhD., noted labor market economist from Boston's Northeastern University Center for Labor Market Studies, presented report findings from the study, The Teen Disconnection in Los Angeles and its Neighborhoods, and the impact on Los Angeles' employers and its future workforce.

The study shows that more Los Angeles teens, ages 16-19, lack early work experience than their peers in the state and nation. It paints a dramatic picture of Los Angeles youth, particularly from South and East Los Angeles, having less exposure to jobs and lack early work experience. Early work experience is considered necessary to gain early development of workplace "soft skills" needed to compete and succeed in the workplace. This disconnection from work compounds the problem of low high school completion rates documented recently by this study and others on Los Angeles area youth and education. According to the report, "Over 25,000 Los Angeles teens are not enrolled in school programs and are not in the workforce."

The study is a follow up to the report, One Out of Five: Out of School and Out of Work Youth in Los Angeles and Long Beach, released last fall at the Long Beach/Los Angeles Youth Skills Summit co'sponsored by The United States Conference of Mayors. The report found that one out of every five youth in Los Angeles, ages 16-24, is both out of school and out of work — 93,000 in Los Angeles.

The goal of the symposium was to develop awareness and bring leaders together to commit resources in an effort to spearhead a long'term campaign for systemic change engaging leaders in education, business, government, community-based organizations and public safety. The campaign will seek to improve graduation rates and attach youth to early work experience and quality jobs.

For more information, or a copy of the Executive Summary or the full report, The Teen Disconnection in Los Angeles and its Neighborhood, or One Out of Five: Out of School and Out of Work Youth in Los Angeles and Long Beach, please visit www.lacity.org/wib

The Los Angeles Workforce Investment Board (WIB) is the nation's second largest WIB, operating a $73 million workforce development system through U.S. Department of Labor funding. The WIB operates two service delivery systems. OneSource Youth Opportunity Centers provide education, work readiness and career preparation for youth ages 14-21. The larger, WorkSource California Centers are a regional network of one'stop employment and career centers that assist adults of all ages find employment, training, make career changes, and find help if laid off. Both OneSource and WorkSource assist employers to find qualified employees. Annually, the Los Angeles WIB systems provide services to 115,000 adults, 3,500 youth, and hundreds of Los Angeles employers.