Guide for Enhancing Employment Opportunities for Low-Income and Disadvantaged Groups in Community Development Block Grants (CDBG) Target Areas

摘要

This National Urban League study found that many low - income area residents have a much wider variety of occupational skills and educational levels than is commonly believed. An important step in improving employment opportunities for economically disadvantaged persons involves identifying these skills and attracting industries which can use them. Five programs funded by the Comprehensive Employement Training Act (CETA) are described as examples of the successful identification of skills and the improvement of these skills through training. In addition, 20 communities used Community Development Block Grants (CDBG) to enhance employment opportunities for the elderly, minorities, teenagers, and women. The most successful of these programs have attracted industries that needed the skills possessed by low - income residents, by attempting to locate industrial parks near such persons. Often, programs have promoted customized manpower services as part of an industrial development incentive package. Worker training, subsidies for minority businesses, commercial revitalization of low - income and minority neighborhoods, and skills training in connection with housing rehabilitation have also proved successful. Highlights of these programs show how a combination of techniques were used to increase employment. Charts and tables give selected program statistics, and a matrix identifies the approaches used in each of the 20 CDBG cities. Footnotes are included.