Preemployment Training for African American Youth

ucation Commission of the States, issued a report which called on business, education, government, and social service leaders to provide a united front to deal with the unemployment and dropout problems of this country’s youth (Brown, 1985). While all youth struggle with these issues, minority youth, specifically African American, appear to have a more difficult time. During the third business quarter of 1993, the overall unemployment rate for 16-19 year olds was 16.9 % but for Black youth in the same age bracket it was 32.9 % (U.S. Department of Labor, 1993). While the high school dropout rate has declined for Blacks age 16-24 from 28.6 % in 1967 to 13.8 % in 1989 it is still higher than the rates for same age White youth; 15.4 % in 1967 and 12.4 % in 1989 (U.S. Department of Education [USDE], 1991). There also seems to be a direct correlation between the employment status of teenagers and completion of a high school education. Of those students who dropped out of school during the 1988-89 school year only 47 % were employed, 18 % were unemployed and looking, and the remaining 35 % of the dropouts were not looking for a job. Economic and social implications of these statistics indicate a need for all segments of society to develop plans to address employment and educational dropout concerns of America’s youth. Programs to en-gage society’s youth and reconnect them to life are desparately needed. The Kmart Employment for Youth (KEY): Workforce 2000 program is an example of an effort to reach vulnerable African Ameri-can youth