Dellums Commission Recommends Broad Public Policy Changes To Remove Obstacles, Create More Opportunities For Youths of Color

Report Cites Disparities, Recommends Family, Legal, Education, Healthcare Policy Changes

Washington, DC (BlackNews.com) - The Health Policy Institute (HPI) of the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies today released a report from the Dellums Commission detailing policy recommendations that can improve life options for young men of color who face many social and institutional obstacles in American society.

In addition, HPI announced that the AFL-CIO, as well as other parts of the Labor Movement, have partnered with HPI to launch a new initiative, Mobilization for Young Men of Color (MYMC), a pilot program that will work with local, state and federal governments to implement policy changes, while also recruiting a massive multi-sector response that will create employment, educational and cultural opportunities for these young men.

"During the past 25 years, a series of public policies have had a negative impact upon young men from communities of color," said the Honorable Ron Dellums, the Oakland Mayor-elect and former Congressman, who headed the Commission that spent 18 months studying the problems facing young men of color. "Many public policies have had a cumulative and hardening effect limiting life options for young men of color."

The Commission, whose work was funded through a grant from the Kellogg Foundation, investigated circumstances faced by a wide range of minority male youths ranging from the challenges that African American and Hispanic youths face in urban and rural communities, to the plight of Native American and Alaskan youths, to the often overlooked obstacles that Asian youths encounter.

"This is the first time in our nation's history that an esteemed group of scholars, public officials, community activists and legal experts have investigated the problems faced by youths from every large minority group in the US," said Elliott Hall, Chairman of the board of the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies. "The Commission's work will have a huge impact on our nation's future, and has already spurred a substantive response that will begin to make a difference in the lives of these young men."

The Commission report paints a vivid picture of the obstacles that young men of color face trying to succeed in America today.

High school graduation rates for minorities African Americans (42.8 percent), American Indian/Alaska Natives (47 percent) and Hispanics (48 percent) are far lower than whites (70.8 percent). More than 29 percent of African American males who are 15 years old today are likely to go to prison at some point in their lives, compared to 4.4 percent of white males of the same age. Health outcomes are also troubling. For example, the mortality rate from homicide for African American males ages 15-17 is 34.4 per 100,000, compared to a rate of 2.4 per 100,000 non-Hispanic white males ages 15-17.

The Commission concluded that misguided public policies have contributed to many of the hurdles faced by young men of color. For instance, the report noted that prison incarceration rates shot up in the 1980s after youth offenders were increasingly diverted to adult criminal systems and municipalities abandoned rehabilitation and treatment for drug users in favor of interdiction and criminal sanctions. Moreover, the report said school dropout rates grew with the imposition of zero tolerance policies in schools across the country and that there has been a decline for young men of color in post secondary education.

"The diminished life options and outcomes that young men of color confront in today's America is not a natural phenomenon," said Dr. Gail Christopher, director of the HPI, which sponsored the Dellums Commission. "The Commission uncovered a series of policy decisions over the past three decades that have had a harmful impact on the way minority youth develop in our society. We have a duty to stop them now and reverse course. We cannot give up on our youth, and we must ask that they not give up on us."

To address these and other concerns, the Commission's recommendations include that:

* Legislators should heed the call of U.S. Supreme Court Justice Kennedy and other prominent justice officials for the repeal of mandatory minimums, including the mandatory penalty structure created by the 100-to-1 powder cocaine/crack cocaine ratio and other sentencing requirements that incarcerate nonviolent offenders for long periods. Legislators should also repeal or revise Truth-In-Sentencing and Three Strikes laws that have proven unjust and ineffective tools for combating the drug trade.

* The Federal government should increase the minimum wage and provide more funding for proven job training programs. It should also improve the public workforce system in order to better address racial disparities in the labor market; improvements include increasing funding for proven job training programs. It should also improve the public workforce system in order to better address racial disparities in the labor market; improvements include increasing funding for Workforce Investment Act programs and better aligning this funding with demand for services.

* The No Child Left Behind Act makes it virtually impossible for low-performing schools to improve. This law should be evaluated nationally to determine its fairness and equity in serving young men of color. Congress should take legislative action to ensure full funding of activities required under the Act.

* The policy of zero tolerance for behavioral offenses in schools substitutes for teacher and administrative judgment and should be eliminated. School authorities should narrow the application of zero tolerance to only serious threats, use arrests only in extreme circumstances, and base expulsion decisions on case-by-case considerations instead of mandatory policies. Also, school districts should collect and report demographic data on suspensions, arrests, and expulsions.

* All states should—as Illinois did in 2005—extend health care coverage to all uninsured children through the age of 18 who are not covered by state Medicaid or the State Children Health Insurance Program (SCHIP). States should also consider the plan recently unveiled by the state of Massachusetts, which mandates health coverage, providing a sliding scale of state assistance to cover nearly every uninsured state resident.

* State laws should require private insurers to provide coverage for mental health and substance-abuse disorders—requirements that are already established in Connecticut, Maryland, Minnesota, Vermont, and Oregon. Each state should also mount a comprehensive initiative for financing and delivering prevention, screening, and community-based treatment for youth who need these services, with an emphasis on boys and young men of color.

* Business should do more to take advantage of the win-win opportunities of training, hiring, and empowering a large but unengaged segment of the population. Among promising models is the Hillside Work-Scholarship Connection (HW-SC), which connects youth to part-time jobs while providing comprehensive supports through high school graduation. Founded by Wegmans Food Markets, HW-SC serves more than 1,200 at-risk youth each year around and in Rochester and Syracuse, New York.

* The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) should oppose current proposals to further loosen ownership restrictions that would allow media conglomerates to acquire even more broadcasting properties. The FCC and Congress also should repeal the Telecommunications Act of 1996, which paved the way for more consolidation in media ownership. Congress should fund subsidies to help finance new minority-owned Internet enterprises and other digital media to promote more diversity in communications.

Dr. Christopher noted that the policy recommendations for education, child welfare, economic, justice, and health care are directed to policymakers, legislators, public administrators, and key influential leaders within communities. Moreover, she cautioned that "real policy change" requires actions across many sectors of society, and she lauded the AFL-CIO and the Labor Movement for providing the first substantive response - "a robust" plan to create broader opportunities for young men of color.

The AFL-CIO, its Building and Construction Trades Department, as well as the AFL-CIO Housing Investment Trust (HIT) and AFL-CIO Investment Trust Corporation, are launching Mobilization for Young Men of Color (MYMC), a pilot program that they hope will result in positive future outcomes for young men of color.

In its initial phase, the MYMC will identify union resources, as well as public, private and foundation funding to open the first MYMC Center in New Orleans. The Center will be the focal point for job training, education and mentoring programs for young men of color. Labor is working with former Washington Redskin Brig Owens to replicate his Super Leaders Program in other cities; the program utilizes retired sports stars as mentors. The MYMC activities will begin in New Orleans, where the Labor Movement is doing substantial community work and is already working to secure foundation funding to help finance the first MYMC Center. After meeting with union, community and public officials in other cities, the MYMC program will eventually be expanded.

"The AFL-CIO recognizes the lack of economic opportunity for the young men documented by the Dellums Commission," said Richard L. Trumka, Secretary-Treasurer of the AFL-CIO. "The Labor Movement is committed to taking decisive action to improve the environment for them. The Mobilization for Young Men of Color pilot program is focused on workforce training, continuing education through distance learning, mentoring programs and overall community development. It is our hope that this pilot program may provide the framework for significant gains to communities of color, to the American Labor Movement, and to society in general."