National Youth Service :
A Global Perspective
Contents
Introduction
1: National Service Programs and Proposals
Profiles of National Service
2: Aspects of National Youth Service
Appendix A: Global Conference Participants, June 18-21, 1992
Appendix B: Annotated Bibliography
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1. National service programs and proposals
THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
Donald J. Eberly
Executive Director, National Service Secretariat
A number of youth service programs in the United States have been born from the philosophy of national service, but the country can be said to have adopted national service as a policy only with the passage of the National and Community Service Act of 1990. Among the seven purposes of the Act are "to renew the ethic of civic responsibility in the United States" and "to call young people to serve in programs that will benefit the Nation and improve the life chances of the young through the acquisition of literacy and job skills." A Commission on National and Community Service was created in accordance with the Act, and received $73 million for 1992. Most of the money will be used to support full-time youth service as well as service-learning activities sponsored by schools and universities.
The Peace Corps. The Peace Corps has enrolled more than 130,000 persons aged 18 and over since its founding in 1961. The average age of Peace Corps Volunteers has risen gradually over the years, from about 23 in the early 1960s to about 33 today. Most Volunteers are college graduates and serve for two years. Some 6,000 Volunteers presently are serving in 90 countries, including the developing nations of Africa, Asia, Latin America and eastern Europe.
VISTA. Volunteers in Service to America (VISTA) began in 1965 as part of the War on Poverty. It has never enrolled more than 5,500 participants, and currently enrolls about 3,000. Originally it consisted primarily of recent college graduates who were dispatched for service on Indian reservations, at migrant work camps and in inner city ghettoes. Today it is composed mainly of middle-aged, inner-city residents who serve in their own neighborhoods.
Statewide Youth Service Initiatives. In recent years, several states have begun to support an array of youth service activities. Minnesota, Pennsylvania and Massachusetts took the lead in this area; many other states are organizing such undertakings. The process has been accelerated by the National and Community Service Act, which encourages state governments to take the lead in developing and coordinating youth service activities in their states.
State and Local Youth Service Programs. Several dozen states and localities have initiated youth service programs, and more programs are being created. Among them are the California Conservation Corps, Boston's City Year, the New York City Volunteer Corps, and the Iowa Conservation Corps. Typically they enroll 50 to 500 participants. A few of these programs are funded totally by the private sector, several receive some federal funds, a few receive fees for services rendered, and many are supported totally or primarily by state or city funds.
Enrollment. In 1991 approximately 8,000 persons aged 18 to 24 served full- time with the Peace Corps, VISTA, and the state and local youth service programs. This figure contrasts with the 500,000 young men in full-time service with the Civilian Conservation Corps in 1935, and with the one million men and women from 18 to 24 now on active duty with the Armed Forces. The current population in this age group is about 26,000,000.
Educational Links. Most of the state and local youth service programs require participants without a high school diploma to study for a high school equivalency diploma. Several of these programs also foster service-learning, in which participants reflect on the learning derived from their service experiences. Educational institutions from kindergartens to universities are devising service-learning activities as integral parts of their curricula.
Military Links. Conscription has not been held in the United States since 1973. There is little likelihood that it will be resumed in the 1990s because the active- duty armed forces are being reduced from 2 million to 1.5 million. When the Peace Corps was proposed in 1960 -- first by Senator Hubert Humphrey and later by Senator John F. Kennedy -- it was recommended that three years of Peace Corps service be considered the equivalent of two of years military service. Mr. Kennedy moved rapidly as President to create the Peace Corps by executive order five weeks after taking office. He eliminated the alternative service provision, however, because he feared it would raise an issue that might delay implementation of the Peace Corps. Today, there is talk of utilizing persons in military service to provide logistical support to youth service activities, just as the Army supported the Civilian Conservation Corps in the 1930s.
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