With our unemployment figures do you think it is time

I've always liked this sort of program but they're incredibly hard to administer. Some people just aren't suited to the work and the majority of them don't want to do it, so you get sucky results (and they get bad pay). A great idea but not easily done.

I don't know anything about these programs, but they sound good..I would also like a program for older women who don't have much experience working outside the home..

I think there is a need for something aside from job corps. Though I don't know much about the programs you mentioned. But I think this would solve some of our unemployment problems and crime issues. As I've mentioned around here that people in the inner city are so used to living on assistance and illegal activites they don't want to realize the value of an honest living. As my opinion is that there are no factory jobs anymore where you can earn a nice wage being an apprentice out of high school. Everything that pays better than minimum wage basically asks for a college degree of some sort. Where is the opportunity for those who cannot go to college or are not capable of doing college level course work? And depending on where they live thug life is a career opportunity not criminal behavior as many would disagree with. I think if there's more opportunity available to EVERYONE no matter their age ect that things would be better all around. And along this line they are having drama in a county nearby because they are using jail inmates to mow the grass and do other work like that because the counties cannot afford to pay a city employee a union wage to do it.

hi GardenGerty the unemployment here in orange county Calif is just unbelievable and my son still has only a part time job . We sure need something like what they had when I was littlte. the ccc'and the wpa helped so many people and uped the economy too. why cannot our new President do something of this nature now before things get any tougher. my son still only has a part time job and is paying 150 dollars a month on our storage bill.if he could just get a f ull time job computer programming again we could soon get into an apartment again. b ut till then we just bide our time. we need work programs and need them now.

That's a very good idea. Get some people working again. I think they do this with the corp for troubled youth too. I really think this is a good idea. But how do you communicate it to the government. I would email them. Your reps in your area. The sooner you start the sooner you will get an answer!

I think it would be a great idea. Of course, it must not be forced, but to make it an option would be great. Trouble is, what would old folks like me do? I sure can't do construction.

The only downside I can think of is that too many young people have an entitlement complex and would be offended if they were asked to work for what's being handed to them for doing nothing now. It would probably cause civil unrest, at least in some areas. The nation has more than enough work that needs to be done and I think there was something about putting people to work as part of the stimulus thing, but I never heard anything else about it. The government was going to employ people to work on the infrastructure or something like that. I don't think the Job Corps fills the need that we have now because it's limited to just young people and it doesn't actually employ them (although it pays a stipend), but it prepares them for jobs which aren't there right now. I believe we need a plan with three parts: One, to stop giving incentives and encouragement to send jobs overseas; possibly even tax benefits received from overseas employees by adding taxes to be paid by the employer to the salaries of those who are not American citizens and who do not live here. Two, secure our borders against illegal immigration and send those we know about back to their own nations. When a nation cannot support its own citizens, it's stupid to try to support another nation's. Three, initiate at least one program similar to the CCC and make it mandatory (within certain boundaries) that those who have been on unemployment for a certain number of months participate. That would save our government money, do some things that need to be done anyway, and give work to those who need it.

Personally there needs to be more options for sure for the Older people who are unemployed more than the younger ones. Personally the younger ones there are more opportunities for them if they really looked. And if they are having Emotional problems or home life problems and struggling Job Corps is a good option. (I graduated from there..) But personally they say once you are over 50 or 55, unless you work for a company like I am with, or WalMart your chances of getting a decent job somewhere could be hard since you are a Risk for them. If they had more opportunities for them this would alleviate some of the many issues out there for sure.

I m not either hardly know any thing about it never heard of CCC till back a few years ago think I saw it in a movie. THat might work but the better thing would get the illeages out of here and outr jobs would be plentiful also get them off the Gobernment pay roll like SSI food stamps and health benifits that some of our umemployed find so hard to get when their unemployment checks run out

Your history is better than mine as I've not heard of either of these programs. That's not saying much for me after how ever many years of homeschool kids and teaching them history is it? To be on public assistance...cash assistance through SRS you have to jump through a lot of loop holes....go to their job training, apply for so many jobs per week, do so many volunteer hours per week etc. They do not make it easy to just sit at home and collect welfare. This is a good thing and any smart person soon realizes they would be making twice as much money if they had an actual job for the hours they are putting in to "sit at home"

I think that getting these kinds of programs going again would be a big help in the present situation. I know it would improve people's self-image to be doing something productive, especially if they are getting some kind of government hand-out. Not to say that there aren't people out there that will milk the system for all it's worth, but I think a lot of people feel bad that they are getting something for nothing. I think, at least for me, that I would feel better about getting food stamps if I were doing something, even if it is just volunteer work. I know when I was working with the YCC (youth conservation corps) that I was paid for my time, but even if all I got was enough to pay for personal expenses and have everything else provided for me I would still be happy. I wasn't around in those days (my parents were born in '28 and '30) so I don't know the history of that era either, but I do know that it would prevent a lot of problems. Thanks for bringing this up!

These days, many of the people who are either unemployed or underemployed are people who are skilled. My status flips between the two, depending on who is doing the counting. I am looking for, but am unable to find, full-time employment; I haven't even been able to find part-time work outside of the home. I have a college degree and have a strong array of skills; however, I am in an area that has a horrible job market and lack connections here.

I don't think the Job Corp stands up to the programs you have mentioned. I think that it has helped some because it is an option...but it doesn't fix things. I am not real up on that time period too but at this point they both sound like better options than what people are facing today. The money seems like it would be much better spent as well.

I dont know about the US history but I know a little about my history here in Canada. I know that they had unemployed people working so they would get welfare before. They had them build tracks for the trains, build bridges and roads. They kept them working and kept them out of trouble at the same time. Im not sure this could be done now in our day and age. Not sure young men would want to go to work hard for a welfare check when they could sit at home collecting money and probably working on the black market. There is a big problem right now with jobless in your country and Im afraid, I dont know what the solution will be to help you out of this hot spot. Maybe its time to go back to the basics. Help those people feed themselves as we do four poor country. Let them have access to some land where they can grow their own foods. Of course, if they want to have these people building roads or bridges or whatever, it wont be easy for women to find something to do. Maybe have them work in hospitals, helping feed those who are too sick to do so. I must say that Im happy to be living in Canada now. Id be so depressed if I were to live South of the border. I do wish you all the best. You need some strong and smart people to run your country and I dont think any of them are in office now!! Bless you and good luck !

I am a firm believer in JTPA, Workforce investment act, and any other programs which train you and then put you to work in the community. I live in Quincy Illinois, and our unemployment rate went down in the last two months, but is still much higher than it should be. We do have Job Club here, which is just a group which meets one day a week to network, and its at the unemployment office. The workiers at the unemployment office help you learn to make a resume, teach you how to correctly search for employment, how to market your skills and etc. I am a supporter of this program. We also have Transitions CRC which trains people with barriers to employment, such as criminal background, transportation barriers, language barriers, no work history, no relevent work history, no education, no prior training, no childcare, and physical, mental and emotional disabilities, trains them in several areas and then works with them to place them into a community work setting. The training is all paid. I went through this program, but, at the time, unemployment was soooo much worse and they couldn't find spots for the trainees in the community. This has since gotten a LOT better, and I am a firm believer in this program as well, and I try to send people in that direction as often as possible. We need more of these types of programs though Gerty, we really do! Also, Job Corps is a wonderful program as well, and I support them firmly as well. There is also a place in Rantoul IL called Lincoln's Challenge Academy which does a lot of the same things Job Corps does, its a military academy for highschoolers, and they train our kids to be AMAZING, responsible, employable adults. My children will all 4 be attending this program the minute they reach the age!

I'm not really sure anymore. I know they need to do something to help the economy and the people in it though.

Well I think it would certainly help get some people employed, but could the government afford to pay them? Of course paying them to work would be better than paying them to not work. I don't see a lot of down sides to it, if there is actual work that needs to be done. I don't think it should be limited to those 25 and under, but getting troubled youths in to work programs is always a good constructive idea. The problem is all the undocumented citizens. If they were not here there would be more jobs available for younger unskilled Americans.

This is a wonderful idea and I hope that somehow you can make your views known. Sometimes all we need are people with common sense to govern This applies to many countries

Hi GardenGerty, the question is: where would the money come from? Everyone knows that the US government has more debt than money, and everyone knows how they keep saying want to cut down on expenses. If they can layoff the teachers and other civil servants, what for they want to hire the unskilled people and increase the payroll? it is better to offer big companies a tax incentive to bring manufacturing jobs back to the country.

I am familiar with the CCC and WPA. They were great programs instituted by Franklin Roosevelt that worked for that era. Today? Hahahahahahaha. First of all, most of the wages the boys of the CCC earned were sent home to their parents to help with the family's living expenses. peavey said: The only downside I can think of is that too many young people have an entitlement complex and would be offended if they were asked to work for what's being handed to them for doing nothing now. Bingo! I really doubt many young people will go to work to have most of their money turned over to their families, when they are used to having it handed to them. Another problem -- I believe scheng1 was the first to mention it, who is going to pay them? Helloooo... remember the national debt? Bottom line: Even if these programs were reinstituted, I firmly believe too many people would think it beneath their dignity (and education and skills) to taking on a unskilled labor job that would require hard work for minimal pay. BTW, for those of you who haven't heard of the CCC or know what they did, these boys were instrumental in building America's national and state parks.