Youth who do not learn work skills by age 19 face a lifetime of unemployment and sporadic employment, said a policy official during the archdiocesan 11th Annual Public Policy Breakfast.

One out of five Los Angeles youths, ages 16-24, are not in school and are not working, creating "social dynamite," said David Crippens, chairman of UNITE LA and member of Workforce Investment Board. High school dropout rates exceed 30 percent nationally and approach 50-70 percent in Los Angeles public high schools. Los Angeles also has the largest gang affiliation among youth.

"We are losing a good part of the workforce of the future," said Crippens.

Churches and parishioners can play a role in helping turn such dire statistics around by adopting a high school and offering young people internship opportunities at their places of work.

Essential and practical on-the-job skills youth must learn include arriving to work on time, settling work disputes peacefully and working with a diverse group of people, added Crippens.

The breakfast, hosted by Cardinal Roger Mahony and sponsored by the archdiocesan Justice and Peace Commission, addressed "Our Youth in Crisis: What are the Solutions?" The breakfast was held at The Accelerated School in Los Angeles Sept. 21, and was attended by some 130 people, with state Senator Gil Cedillo and Assmblymember Mark Ridley-Thomas among the elected officials present.

In addition to Crippens, panelists featured Roderick Hickman, secretary of the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation; Jose Huizar of the Los Angeles Unified School District Board of Education; and Christine Gutierrez, teacher-scholar of Los Angeles Small Schools Collective and Civitas Compact High School.

The program was moderated by Robert L. Gutierrez, executive director of the archdiocesan Youth Employment Services of Catholic Charities of Los Angeles. The agency provided some 2,400 paid internships for youth last year.

Panelists said that all sectors of society will need to collaborate and form new alliances and partnerships in order to prepare youth to participate and compete in a global economy.

Hickman noted that the Division of Juvenile Justice which incarcerates youth convicted of crimes spends an average of $71,000 a year per male inmate and $141,000 per female inmate. The average youth is incarcerated for 39 months and yet despite the tremendous costs, "we don't do a very good job preparing them to return."

Hickman said that reform in the juvenile justice system centered on collaboration between public, private and social welfare agencies. Proposed reforms include more effective substance abuse treatment, mental health services, vocational training and basic education, transitional housing as youth re-enter society, and ensuring crime victims and police concerns are adequately heard as new reforms are enacted.

LAUSD is building 160 new schools in the next eight years to reduce (a) chronic overcrowding, (b) the need for busing children out of their local communities and (c) the number of schools operating on multiple tracks and schedules.

Huizar said most teens say they drop out of high school because they don't feel they belong there and because they don't see the relevance of their subjects.

In response, some public high schools are trying to create small learning communities within large high schools to foster a greater sense of belonging and to sustain students' interest in learning.

Christine Gutierrez noted that high school is a time when youth need "to discover who they are and how they fit into this world.

"Think about where you might listen more deeply to youth," she advised those gathered.

Cardinal Mahony noted that Catholic high schools have low dropout rates, in part, because the campuses are much smaller. Also, some inner-city schools are creating alliances with local companies to offer youth work experiences.

Jesuit-run Verbum Dei High School in South Los Angeles, offers students a work/study program in which students attend classes four days a week and work one day to gain valuable practical work skills.

"Keep kids in school and give them a job, and they want very little to do with a gang," said the cardinal.

Homeboy Industries/Jobs for a Future, headed by Jesuit Father Greg Boyle, is another example of efforts to reach at-risk and gang involved youth by offering them on-the-job training and employment referrals.

The Los Angeles entrepreneurial economy will continue to develop in direct proportion to the educational achievements of its population, added Crippens.

"The better we're educated, the more jobs we can bring on line," he said.