Essay Sample: Investment in Human Capital in Baltimore's Inner-city

Executive Summary

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Baltimore's inner-city neighborhoods are under-invested, and they have all the negative social and economic indicators common to other large U S cities. Many people who have been incarcerated cannot find jobs. Baltimore's construction industry needs many more good workers. But existing training programs have not been able to overcome, too many of the personal characteristics, that hinder successful performance.

To help correct the situation, the following alternative solutions considered:

Expand existing training programs

Create a new program that offers the right package that will overcome those negative characteristics, so that persons can succeed on the job.

There are so many barriers to reentry of ex-convicts into the mainstream labor market. Unless there are systems to transform the underemployed, and unemployed residents, including the school dropouts, unskilled, and former prison inmates, economic exclusion of these people will continue. Consequently, the proposal to create the Baltimore Construction Training Corporation - BCTC will help address the existing gap.

Background

Introduction

The best way to move beyond poverty and achieve self-sufficiency is employment. With more than 76,000 unemployed residents and more than 10, 000 ex-offenders returning to Baltimore on an annual basis, the city ranks among the top cities on the unemployment scale. Most of the job seekers in Baltimore face multiple barriers to employment opportunities. The restrictions include:

Structural racism which is composed of practices by institutions, cultural representations, and policies by the public that set an unlimited duration to racial inequality. This barrier affects the African Americans who represent around 28% of the working population and sadly approximately 49% of the unemployed in the region (Braddock, J. H. et al. 1987).

Literacy levels barriers where the necessitated basic reading skills and mathematics are a problem to more than 14% of the job seekers in Baltimore. Lack of necessary math skills in a study by the ACLU was found to be at 28% where the lack of basic skills in computing was rated at 30%.

Criminal record related barriers where more than 20% of the job seekers have this as the barrier towards their employees. Also as noted above, there are high numbers of ex-offenders trickling into Baltimore.

Housing and transportation barriers where around 23% of the job seekers indicate that getting permanent housing is a problem while 25% of them can't get access to public transportation.

These are just a few of the multiple barriers to employment opportunities in Baltimore. With a plan to offer training to the Baltimore residents in the Baltimore Construction Training Co-operation, there is hope to reduce the unemployment rates.

Creation of an adequately skilled human capital is a worth deal where most of the unemployed by the lack of skills will benefit by being equipped with the same (Feldman, M. P. 1994).

There is chronic poverty in some neighborhoods in Baltimore. The indicators are well known - poor quality housing, high unemployment, poor educational results, high crime, poor health, low incomes, and low household net-worth. Many young people experience the criminal justice system. They then experience even more difficulties reentering society, getting a job, and earning income. There is a high degree of crimes, high dropouts, low rate of graduation, high poverty, and the physical and mental crisis of health in the city. The residents who are underemployed, unemployed, and unskilled are many in Baltimore. Moreover, many persons who have been incarcerated cannot find jobs. There are about 17000 vacant and abandoned buildings in the city that are idle (Poon, 2017). Baltimore's construction industry needs many more good workers but existing training programs have not been able to overcome, too many of the personal characteristics, that hinder successful performance. There is need to expand existing training programs by create a new program that offers the right package that will overcome those negative characteristics so that persons can succeed on the job. This paper examines programs for investing in the unemployed, underemployed residents, in particular, dropouts, former prison inmates and the unskilled.

Hypotheses

Investment in human capital - quality education and training - can offer the underemployed and unemployed adults, a path to life success.

It can enhance opportunities for under-served families and former convict-inmates

In particular, training in construction, deconstruction, and demolition can provide a solution

And, this training can lead to jobs that also address the issues of vacant and abandoned housing stock, and economic development for neighborhoods

This study uses interviews and surveys of the underemployed, employed, unemployed, government officials, security agencies and other stakeholders.

Conclusion: Creating a new social purpose, nonprofit business - The Baltimore Construction Training Corporation, BCTC - will lead to employment for residents, and members of the community, and generate jobs and help revitalize the community.

Topic and Research Question

Baltimore City has high rates of unemployment. In February of 2015, according to a Baltimore Sun newspaper article, unemployment rates were 8.4 percent. The national rate was 5.8 percent. The most venerable people were dropouts, unskilled and former inmates (Lerman & Packer, 2015). However, the primary concern of this paper is, can training, lead to employment in construction and demolition, and provide two benefits - jobs and improved physical, economic, and community development?

Research Questions:

The research questions are as follows:

Can investment in human capital, especially former prisoners, drop-out youth and underemployed young adults have a measurable impact on under-invested neighborhood revitalization in Baltimore and be used as an economic development tool for families in underserved neighborhoods and communities?

How might training in construction, deconstruction and demolition provide economic, environmental and social vitality to distressed neighborhoods and address:

vacant and abandoned housing stock

career opportunities for re-entry, teen drop-out and the under employed

economic development of neighborhoods by community residents

What business entrepreneurial models are best to address these challenges: traditional business, social enterprise or non-profit? What are the financial implications to consider for each?

Hypotheses

To answer these research questions, the study is guided by the following hypotheses:

Investment in human capital - quality education and training

Can offer the underemployed and unemployed adults, a path to life success.

It can enhance opportunities for under-served families and former convict-inmates

In particular, training in construction, deconstruction, and demolition can provide a solution

Can lead to jobs that also address the issues of vacant and abandoned housing stock, and economic development for neighborhoods

Literature Review

Baltimore has faced increasing challenges of economic desolation due to stagnation of wages in low and middle-wage jobs, and slow economic growth. This economic desolation in Baltimore can also be associated with the 1968 riots, where the communities of the black and white middle triggered the deterioration and abandonment (Neyfakh, 2015). During this time, the city lost significant industrial profit, and many people migrated to the suburbs. Neyfakh (2015) also explains how Baltimore has been suffering from racial segregation that has increased the poverty level of the city. There is high unemployment and underemployment among the youths in the city that limit them from the long-term success. The youths from middle-income families and low-income families are dropping out of school and experiencing difficulty in obtaining job prospects. The inability to find satisfying and enjoyable salary jobs with upward mobility is likely to result in higher rate of crime, physical and mental crisis of health, and weaker future career outcomes. According to Lerman & Packer (2015), the youths of Baltimore have experienced severe problems in completing high school and finding good salary jobs. Within five years, one in four students does not finish high school. Among those who proceed to graduate from high school, only a few graduates from high diploma courses, which contribute to high underemployment and unemployment in the city. As a result, most residents live below the line of poverty and are surrounded by abandoning and decayed neighborhoods.

Lerman & Packer (2015) study how apprenticeship can be used to engage youths and reduce the poverty level in Baltimore. This apprenticeship utilize both structure learning based on work, classroom-based vocational education, as well as production and paid work to assist the young people to master their occupation. The study demonstrates how apprenticeship can assist in reengaging the high school students as well as provide them with a new experience (Lerman & Packer, 2015). Youth apprenticeship also supports the youths in developing self-confidence and independence through the engagement in performing difficult tasks. In the occupational arena, the youths test their new identities and use practical tasks to experience learning as well as providing the services. Apprenticeships also enable the college and high school students to directly perceive the association between what is learned in the classroom and what is taught on the job, unlike the regular part-time jobs where such association is not clear to the youths. Besides, apprenticeships only involve constructive adults who serve as the teachers, mentors, and on-job supervisors. These adult mentors normally offer the guidance to the youths and also allow them to make mistakes to increase their experience. When serving as the job-supervisors, the adults supervise the youth to carry out their work in the classroom and at work. Additionally, apprenticeship was found to enable youths to develop work experience of real-life since they are judged using occupation's established standards in actual environments of working, facing constraints, unexpected difficulties, and deadlines that generally occur in a profession. According to Lerman & Packer (2015), apprenticeship for youths is beneficial since it requires a low cost to start since the employers pay the cost of training based on work and wa...