Home
Calendar
Latest images
FAQ
Search
Memberlist
Usergroups
Register
Log in
It is centered on community-based and community proposed programs that can be implemented at all phases of the business cycle and that can address different levels of unemployment and community need. This is a bottom-up approach in the truest sense of the phrase—powered by communities, localities, and individuals themselves. The projects will be designed in a way that addresses regional differences and variations in participant education and skill levels. In other words, it is an approach that fits fiscal policy to people, communities, and their needs, rather than a policy that tries to fit people and communities to a “macroeconomic agenda.” Communities, nonprofits, and the unemployed themselves will participate in designing, proposing, and executing the projects. This type of a job guarantee program is thus not only voluntary but also a tangible opportunity for those in forced idleness to actively participate in and contribute to the community.
The federal government will allocate grants to nonprofits that are already on the ground and doing many of the jobs that the public and private sectors have failed to do. These are the same nonprofits that fulfill crucial social needs but lack adequate resources. Note that new nonprofits are organized in an entrepreneurial fashion all the time in order to fill new needs like environmental cleanup, sustainable agriculture, and urban farming. Nonprofits are better organized, more familiar with local needs and resources, and always in need of more helping hands. The federally funded grants-based model of the program will mean that the projects will be evaluated for effectiveness and performance according to specific socio-economic measures such as employment creation, environmental impact, public goods provisioning, community development, and physical and human resource creation, renewal, and enhancement.
Community leaders know well that many men and women who live in poverty, have low levels of education, and are deemed “unemployable” by the private sector nevertheless have a good grasp on the pressing needs of their local communities and many good ideas about how to address them. What they don’t have are the opportunities and institutional support to address those needs. To execute a grassroots job guarantee program, one does not need big government planning and decision making. The nonprofit market, whose reason for existence is addressing social needs, can create the needed jobs and implement the projects, so long as it has the resources.
http://www.levyinstitute.org/pubs/pn_12_02.pdf
The federal government will allocate grants to nonprofits that are already on the ground and doing many of the jobs that the public and private sectors have failed to do. These are the same nonprofits that fulfill crucial social needs but lack adequate resources. Note that new nonprofits are organized in an entrepreneurial fashion all the time in order to fill new needs like environmental cleanup, sustainable agriculture, and urban farming. Nonprofits are better organized, more familiar with local needs and resources, and always in need of more helping hands. The federally funded grants-based model of the program will mean that the projects will be evaluated for effectiveness and performance according to specific socio-economic measures such as employment creation, environmental impact, public goods provisioning, community development, and physical and human resource creation, renewal, and enhancement.
Community leaders know well that many men and women who live in poverty, have low levels of education, and are deemed “unemployable” by the private sector nevertheless have a good grasp on the pressing needs of their local communities and many good ideas about how to address them. What they don’t have are the opportunities and institutional support to address those needs. To execute a grassroots job guarantee program, one does not need big government planning and decision making. The nonprofit market, whose reason for existence is addressing social needs, can create the needed jobs and implement the projects, so long as it has the resources.
http://www.levyinstitute.org/pubs/pn_12_02.pdf
