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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 8, 1979)
Portland OI C lost es city's CETA training contract POIC was n o tifie d Wednesday that it w ill no longer be contracted to train City o f Portland’s CETA em ployees. Although rumors have been circulating since November, the first official notification was from Joseph Ganzalles, CETA Director, in a let ter dated February 6th. The letter states in part, “ The City Council has taken aggressive action to link CETA with the economic de- I velopment efforts o f the City, the Council has adopted the First Source Em ploym ent Agreement concept which assures jobs resulting from economic development activities are targeted toward the economically disadvantaged, and the Council has developed specific criteria for PSE positions which emphasize s k ill development and transition to un subsidized employment. “ The cumulative results o f these actions, and others which the Coun cil will be asked to consider in the near future, is to establish the de velopment o f unsubsidized employ ment in the private sector for the economically disadvantaged, the un employed and the underemployed as the p rio rity fo r the C E T A p ro gram.” The C ity plans to recognize its CETA program to have its own staff deliver all services that are currently provided by POIC — on-the-job training work experience and job readiness training. C ity s ta ff w ill also handle the intake, assessment and orientation now contracted to Portland Community College. For these functions a Case Management Unit has been created and partially staffed. POIC, which has been active in Portland for nearly ten years, has held the C E T A contract fo r 4S4 years. Currently the CETA project makes up 90 percent o f the POIC budget, the rem aining being a separately funded clerical training program. During the past year, POIC served 1,163 persons. O f these 897 com pleted training, with 363 o f those placed in unsubsidized employment. Another 138 either found their own employment, enrolled in school, took apprenticeships or found other tra in in g o p p o rtu n itie s. Two- hundred -sixty-five persons le ft before training was completed for a variety o f reasons — moving, em ploym ent, etc. Remaining in the program at the end o f the vear were 384. The total budget for serving these 1,163 persons was SI.6 million. C om m unity members who are gathering to support POIC in its ef fort to retain the contract are con cerned about the following: a) The withdrawal o f the contract would drastically reduce the effec tiveness o f one o f the few Black- directed programs left in the city. b) The city w ill hire and train its own staff, hired through civil ser vice, with no special consideration given to those now working at POIC and PCC, although much money was spent to train these persons. c) There are 63 people employed at POIC and 30 at PCC, most o f whom are minorities or female head-of- households. Many o f these people w ill be unemployed. d) The city has not included com munity organizations or the target communities in the planning. PORTLAND OBSERVER e) The city has hired staff, which although labeled “ temporary” are functioning, without announcing the positions and making them available to the general public. f) The city is placing a great em phasis on training 472 people for W acher, S teinfield Pickles and Rhoda Paint. Com m unity persons fear that those individuals most in need o f training will not receive this opportunity and that the emphasis on training for these positions will rule out persons who are not suited for that work or who arc interested in other fields. g) Location o f the operation in the (Please turn to Page 2 Column 4) V olum e 9 No. 5 Thursday. February 8 .1 9 7 9 10C Albina inter-agency meetings to be revived For many years the Albina Inter agency Council held regular lunch eon meetings attended by representa tives o f the public and o f agencies serving the residents o f the Albina community. These meetings even tually came under the coordination o f the Model Cities Program and af ter that agency was terminated, the meetings ceased. Mrs. Edna Robertson, director o f the Northeast Neighborhood Office, and John Miller, Multnomah Coun ty Northeast Quadrant coordinator, hope to revive that tradition. “ We w ould like to start the meetings again, ” Mrs. Robertson explained. “ There are many organi zations and agencies operating in the community that most o f us know nothing about. There is no way for people from these agencies to get to gether, to find out what the others are doing, and to communicate with each other. “ Holding regular meetings would not only give the organizations an opportunity to explain their services, and to compare notes, but people w ould get acquainted. There are many employees o f agencies who have few contacts in this community except with their clients. This would give them a better picture o f the com munity and an opportunity to get in volved.” The initial meeting w ill be held on February 16th at the Albina Human Resource Center, 5022 N. Vancouver Avenue, at 10:30 a.m. This is to be a planning meeting, when agency representatiaves can explore their in terests in organizing the meetings, and a format. Approximately sixty- five agencies have been invited, but any that were overlooked are welcome. “ We envision sharing information on the various agencies and speakers on issues o f special concern to this neighborhood, but the direction the meetings will take w ill be entirely up to those who decide to participate,” Mrs. Robertson said. “ M r. M iller and I are sponsoring the first meet ings to get it started and the people .involved can take it from there.” M rs. Robertson also plans to publish a directory o f services avail able in the Northeast area. Professional Volunteer Service offers psychiatric aid to convicted Judge Richard Unis has announced a new Professional Volunteer Ser vices which will provide psychiatric treatment to persons who have been convicted of crime. Through the program, volunteer psychiatrists and psychologists w ill provide long-term treatment to per sons who have been convicted o f a crime and who have mental or emo tional problems that i f treated would reduce the probability o f continued criminal behavior. Stating that the purpose o f the Carnival honors Black History A community carnival to honor Black History Week w ill be held on Saturday, February 17th at the King Neighborhood Facility. Open from 10:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m., the theme w ill be “ Black Culture - Alpha & Omega” . Carnival booths w ill be operated by com m unity organizations and businesses, using the Black Culture theme. A bazaar w ill give the public the opportunity to purchase arts and crafts from local artists. A rtis t’ s works w ill also be on display. The C om m unity In fo rm a tio n Area w ill feature inform ation and brochures on community agencies. In the Black Cultural Awareness Area, sponsored by the Portland Branch, NAACP, short topics o f in terest related to Black culture and Black history, w ill be discussed. Film s and story reading w ill be available for children. A poster contest w ill be held for shcool age children and the entries displayed. For inform ation and fo r poster contest rules call Ms. Linda John son, 281-8197 or 284-8620. program is to provide mental health treatm ent to persons engaged in crim inal activity who can benefit from that treatment, Judge Unis ex plained, “ The program is designed to recognize that there are human beings who come within the criminal ju stice system who, w ith proper treatment, care and support, could get out o f the system. “ The program w ill help in dividuals w ith mental and mental health problems so they w ill not hurt themselves or be a menace to society. “ Sometimes the community feels we forget the responsibility fo r in carceration — for punishment. Our pri son system is in the 17th century in stan dards. We should try our very best to help human beings so they can return to the community.” Individuals who have been found guilty o f a crime w ill be referred to the Diagnostic Center, directed by Roby Eldridge, for screening. Pcr- sons considered by the Diagnostic Center as to be suitable fo r the program w ill be referred to a volun teer psychiatrist or psychologist. I f the doctor believes he can work with the person, that recommendation is included in the presentence report. Once the doctor accepts the in dividual for treatment, he makes a commitment to treat that person as long as needed. The trial judge continues to be responsible fo r sentencing and the individual served may or may not be incarcerated. I f successful, the program is ex pected to prove the benefit o f psychiatric treatment in the field o f corrections. Although many crimes are committed by persons with emo tional problems, little assistance is available to them in the penitentiary or outside. Judge Unis emphasized the need to look for options and alternatives. (Please turn to Page 2 Column 5) Director o f ‘DuBois’ thrives on challenge Michael Orica la the writer and director of "DuBois," which will run March 9th thru 11th at PSU's Lincoln Hall Auditorium. Orica la presi dent of Ona World Arts Foundation and taachaa at Adams High School. Michael Grice is the director and writer o f a unique oral history pro gram, called “ D uBois,” which is scheduled to run at PSU’ s Lincoln Hall Auditorium on March 8th, 9th, 10th and 11th. The program w ill trace the life and teaching o f Dr. W .E.B. DuBois, who fo r 95 years put his tremendous talents to use in the struggle for equality and a world without racial prejudice. “ DuBois” is a production o f One W orld Arts Foundation, Inc. One W orld is a local, n o n -p ro fit organization designed to preserve art in all its forms, and to encourage young Black people to develop their artistic talents. Grice explains that “ the intent o f ‘ DuBois’ is to promote oral history as an art form. We also seek to reveal the life and deeds o f Dr. DuBois. And, thirdly, we intend to raise funds for scholarships for Black youth who excel in artistic endeavors.” Grice is president o f One World Arts Foundation. About the foun dation, he said, “ We want to assist young artists to develop their talents by giving them exposure and helping them create their own opportunities for expression.” “ There is a great deal o f quality young talent around,” insists Grice, *ho teaches at Adams High School, fe adds, however, “ much o f our 'oung people's talent has nowhere to to because the channels o f ex pression are not open. There is, herefore, a need for the formal pro m otion o f Black art in this city. Through the discovery o f the poten tia l q u a lity inherent w ith in our youth, we can help them realize the value o f our cultural strength,” the director o f the oral history program said. As the d ire c to r and w rite r o f “ DuBois,” Grice thrives on the chal lenges o f coordinating the talents of H erb C aw thorne, who portrays DuBois, and Ken Berry, the musical d ire cto r. It is a challenge Grice thoroughly enjoys. “ I coordinate,” he said with self- assurance. “ I put together a compo site o f energies, thoughts, philoso phies, and materials. In the end, this composite expresses the vision o f our best efforts and comes as close as possible to goals we had in mind originally.” The idea o f oral history programs originated w ith C awthorne, who sought to recreate great Black indi viduals so that Black children and adults could better appreciate their heritage. Ken Berry, a highly respect ed musician, is a founder o f One W orld and w ill prepare a musical score which harmonizes w ith the words Cawthorne speaks as DuBois. The goals Grice seeks make the d iffic u lty o f the task seem like a small price to pay. “ Since all art is not worth supporting, we want to set a standard — provide an example of what q u a lity means to us. In education, many o f our young people have low self-concepts. Con sequently, they fail to set their sights on achievements which are w ithin their talents. We want to show, by example, what quality can produce. Perhaps we can help send them on their way achieving all their worth while dreams and goals,” the energe tic Grice said. One World Arts Foundation hopes the com m unity w ill support “ DuBois” , on March 8th, 9th, 10th and 11th, as it did last year’s pro gram, “ From the Pulpit, From the (Please turn to Page 6 Column 3) Tony Ross won the Oregon State free throw shooting contest in his age group. He now moves on to the Regionals to be held in Seattle. Ross wins free throw title The Oregon State free throw shoot ing contest for boys eight-sixteen was held this past weekend in Corvallis. Seventy-five boys competed in the tournam ent w ith winners being crowned in four categories. Tony and Eric Ross, sons o f Ms. Ethel Ross, represented the Albina area in the competition. Tony placed first in his age group and w ill represent Oregon in the Regionals to be held later in Seattle. Tony hit 23-25 to win the event. Tony is also active in Little League baseball where he was outstanding during the past summer. And played on the League championship team. Parent Child changes its name Parent-Child Service, Inc. (2710 N.E. 14th, phone 284-6267) is a ten year old program , one o f th irty Parent and Child Centers in the U.S. It is a private non-profit agency fund ed through the D epartm ent o f Health, Education and Welfare. It is unique in, that it serves families with children up to the age o f three years, and that parents and their children attend the program together. Soon the name w ill be changed to empha size our uniqueness, the new name being Parents & Children Together, Inc. The present program , which begins February 26th is quite d if ferent from the last several years, with a completely revised program and a completely new staff. The new Family Advocate staff are persons skilled in more than one discipline; some are counselors, some are nutri tionists, some are specialists in un derstanding and directing children w ith special needs. A ll combine several fields o f expertise in child guidance. The new program embraces the “ cluster” concept. This notion grew out o f the conviction, shared by all staff, that parents are the primary educators o f their children and that the first three years are the crucial years o f a child’ s life. A team o f family advocates w ill di rect the “ cluster” which w ill be com posed o f parents and their children. The hours together w ill be used to raise parenting skill levels, to provide support fo r parents, to educate parents to the use o f community re sources, to make available inform a tion pertaining to parenting so that the whole community w ill be enrich ed. Two meals, a breakfast and a lunch, w ill be served. The new program is designed to serve up to 115 children and their parents. Parents are required to at tend with their children because the emphasis is on the whole family. A lso, parents and ch ild re n w ith special needs and disabilities are wel comed. Any family who lives in Multno mah County, who meets the federal income guidelines and who has a child or children under three years is eligible fo r the program and the program is free to those who qualify. (Please turn to Page 2 Column 5) Halftime features young dunkers Timmy Pittman, 11, and Todd Ir ving, 14, w ill be featured in an exhibition o f lowered hoop dunging during the halftime o f the February 13th Blazers vs Jazz game. Pittman and Irving were selected to represent Oregon in the Pacific States Dunking Championships in H aw aii in December. Both youngsters won first place in their classifications, competing against delegates from the United States, Taiw an, Canada, Japan and the Philippeans. They are now eligible to compete in Puerto Rico this summer. Pittman was selected Most Out standing Dunker in a January 28th Oregon vs W ashington meet in Olympia. He turned in several im pressive performances including vic tories over two o f Washington’s bet ter dunkers. Other winning dunkers included Todd Irving, Kenny Lucket, 12, and Tony Pittman, 13. A ll are students o f Binnsmead Elementary School.
