&EPA
United States
Environmental
Protection Agency
Washington, DC. 20460
Solid Waste
and Emergency
Response (5105)
EPA 500-F-00-255
November 2000
www.epa.gov/brownfields/
Outreach and Special Projects Staff (5105)
Brownfields Success Stories
New Jersey Youth Corps
is Helping Residents
to Help Themselves
esidents of Camden and Newark, New Jersey, were recently
given the opportunity to be trained in a new career and to use that
career to revitalize their communities. These opportunities were
made possible by a Brownfields Job Training Pilot awarded to the
State of New Jersey, Department of Human Services' New Jersey
Youth Corps program that, in conjunction with the New Jersey
Institute of Technology (NJIT) and community organizations in
Camden and Newark, completed two job training cycles in the field of
environmental technology. Of the 25 graduates so far, 12 have either
secured professional jobs (with an hourly wage up to $10.50) or are
pursuing additional education; several others are working with the
New Jersey Youth Corps' career placement center to obtain employ-
ment. The New Jersey Youth Corps Job Training Pilot has been so
successful in Camden and Newark that EPA has awarded them a
second Pilot grant to conduct training in two additional communities—
Phillipsburg and Middlesex County.
To date, EPA has awarded 37 Job Training and Development Demon-
stration Pilots across the country. The purpose of these Pilots is to
provide job training in the handling and removal of hazardous sub-
stances, including innovative and alternative technologies. The goal is
to increase employment opportunities for residents of brownfields-
impacted areas. The New Jersey Youth Corps (Camden and New-
ark) was selected as a Job Training Pilot in 1998 and received a
$200,000, two-year grant.
cont. \
JUST THE FACTS:
• Graduated 25 disadvantaged residents of
Camden and Newark.
Helped 8 graduates pursue additional
education and 4 to secure professional jobs
with an hourly wage up to $ 10.50.
Provided 150 hours of technical training
along with career counseling and job
placement assistance.
"The type of
training... received
from the NJIT is
training for high-
caliber positions."
—A prospective
employer
ERA'S Brownfields Economic Redevelopment Initiative is designed to empower states, communities, and other stakeholders in
economic redevelopment to work together in a timely manner to prevent, assess, safely clean up, and sustainably reuse brownfields. A
brownfield is a site, or portion thereof, that has actual or perceived contamination and an active potential for redevelopment or reuse. EPA
is funding: assessment demonstration pilot programs (each funded up to $200,000 over two years), to assess brownfields sites and to
test cleanup and redevelopment models; job training pilot programs (each funded up to $200,000 over two years), to provide training for
residents of communities affected by brownfields to facilitate cleanup of brownfields sites and prepare trainees for future employment in
the environmental field; and, cleanup revolving loan fund programs (each funded up to $500,000 over five years) to capitalize loan funds
to make loans for the environmental cleanup of brownfields. These pilot programs are intended to provide EPA, states, tribes, municipalities,
and communities with useful information and strategies as they continue to seek new methods to promote a unified approach to site
assessment, environmental cleanup, and redevelopment.
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With high school dropout rates as high as 70 percent, it is not surprising that the
Pilot's targeted areas cover some of the most disadvantaged communities in
the state. Located within a federally designated Enterprise Community and
Empowerment Zone, as well as a state Enterprise Zone, Camden and
Newark have unemployment rates of 16 percent and poverty rates
reaching 40 percent. A steady decline in industrial activity in both cities
resulted in an overwhelming number of abandoned and underused
brownfield sites. With more than 700 acres of potentially contaminated
brownfields in Newark alone, these cities are in need of trained
environmental technicians to return these sites to productive use.
1
CONTACTS:
New Jersey Youth Corps
(609)588-3198
U.S. EPA-Region 2
(212)637-4314
Visit the EPA Brownfields web site at:
http://www.epa.gov/brownfields/
The Job Training Pilot recruited low-income and otherwise disadvantaged
residents, specifically those who had already completed the New Jersey
Youth Corps Program—a program designed to help young adults earn their
General Educational Development (GED) degree and learn employment and life
skills. After successful completion of the New Jersey Youth Corps job readiness pro-
gram, 100 hours of crew-based service projects related to brownfields, and hazardous materials
management training, trainees began the Pilot-implemented brownfields environmental technician
training. Designed and implemented by NJIT, the Pilot's environmental technician training curricu-
lum consists of 150 hours of technical training, including 40 hours of Occupational Safety and
Health Administration (OSHA) training for hazardous waste workers, and training in environmen-
tal sampling, remediation techniques, and monitoring, including the use of innovative technologies.
Through its partners (NJIT, the International Youth Organization of Newark, and the Work Group
of Camden), New Jersey Youth Corps provides trainees the support necessary to access and
retain employment. With transportation being one of the biggest obstacles to retaining students, the
Pilot provided shuttle service to and from training. When needed, students were also enrolled in
driver education classes to make them more employable after graduation. Once students graduated
from the environmental training, they were provided career counseling and job placement assis-
tance and the opportunity to participate in an eight-week internship during which they received
approximately $5.50 per hour. Students who took advantage of this opportunity completed intern-
ships with entities such as EPA, ASA Group, Clean Venture, and New Jersey Public Interest
Research Group (NJPIRG). A prospective employer commented that "the type of training...
received from the New Jersey Institute of Technology is training for high-caliber positions. This
type of training can produce an individual that is just as prepared for work as a degreed individual
from a college or university."
The New Jersey Youth Corps Brownfields Job Training Pilot achieved its objective by completing
two training courses, one in Camden and the other in Newark. The Pilot graduated 25 of its 29
trainees in Spring 2000, five of whom were recruited from the Welfare-to-Work program. To date,
four graduates have secured professional jobs, and eight others chose to take additional training or
pursue advanced degrees. Several other graduates are working with the New Jersey Youth Corps'
career placement center. In the words of a now-employed graduate, "I wasn't sure about
brownfields in the beginning, but I can now see how many job opportunities are available. The job
is what I want and need to make it in the world." For more information on the New Jersey Youth
Corps Job Training Pilot, contact EPA Region 2 at (212) 637-4314.
Brownfields Success Story
November 2000
New Jersey Youth Corps
EPA 500-F-00-255
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