Late in 2005, the Lancaster County Community Foundation and a group of Latina leaders approached the Lancaster County Workforce Investment Board about being the sponsor of an in-depth study that would profile the Latino community in Lancaster County with the idea that the findings would eventually lead to systems change that would benefit the community. The Board accepted the challenge and raised over $60,000 to start the project with the generous support of the Foundation, LIVE, Fulton Bank, the Alcoa Foundation, and the Board.

In hiring Alegre Research, it asked its primary researchers, Lillian Escobar-Haskins and George Haskins, to tell the story of Latinos in Lancaster County not only with statistics and quantitative measures but also with stories from the community coming out of interviews and focus groups.

What emerged was a comprehensive telling of the story of the Latino community including the first written history of the first Latinos that came to Lancaster County in the 1940s. What also emerged was five very clear barriers that Latino people face which continue to impede their progress in becoming a part of the Lancaster community. They included the high number of young people dropping out of high school, the high level of poverty among female head of households, the high level involvement of Latino young men with the criminal justice system, the low level of home ownership, and the high degree of underemployment among Latino workers.

When the report was released in December 2007 (see sidebar on left to download a copy), hundreds of Lancaster County residents signed up and participated in five brainstorming groups to develop Action Plans to address the barriers and to prioritize the investment of community assets where needed. The groups developed nearly 50 Action Plans over the course of their deliberations. These Plans were announced in May 2008 with the promise that interested parties would reassemble near the end of the year to report on progress and the work yet to be done.

Already, Action Plans related to more technical education, better communication with the Latino community, information sharing among community organizations, and a system of workforce readiness that more fully engages the community have already been accomplished.

A Steering Committee including Frances Rodriquez, Joe Morales, Carlos Graupera, Lourdes Vazquez, Mirna Alvarado, Miriam Soto, Phyllis Stellfox, Mark Wilson, Maureen Lewandowski, Deborah Gonzalez, and Scott Sheely has been shepherding the project and planning for the community progress report on November 5, 2008. The Lancaster County Workforce Investment Board has been providing staff support for this community effort.

Scott Sheely, Executive Director, said recently, "More times than we do, those of us in workforce development need to keep in mind that we work in a context where family and community issues are extremely important. They are intimately connected to things like unemployment and underemployment. This community project was a chance for the Workforce Investment Board to lead the community in thinking through those connections for the good of our system and the community as a whole."

For more information, contact Scott Sheely at 717-735-0333.

Harrisburg:  Recently, the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency released a report completed by the Public Health Management Corporation and the National Council on Crime and Delinquency which summarizes the findings of an 18-month assessment of the needs of Latino youth ages 10-20 involved with the juvenile justice system and their parents in seven Pennsylvania counties: Adams, Berks, Dauphin, Lancaster, Lehigh, Philadelphia, and York. A relatively high percentage of Latino youth in these counties are in contact with the juvenile justice system.  Click here to download a copy of the report.

Washington, DC:  Excelencia in Education, an advocacy organization dedicated to providing information on effective higher education practices for Latinos, release its Factbook 2008: The Condition of Latinos in Education in December 2008.  The Factbook offers a comprehensive look at data that is related to the performance of Latinos young people as they prepare to take their place in the workforce of tomorrow.

Among its findings...

• In 2005-2006, Hispanics represented 17% of high school students.  Between 2005 and 2015, the number of Hispanic public high school graduates will increase by 54% while white graduates are projected to decline by 11%.
• The average reading scores for Hispanic high school seniors decreased from 1992 to 2005.
• The status dropout rate for Hispanics has decreased from 32% in 1990 to 22% in 2006 but is still higher than that of other groups including 11% for blacks and 6% for whites.  The high school completion rate for Hispanics increased from 60% in 1987 to 65% in 2007.
• Hispanics increased their college-going rate from 51% in 1996 to 58% in 2006.
• In 2006-2007, Hispanics represented 13% of undergraduate students in higher education.
• In 2006, Hispanics represented 14% of the US labor force, 15% of the unemployed, 12% of the long-term unemployed, 22% of those working part-time for economic reasons, and 13% of marginally-attached workers.
• In 2007, the highest percentage of employed  Hispanics 16 and over were in service occupations (24%), followed by sales and office occupations (21%), and natural resources, construction, and maintenance occupations (19%).

To download a copy of the report, click here.

Lancaster:  On Saturday, October 25, the Lancaster Latino Education Committee sponsored the first Lancaster Latino Education Forum in response to a call for action that came out off the "Latinos in Lancaster County: Voices, Perspectives, Myths, and Realities" report which was released by the Lancaster County Workforce Investment Board last December.

With over 55% of the student population of the School District of Lancaster being Latino, this Forum put forward a progressive education agenda that will transform Lancaster into a powerhouse of leadership, innovation, and creativity.  This day-long event provided the opportunity for students, parents, educators, community leaders, and those who work for and on behalf of Latino students to engage one another for conversations that will lead to action on behalf of our young people.  Workshops and panel discussions on student leadership development, parental involvement, higher education opportunities, cultural awareness, and dropout prevention were the order of the day.

For more information, click here to download the program for the Forum.