PSU Magazine Fall 1992

confidence in entrusting projects to others while he needed to be absent from the University. Blake came to Portland State in 1975 to administer a federally funded research project on alternatives to detention for youth who become involved in the juvenile justice ystem. A native of Boston, he received a B.S. in 1968 from State College at Bo ton, and a Ph.D. in 1971 from the Univer– sity of Oregon. The research experience at Portland State convinced him that one of the best deterrents to juvenile crime wa meaningful paid work. Easier said than done. Most youth are allowed only the most mundane of working experiences-flipping ham– burgers at fast food joints or carrying bags in grocery stores. Yet Blake's premise was that young people can take responsibility for sophisticated work tasks. And, he said, there is little cor– relation between poor performance in school and quality of performance in responsible jobs. In other words, just because a young person isn't doing well in school doesn't mean he or she is incapable of doing an outside job well. Perhaps the most significant con– cept that came from the research programs Blake administered between 1974 and 1976 was that of youth par– ticipation in decision-making about the issues and services that affected them. Wouldn't programs for young people be more effective, Blake reasoned, if the youth involved in the programs had a hand in de igning them? Kids planning for kids. By the end of 1976, Blake had involved a key group of youth in developing, then implementing, a survey about the types of work young people could do. The ideas about youth and work that were incubated in Blake's research projects would be-by the late 1970s-translated into model "community improvement" grants nationwide, funded by the Department of Justice's Law Enforcement Ad– ministration Agency. Teams of adoles– cents, mostly from low-income and underprivileged families, would per– form tangible community services. Blake (left) looks over city sanitary maps with PSU students involved in his Recycling Education Project in the School of Urban and Public Affairs. In Eugene, for example, a cadre of young carpenters performed renova– tions on youth shelters, senior citizens' centers, public parks, and other com– munity buildings and property. The theory behind the community improvement project wa simple. The community benefits in measurable ways, and the youth involved benefit by learning skills that were directly transferable to other jobs. Blake soon developed a national reputation for the youth participation concept. He organized national youth participation conference , and acted as an adviser to juvenile justice programs on a local and national basis. And he saw results: more and more programs for disadvantaged or at-ri k young people began including the youth in every phase of program planning and implementation-especially in the youth employment fields. Jobs that most people might never have dreamed could be performed by "kids" were being handled admirably. By the mid-1980s, eight youth par– ticipation projects were operating in the Portland area under Blake's super– vision, with the help of Portland State students. Nancy Chapman, department chair for urban studies and planning, ay that thi i where Blake's geniu lies. "Jerry's greatest contribution to the department has been in developing ways in the classroom for students to have experience with worthwhile com– munity project ,"she says. "He i what we call a 'change agent.' And he is exceptional in designing crucial community projects that last– they don't disappear the minute funding goes," Chapman says. In 1982, Tri-Met and the City of Portland collaborated in funding ASK ME!-a Blake- upervised project that employed 40 teenagers to answer ques– tion about the transportation system's new self-service fare system. In 1985, children and teenagers from nine to 19 were employed as writers to report on juvenile justice issues. The young journalists were published in The Oregonian and the Portland Observer, as well as in "The Children's Express"-a special U.P.I. column carried by 800 dailies. In 1986, one of the Portland State projects-Project MAIN, or Mobile A - i tams in Nutrition-was recognized by the United Nations with a special award commemorating the Internation– al Year of Shelter for the Homeless. The project employed teenagers to pro– vide hopping, escort, and delivery ser– vices for elderly and disabled people. Project MAIN, Blake ay , erved to "politicize" the youth involved. They began to under tand that even as they were isolated and polarized because of their youth, older and disabled people PSU 5