Good Jobs, Safe Streets: How Economic Recovery Can Lead to Community Safety in Oakland

Over the past year, EBASE, the Ella Baker Center, and Urban Peace Movement have partnered on an innovative research project entitled: Good Jobs, Safe Streets: How Economic Recovery Can Lead to Community Safety in Oakland. This report highlights the creation of quality accessible jobs, job training, and workforce connection as a major part of a strategy to reduce crime and violence in Oakland. It's the beginning of a collaborative effort city-wide to ensure that all young people have systems in place that can be utilized to foster their development, personal growth and leadership within the community.

The report highlights the following:

• A description of our target population who is at risk of involvement in a crime—either as victims or perpetrators. These target populations include high-risk youth and formerly incarcerated adults, for whom a job matters more for preventing their involvement in a future crime.
• Findings from discussions and focus groups with “high-risk” youth, who discussed the importance of sustainable jobs, characteristics of their “ideal” job, and testing interest in jobs in a few key sectors
• Best practices from seven case studies of training programs by sector in Oakland and the Bay Area that are focused on supporting high-risk youth and formerly incarcerated adults in receiving training and securing employment
• Recommendations and implications for connecting our high-risk population with jobs, including strategies to eventually expand job growth in key industries, increasing access to entry-level jobs for the hard to employ, and support services needed to help our target population succeed on the job.

Full Report - Good Jobs, Safe Streets: How Economic Recovery Can Lead to Community Safety in Oakland

Executive Summary - Good Jobs, Safe Streets: How Economic Recovery Can Lead to Community Safety in Oakland

This report is also available on the EBASE website.