Government Youth Corps

Report Outline
Support for a Youth Peace Corps
Peace Corps and Technical Assistance
Plan for Domestic Conservation Corps

Support for a Youth Peace Corps

President-Elect John F. Kennedy's support of proposals for creation of a Youth Peace Corps to serve in underdeveloped countries, in conjunction with the foreign aid program, has had an electrifying effect on the college campuses which would supply most of the recruits for such a corps. The apparent readiness of large numbers of young college men to volunteer for overseas duty of this kind has, in turn, bolstered general advocacy of the plan. Meanwhile, problems presented by growing numbers of idle, out-of-school teen-agers have added urgency to calls for creation of a Youth Conservation Corps to serve within the United States. A proposal to that end received Senate approval in 1959 but was not brought to a vote in the House of Representatives.

The two proposals differ in objectives and each would draw from different strata of young people, but both exemplify a new trend in public programs for American youth. Both would give young people opportunities to contribute services of value to society and would reduce their dependence on services provided by others. Serious consideration of both is expected in the new Congress.

Strong Student Response to Kennedy Proposal

Sen, Kennedy's statement in Washington last Oct. 5 that, if elected, he would explore the possibility of forming a Youth Peace Corps to render services to new nations around the globe, gave unexpected support to already growing sentiment for an undertaking of this sort. When the candidate mentioned the subject again, during a campaign appearance in mid-October at the University of Michigan, students there were so fired by the idea that they formed an organization, which they called Americans Committed to World Responsibility, to help prepare themselves for such overseas service.