Bring Them Back Alive

The U.S. Department of Labor estimates that there are currently 11 million youths who are out of high school but do not have jobs. They come from every social and economic group, not just lower-income homes. More and more, these youths are crossing the line between the mainstream and the underground, lured by the benefits street life possesses. Too often, these teens realize too late the street is a dead end that takes them only to jail or, worst of all, death. In Bring Them Back Alive, Jose de Olivares, the acting deputy national director of the $1.5 billion a year Job Corps program, offers his Streetwise Strategy-practical steps for bringing disenfranchised teens off the streets and back into mainstream society. Conversational but unflinching, this insightful guide is written without pretension, political agenda or lofty theorizing. It offers concrete examples of the ways teens think about and react to a number of situations. This important work if a necessary manual for teachers, parents and anyone concerned about the well being and the future of America's youth.