EMPLOYMENT ASSESSMENT FOR THE MILLENNIUM:
A SURVEY OF SOUTHEAST QUEENS, NEW YORK+

Janet E. Mangione*, Cheryl M. LaRouech**, and Frank A. Biafora, Ph.D.***
Department of Sociology/Anthropology
St. John's University


Introduction

Catholics Building Community (CBC), a community based advocacy group founded in 1998, consists of representatives from Catholic Charities, Catholic Medical Centers, St. John's University and 10 Roman Catholic Parishes in Southeast Queens.++ In its mission statement, the CBC expresses its mandate to pursue social justice through a commitment "to the development of our neighborhoods through concrete acts of service and advocacy." The request by the CBC for an assessment of community employment needs in Southeast Queens was brought to the attention of Dr. Frank Biafora, Associate Professor of Sociology at St. John's through Mary Ann Dantuono, J.D., a board member of CBC and the Associate Director of the Vincentian Center for Church and Society at St. John's University. In the fall of 1998, Mrs. Dantuono requested that Dr. Biafora spearhead an effort to aid the CBC in assessing employment needs in the geographic area of the CBC. At that time, two sociology graduate students, Cheryl LaRouech and Janet Mangione, were invited to participate in the study as a "service-learning project."

The research team (Biafora, LaRouech and Mangione) from St. John's met with the board members of the CBC in early Spring, 1999 to discuss the joint venture. At that time, the board members (consisting of pastors from six Roman Catholic Parishes, a representative from Catholic Charities, the Associate Director of the Vincentian Center for Church and Society at St. John's University, and the VP of Public Affairs and Development of Catholic Medical Centers) expressed their concerns about employment within their neighborhoods and a "felt need" among the local residents for additional and sufficient employment within their neighborhoods and the surrounding areas. The designation of South Queens as an Economic Development Zone (EDZ) by New York State and New York City supported the pastors' claim of employment deficiencies as a "normative need" within their neighborhoods. In addition, the board members of the CBC strongly believed that "anticipated or future needs" for jobs and training would be a significant issue as the economy of the area evolved.

Purpose

This study marks the start of a comprehensive, long-term strategic planning process to respond to employment needs of the communities in Southeast Queens, New York by: 1. discovering and exploring the environment in the context of its residents; 2. identifying its physical and organizational assets as well as its municipal, state and federal resources.

The primary objective of this project was to assess employment needs and resources as well as barriers to employment as seen by the people in the local parish communities. These parishes are located in the Diocesan Vicariate of Queens South and form the Southeast Queens Cluster. They are geographically located in Community Planning Board 12 of the City of New York. This paper presents preliminary findings.

Method

A self-administered questionnaire was developed and subsequently distributed to 1031 parishioners through six Roman Catholic Parishes in Southeast Queens, a crosssectional, non-random sample of parishioners. The objective was to obtain a baseline of demographic information concerning the local residents as well as to determine the opinions of these residents concerning the employment needs and resources of the community. Race, ethnicity, gender, age and employment status were self-reported categorical variables. Job title was self-reported and subsequently grouped according to occupation and/or industry. Barriers to employment and employment opportunities were rated by employing a three-point "Likert-type" scale. Income and educational level were self-reported utilizing close-ended questions. This research is limited due to the nonrandom sampling techniques. Moreover, the sample did not represent the total population of Southeast Queens as it relied upon information obtained solely by those persons attending Sunday Catholic services. There was an undersampling of the 13 to 18 year old age category and the 19 to 24 year old age category. The data presented are from the questionnaires received from 365 parishioners, a 35 percent return.

Findings/Implications

The findings identified a baseline of demographic data as well as an assessment of parishioner opinions concerning employment needs within their local neighborhoods. The sample consisted of 75 percent females and 25 percent males ranging in age from 15 to 98 with a mean age of 53. Sixty-eight percent of the respondents were Black, 8 percent Hispanic and 11 percent Caribbean/West Indian. (All other race categories were less than 5 percent.) Forty-seven percent of the respondents earned between $20,000 and $39,000 in personal income. (21 percent earned less and 32 percent earned more.) The most revealing data were the findings on income. By dividing household income by the number of persons living within that household the study calculated a relative per person income within that household, the same methodology used by the federal government to decide relative poverty levels. Income for the respondents disclosed a wide disparity across the zip code regions. The calculated relative per person annual income revealed the truest level of income currently earned for these respondents. Compared with the federal government's poverty guidelines, the income data in this study of Southeast Queens revealed that six of the seven zip codes fall below the federal poverty guidelines. This fact is perhaps the root of the respondent concerns. When asked to describe barriers to individual employability (substantial, somewhat, or not at all), the Parishioners ranked educational level as a substantial barrier to individual employability followed by age, ethnicity/race, lack of technical/vocational skills, and lack of neighborhood employers. Continued research and assistance are vital to improve the socio-economic and human capital issues in Southeast Queens.

Additionally, parishioners identified the youngest and the oldest members of their community as having the fewest employment opportunities. They also expressed strong opinions concerning what interventions were most needed to improve employment. The major concerns include: • the importance of employing a productive workforce in the community, especially for the 13 to 18 years of age cohort group and the 19 to 25 years of age cohort group;

Conclusion

The results generated from this pilot study will be employed in subsequent planning discussions among parish leaders and will serve as a baseline for successive interdisciplinary research on a broader basis extending the study throughout Community Planning Board 12. The neighborhoods within Community Planning Board 12 include: Jamaica, South Jamaica, Hollis, St. Albans, South Ozone Park, Addesleigh Park and Springfield Gardens. This project created a starting point for a strategic planning process with local policy planners and parish leaders and established a strong relationship between the University and this local coalition of Catholic leaders and parishioners. The participants hope the use of combined resources between the community and the University will promote positive future changes in the employment levels in these communities. This project can assist change by disseminating the study results within public forums and policy-making groups, and using them in the community's strategic planning.

+ This paper was prepared in a Social Research class. The results of this study were presented in an exhibit at the Moral Dimensions of Poverty Conference on October 16, 1999. The complete study is available through the Vincentian Center.

* Janet Mangione is Assistant to the Director and Program Counselor in the Higher Education Opportunity Program at St. John's University and a Sociology Master's Student in the Graduate Department of Sociology & Anthropology at St. John's University.

** Cheryl LaRouech, Assistant Director of Special Events at St. John's University and a Master's student in the
Graduate Department of Sociology & Anthropology at St. John's University.

***Frank A. Biafora, Jr., Associate Professor of Sociology at St. John's University, B.A., M.A. University of Florida; Ph.D. University of Miami, developed this service-learning project for his Social Research Methods class. ++ Southeast Queens as the term is used in this study is comprised of a local community in the Borough of Queens within the City of New York. The six parishes in the CBC which participated in this study are: Christ the King, Springfield Gardens; St. Catherine of Sienna, St. Albans; St. Clare, Rosedale; St. Mary Magdalene, Springfield Gardens; St. Pascal Baylon, St. Albans; St. Pius V, Jamaica.


REFERENCES

Mission Statement of Catholics Building Community. Developed and adopted October 14, 1998.

Mission Statement of St. John's University, New York. Approved by the Board of Trustees, December 1991. National Science Foundation: Social and Economic Sciences. "Investing in Human Resources: A Strategic Plan for the Human Capital Initiative." On-line Resource: http://www.nsf.gov/sbe/ses/sociol/works1htm (September 3, 1999).

New York State Bureau of Labor Statistics. Employed, Unemployed, and Rate of Employment by Place of Residence for New York State and Major Labor Areas. July 1999. On-line Resource:

http://www.labor.state.ny.us/html/pressrel/prtbur.txt.

Queens County Overall Economic Development Corporation. Queens County, USA. Vol 1, Spring 1998.

Queens County Overall Economic Development Corporation. Queens County, USA. Vol. 2, Summer 1998.

Rossi, P. And Freeman, H. Evaluation: A Systematic Approach. Beverly Hills, Sage Publications, 1982.

US Dept. of HHS, Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Education. "The 1999 HHS Poverty Guidelines." On-line Resource: http://aspe.hhs.gov/poverty/99poverty.htm (Sept. 9, 1999).