Les Twentyman met the employees of Homeboy Industries in LA in an effort to learn new ways of improving youth opportunities. 71306 Picture: CONTRIBUTED
By Laura Wakely
YOUTH worker Les Twentyman is known for going above and beyond to improve life for young people in the West.
In August he went all the way to the United States to meet with sociologists from around the world at a forum on youth gangs and cyber communications.
Les also stopped by Los Angeles where he worked with Homeboy Industries, an organisation set up by Father Greg Boyle in Boyle Heights, a socio-economically disadvantaged area with a high youth population.
Father Boyle discovered many young people were missing out on jobs because of criminal activity in their youth.
With a band of willing employers he began finding jobs for them, eventually buying a bakery where young people could work in the 1980s.
Today Homeboy Industries has grown to a café, diners, farmers markets and an embroidery business with the motto “Jobs not Jails”.
“It was interesting,” Les said.
“They had a tattoo removalist who sees about 160 students a day.
“Lots of them have tattoos on their heads and necks, so it makes it very difficult for them to get work.”
Les said 150,000 students were expelled in Victoria last year, with many of them turning to crime and prostitution instead of going back to school.
He said “jobs not jails” was something that should be applied in the West.
The results could be starting soon, with Father Boyle signing on to become the first international patron of the Twentieth Man Fund.
“We’re going to be working together to set up employment opportunities in the Western Suburbs, maybe some coffee shops,” Les said.
Speaking to Star last week, Victoria Police Assistant Commissioner Steve Fontana said there was a large youth population across the West and many youth gangs had developed.
“There is a concern about, in some areas, the lack of respect youth do have for authority and the law,” Mr Fontana said.
“There are groups that get around and cause problems and that’s where we’re focusing our activities.”
Les said early intervention was the key.
“It doesn’t matter whether it’s Hackney in London, Braybrook in Melbourne or Boyle Heights in Los Angeles,” Les said.
“We’ve got to look at things outside of the square… and not wait until these kids have been in gangs and been in jail.”
