By Matt Kells
Baltimore Watchdog Staff Writer
Baltimore City is implementing a 90-day Squeegee Action Plan in an effort to provide employment for the infamous squeegee kids who have been wiping windshields for cash at busy Baltimore intersections for decades.
The program will be run through the city’s Office of Children and Family Success and the Office of African American Male Engagement. In addition to providing employment opportunities for what city officials call “disconnected young men and boys,” the initiative is designed to improve traffic safety in the city.
Mayor Brandon M. Scott, who announced the plan in a written statement Tuesday, said the large number of young people on street corners is a symbol of how the city has failed to help those in need.
“It is crucial that we look at this as a public health matter, look at the underlying factors that cause these young people to squeegee and provide wrap-around services to give them the support they need,” Scott said.
As part of the program, Scott said he will launch a Boys and Men of Color Cabinet that will work with school, business and community leaders to develop a comprehensive strategy for helping boys and men of color get employment opportunities. Scott said the new strategic framework will be made public early next year.
The plan is broken down into three categories: outreach and engagement, youth and motorist safety, and connection to education, employment, and entrepreneurship, the mayor’s statement said.
Scott said city officials will visit intersections where squeegee kids congregate throughout December to talk to them and connect them with city support services.
The administration will recruit, train and deploy “traffic control staff” who will monitor high-traffic intersections to ensure that squeegee kids and motorist remain safe. City officials will also work with local employers to hire “disconnected youth” and to develop a pilot program that would provide young people with a daily stipend for working day jobs in Baltimore, the mayor’s statement said.
“They’re going out there to hustle for a dollar because they need to buy diapers or take food home for their family,” said Faith Leach, Baltimore’s deputy mayor for equity, health and human services.
Shelonda Stokes, the president of the Downtown Partnership of Baltimore, said she supports the mayor’s plan.
“The circumstances that drive our youth to corners for money are deep rooted and require the type of intentionality through public-private partnerships that the mayor’s plan reflects,” Stokes said.