In this week's State of the Union address, President Obama stated that the U.S. needs to rethink its approach to educating youth for the workplace of the future, saying the country needs to “equip graduates for the demands of a high-tech economy.”

No kidding. Just 54 percent of Americans ages 18 to 24 currently have jobs, according to a recent study by the Pew Research Center. That's the lowest employment rate for this age group since the government began keeping track in 1948. (In contrast, 62 percent had jobs in 2007.)

So in spite of college credits (and debt), impressive internships and a desire to work, too many “boomerang generation” kids are living in their parents' basement—or, in worst-case scenarios, on the streets.

That's why it's nice to hear that the insurance industry is ahead of the curve in trying to reach out to young (and not-so-young) people who need jobs. It's a win-win—our aging industry needs workers, too.

IIABA's InVEST program has been around for awhile, and is mostly associated with professional mentoring at the high school or college levels. But recently, InVEST has been getting creative, reaching out to college vocational ed programs and, in one very creative instance, with a national shelter program for throwaway kids.

Covenant House is the largest privately funded agency in the Americas, providing food, shelter, immediate crisis care and essential services to homeless, throwaway and runaway kids in 21 cities. The organization also has a life skills training program so these kids can move into an independent adulthood.

Last fall, InVEST launched a pilot program at New York City's Covenant House, designed to introduce kids to insurance. Students were offered 2 hours of insurance instruction to include a 12-week introductory overview of insurance, consistent with the materials the InVEST program offers.

But the learning actually took place on both sides. Michael Leinenbach, president of the New York CPCU chapter who's spearheading the program and teaching the classes, went in expecting students who would struggle with the basic concepts of business. Instead, he got a group of 14 “bright, motivated” kids, aged 16 to 19, who “are future CPCUs, as far as I'm concerned.”

But after two or three classes, attendance dwindled to two. Leinenbach could have simply assumed that the kids were lazy, didn't get it, or thought insurance was boring. Instead, he dug deeper and discovered that although the kids appreciated the knowledge, they needed some sort of a paying job right away, since this would make the difference between shelter or going back to the streets. These are kids who don't have the luxury of living in their parents' basement.

Leinenbach is now tweaking the program and looking for “a group of compassionate employers” to offer kids graduating from the 12-week program paid internships. Another alternative is to offer them scholarships through the New York CPCU chapter, he said. Tamika Humphreys, president of East Harlem Insurance Brokerage and Tax Service, has agreed to work with the Covenant House kids.

Another InVEST story is unfolding at Roosevelt Senior High School in Washington, D.C., where Bill Allen, a sales executive at The Travelers Co., has helped launch an adult education insurance class.

Allen became involved with InVEST in 2008 through his work with Travelers' community outreach program promoting property insurance education for inner-city areas. As president of the D.C. chapter of the National African American Insurance Assn., Allen was looking for practical ways to introduce insurance as a career to inner-city youth. He began working with Roosevelt three years ago and launched the InVEST program for high school students. The program expanded to adult education last year, with an emphasis on licensing and practical roads to an insurance career. Ages range from 19 to 45, with students taking classes for certification in technology. Graduates will have the option of pre-licensing training and all are eligible for scholarships through InVEST.

And in Oklahoma, Canadian Valley Technology Center in El Reno offers InVEST programs to a diverse group of adults, high school students, business owners and senior citizens. Denise Johnson, VP of ECI Insurance, says there's an urgent need for entry-level insurance employees in the state and that the program will fill a real need on the industry side.

The adult ed program started with a conversation with a high-school business teacher who recognized insurance as a viable career path for high-school graduates taking vocational tech classes. “People in their 20s and 30s want good business knowledge to develop a career,” Johnson said. “So while they're developing skills in Word and Excel, we go a step further and provide them with the curriculum to get them into insurance.” Typical career paths are in CSR positions and InVEST offers scholarships for licensing. Johnson is also involved in discussions with the University of Central Oklahoma's 40-member insurance club about internships with insurers and agencies.

If you're interested in getting involved with InVEST, contact Diane Mattis at Diane.Mattis@iiaba.net.

Special Reports /

Toops Scoops: Catching the Boomerang: InVEST Looks to Older Youth for Insurance Education

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