Remember the Agencies, too!

NYU professor Paul Light has a good column up today about how the recession is impacting the non-profit sector, and how Obama can adjust his national service plans to give non-profits, especially those stepping in to help families in need, a boost. But it seems to me that one thing Obama should also do is include federal service in his broader call to serve. It doesn't mean that Obama has to include federal agencies in his expansion of AmeriCorps, or in his national service fellows program. There are a lot of programs that can get young people into government already, ranging from the Presidential Management Fellows to the Federal Career Intern Program. But he should at least be talking about federal service, both to build confidence in the agencies that will be carrying out his agenda, and to set the table for more effective recruiting by departments and agencies. It may be more self-sacrificing to earn no money and work in a soup kitchen than it is to take stable wages and benefits to work in a government agency, but it's not necessarily more virtuous or more effective. Both jobs are service jobs, and if Obama plans to offer broad incentives for service, young federal employees should definitely be included.