CCC Testimony: Oversight: Summer Youth Employment Program (SYEP)

Published February, 2016

CCC testified before the New York City Council Committee on Youth Services on February 25, 2016 at an oversight hearing to examine the Summer Youth Employment Program (SYEP). Every summer, thousands more youth are able to participate in the program because of the funding the City Council adds to the Department of Youth and Community Development (DYCD) budget. This past year was no exception with the tremendous allocation of $21 million to add 18,306 slots last summer – one third of all of last year’s slots were funded by the City Council. Notably, the City’s Preliminary Budget failed to adjust SYEP funding to accommodate the increased minimum wage from January 2016, failed to baseline the $21 million added by the City Council in the FY16 budget, and failed to add any additional capacity to the system. This is very disappointing. We are urging the Administration to baseline funding to support 100,000 slots at a total of $131.5 million in city funding. This would represent an increase of $95.6 million in city funds for the summer of 2016 (FY 17). As a partner in the Campaign for Summer Jobs, we look forward to working with the City Council to urge the Mayor to take this important step, and ensure every SYEP applicant can participate. Read CCC’s full testimony for our policy recommendations to strengthen and expand SYEP as well as the testimony of one of our Youth Action Members, Baldino B. Baldeo, as evidence of the need.