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Releases
& Statements
**FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE **
May 14, 2008
Contact: Sarah Krauss
(212) 669-4193; (917) 541-0936
Release #:18-2008
PA Gotbaum: Restore Funding for Needed Summer Jobs for Youth
About 5,600 Summer Youth Employment Program jobs at stake
MANHATTAN – Public Advocate Betsy Gotbaum today urged the City Council to restore funding to the Summer Youth Employment Program (SYEP) in order to provide thousands more summer jobs for young people in the city. The Mayor’s preliminary budget included a $3.15million cut to SYEP funding. The executive budget announced on May 1 included additional cuts, bringing the total to about $7.4 million in cuts to SYEP, a loss of around 5,600 jobs for youth, according to the Campaign for Summer Jobs.
Today the City Council is debating a resolution to endorse the Summer Jobs Stimulus Act of 2008, a bill to provide $1 billion during the summer to local programs that hire teenagers. Public Advocate Gotbaum has signed on to be a co-sponsor of this resolution.
In 2007, nearly 94,000 youth applied to the city’s SYEP, a 30 percent increase in applications from 2006. There were slots for only 42,000 of these 94,000 applicants in 2007, which is less than 1 in 2 who applied. As of May 1st, the City has already received over 53,000 applications for its 2008 summer jobs program. The final deadline for applications is May 18.
Read the letter [ pdf ], or full text below.
Dear Speaker Quinn,
As a supporter of the Summer Youth Employment Program (SYEP), I wrote to you in April to express my concern about the proposed $3.15 million cut to SYEP in the Mayor’s preliminary budget. After learning that the Mayor’s executive budget, announced on May 1, included additional cuts to SYEP, I am writing to urge you to work with the City Council to restore funding to SYEP. According to the Campaign for Summer Jobs, the cuts total about $7.4 million, a loss of around 5,600 jobs for youth. Restoring this funding immediately will provide thousands more jobs to young people and allow summer jobs programs adequate time to recruit participants and identify worksites.
As you know, SYEP offers countless benefits to our youth and city. Teens develop work skills, become familiar with workplace expectations, and learn essential life skills such as time management and communication. The financial burden faced by working families is lessened with a teen who works through SYEP. The local economy is stimulated through their purchases of goods and services. Finally, SYEP also allows summer day camps, senior centers, and private businesses to meet their workforce needs over the summer and expand in a cost-effective manner.
In 2007, nearly 94,000 youth applied to the city’s SYEP, a 30 percent increase in applications from 2006. There were slots for only 42,000 of these 94,000 applicants in 2007, which is less than 1 in 2 who applied. As of May 1st, the City has already received over 53,000 applications for its 2008 summer jobs program. The final deadline for applications is May 18. With such high demand for these jobs, it is important not to lose any funding for this program.
I look forward to working with you and the City Council to restore summer jobs funding in the upcoming weeks.
Sincerely,
Betsy Gotbaum
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