Public Hearing: The Future of Youth Development/Delinquency Prevention (Yddp), the Summer Youth Employment Program (Syep), and the Impact of Potential Minimum-Wage Increase on These Programs

1 BEFORE THE NEW YORK STATE SENATE

STANDING COMMITTEE ON SOCIAL SERVICES 2 ------------------------------------------------------ 3 PUBLIC HEARING: 4 THE FUTURE OF

YOUTH DEVELOPMENT/DELINQUENCY PREVENTION (YDDP), 5 THE SUMMER YOUTH EMPLOYMENT PROGRAM (SYEP),

AND THE IMPACT OF POTENTIAL MINIMUM-WAGE INCREASE 6 ON THESE PROGRAMS 7 ------------------------------------------------------ 8 Legislative Office Building

181 State Street - Room 711-A 9 Albany, New York 12247 10 March 11, 2013

10:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. 11 12 PRESIDING: 13 Senator Malcolm A. Smith

Chair 14 15 SENATE MEMBERS PRESENT: 16 Senator James Sanders, Jr. (RM) 17 Senator Jack Martins 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 1

SPEAKERS:PAGE QUESTIONS 2

Jeanne B. Mullgrav 5 13 3 Commissioner

Andrew Miller 4 Assistant Commissioner

NYS Dept. of Youth & 5 Community Development 6 Jackie Negri 30 40

Executive Director 7 Association of NYS Youth Bureaus 8 Dr. Nora Niedzielski-Eichner 52 62

Executive Director 9 New York State Afterschool Network 10 Kevin Alexander 70 77

President & CEO 11 Rockaway Development &

Revitalization Corporation 12

Kevin Douglas 83 95 13 Policy Analyst

United Neighborhood Houses of New York 14

Dr. Amy Ellen Schwartz 101 108 15 Director

Institute for Education & 16 Social Policy at NYU 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 1 SENATOR SMITH: We are here this morning to 2 obviously talk about the YDD Program 3 (the Youth Development Delinquency Program), as well 4 as, equally as important, the impact of the proposed 5 minimum-wage increase on the Summer Youth Employment 6 Program. 7 As many of you know, the Summer Youth 8 Employment Program is a very critical program for 9 young people throughout the state of New York. 10 And we believe there has not been enough 11 attention or enough analysis that has been done with 12 regard to the impact of a minimum wage on the 13 Summer Youth Employment Program. 14 We all support the idea of increasing the 15 minimum wage, and what we don't want to get lost -- 16 in particular, if the minimum wage is increased 17 between now and June, what we don't want to get lost 18 is the fact that there could be a regressive impact 19 on the number of slots that become available for the 20 summer youth program, in that, most people don't 21 equate the amount of money that is coming for the 22 summer youth program to -- as a whole number, versus 23 what that would mean if minimum wage was increased. 24 So, we have a number of people who will be 25 testifying today: 1 Jeanne Mullgrav, the Commissioner of the 2 New York City Department of Youth; 3 Andrew Miller, the Assistant Commissioner, 4 New York City Department of Youth; 5 Jackie Negri, Executive Director of 6 Association of New York State Youth Bureaus; 7 Dr. Nora Eichner, who's with the 8 New York State Afterschool Network; 9 Mr. Kevin Alexander, Rockwood Development 10 Corporation; 11 Mr. Kevin Douglas, United Neighborhood 12 Houses of New York; 13 And, Dr. Amy Schwartz, Institute for 14 Education and Social Policy. 15 So with that, let me ask my colleague 16 Senator Martin [sic], if you would like to say a few 17 words, and then we'll move into our testimony. 18 SENATOR MARTINS: All right, it's critically 19 important, that when we do look to make policy 20 changes, that we also look at the consequences of 21 those changes, and the impacts on those changes on 22 those programs that most affect people in need. 23 There are great programs out there. We just 24 want to make sure that policies are consistent. 25 And looking forward to the testimony today. 1 Thank you, Mr. Chairman. 2 SENATOR SMITH: Thank you. 3 Okay, with that, let's bring up our first two 4 testifiers: Commissioner Jeanne Mullgrav and 5 Assistant Commissioner Andrew Miller. 6 And as you know, chivalry is not dead, even 7 though she does have the supreme title of 8 Commissioner, so we obviously will go with the 9 Commissioner first. 10 And we'll have testimony, and then there will 11 be questions, obviously, if any one of my colleagues 12 who are here have questions, and then we'll go from 13 there. 14 JEANNE B. MULLGRAV: Good morning, and thank 15 you, Senator Smith. 16 We've worked together for many, many years. 17 I know your commitment, not only to the Summer Youth 18 Employment Program, but to all of the youth 19 development funding and programs, and I want to 20 thank you for your leadership in convening this 21 hearing. 22 I also want to thank the members of the 23 Senate Committee on Social Services, as well as 24 Senator Martins. 25 I am Jeanne Mullgrav, Commissioner of the 1 New York City Department of Youth and Community 2 Development. 3 And thank you for the opportunity to testify 4 today about the Youth Development and Delinquency 5 Prevention Program, and the Summer Youth Employment 6 Program. 7 This is my third visit this session because 8 the State support is so critical to the provision of 9 services of New York -- of New York young people. 10 As you know, DYCD receives State funding for 11 YDDP, SYEP, and the Runaway and Homeless Youth 12 Program. 13 There's a lot of feedback. 14 Is that okay? 15 SENATOR SMITH: Yeah, you're fine. 16 JEANNE B. MULLGRAV: Unfortunately, State 17 funding sources have shrunk considerably over the 18 past several years, and now represent only 5 percent 19 of DYCD's total budget. 20 This has made it more challenging for DYCD 21 and youth bureaus across the state to provide needed 22 youth services. 23 YDDP is our only State funding source for the 24 Out-of-School Time Program. 25 As the attached charts demonstrate, YDDP 1 funding to the city has declined by 61 percent, from 2 10.5 million in City Fiscal Year 2007, to 3 4.1 million in City Fiscal Year '13. 4 During the same period, thanks to the 5 partnership of Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg and the 6 City Council, city tax-levy funding to OST increased 7 70 percent, from 58.5 million, to 99.5 million. 8 The OST system currently serves about 9 56,000 young people, from kindergarten to 10 high school, in programs located in every 11 neighborhood across the city. 12 To maximize public dollars, programs are in 13 schools, community centers, settlement houses, 14 cultural institutions, libraries, public-housing 15 facilities, and parks. 16 OST promotes academic achievement, the 17 healthy development and resiliency of all young 18 people, and helps working parents. 19 Likewise, State funding to RHY dropped 20 60 percent over those 6 years, from about 2 million, 21 to 778,000. 22 To make up this gap, and to enhance services, 23 we work with the City Council, and the City 24 increased its investment in the RHY continuum by 25 64 percent, from 6.7 million, to 11 million. 1 As you know, DYCD's RHY continuum of services 2 is designed to protect runaway and homeless youth, 3 reunite them with their families wherever possible, 4 and help youth achieve self-sufficiency. 5 We're proud of our success, enhancing 6 services, by doubling bed capacity, and offering 7 specialized services for LGBTQ, and pregnant, and 8 sexually exploited youth. 9 State funding to SYEP contracted by the 10 lowest proportion of our funding streams, it was 11 reduced by 36 percent, from 21 million in 12 fiscal year '07, to 13.5 million in fiscal year '13. 13 The Mayor's commitment remains strong, and he 14 baselined SYEP funding at 20.5 million while raising 15 additional private funds. 16 We appreciate the Governor and Legislature's 17 increase in SYEP appropriation last year, bringing 18 the statewide total, from 15.5 million -- 19 Good morning. 20 SENATOR SANDERS: Good morning. 21 JEANNE B. MULLGRAV: -- to 25 million in 22 2013. 23 And, also, are pleased to see that increased 24 funding level -- the -- that -- the increased 25 funding level this year. 1 We support the Governor's budget proposal to 2 merge SYDDP with the Special Delinquency Prevention 3 Program and to streamline its distribution, and 4 we're encouraged by the efforts to make the program 5 more efficient. 6 In this regard, we recommend that funding be 7 allocated to youth bureaus, which already administer 8 eligible programs, and will benefit from additional 9 State funding. 10 Unfortunately, the Governor's proposed 11 language does not specify a formula for distribution 12 of the grants. 13 Currently, OCFS distributes the funds on a 14 per-capita basis. 15 We believe that the size of the youth 16 population should remain an important component of 17 the formula. 18 In order to target funds to needy at-risk 19 youth, we also encourage the State to include the 20 number of youth living in poverty in its formula. 21 As you know, the Governor's budget includes 22 an increase to 8.75, effective July 1, and the 23 Assembly has passed an increase to $9, effective 24 January 1. 25 We are supportive of increasing the minimum 1 wage in order to help raise the standard of living 2 for low-income New Yorkers. 3 However, it's important to note that an 4 increase in the minimum wage will have the 5 unintended consequence of decreasing the number of 6 young people we could serve through SYEP. 7 We estimate that at the current rate, we can 8 employ 30,000 young people this summer. 9 The wage increase would cut this number by 10 approximately 4,500. 11 To make up the gap, and allow SYEP programs 12 statewide to continue to provide the same level of 13 service, we estimate that the statewide 14 appropriation should be at least 35 million, which 15 is the same level of funding provided by the State 16 in 2009, and before. 17 This funding would be well spent, considering 18 that, last summer, 75 percent of our participants 19 indicated that they would not have a job without 20 SYEP. 21 Additionally, a recent report by NYU 22 demonstrated that SYEP improves school attendance 23 and academic achievement. 24 And we're pleased that NYU will be testifying 25 before the Committee today to highlight those 1 positive results. 2 I'm also delighted to report that we have 3 awarded new SYEP contracts that will begin April 1, 4 and will build on the progress made during the past 5 ten years. 6 Innovations will allow us to tailor the 7 program to particular needs of youth in different 8 age ranges and with special needs. 9 The program will include four service areas: 10 For youth, age 14 and 15; 11 For youth, age 16 through 24; 12 For vulnerable youth; 13 And, will expand our very successful 14 unsubsidized corporate-internship program. 15 Finally, I urge the Legislature to include 16 funding to serve sexually exploited youth through 17 the Safe Harbor Act. 18 This year's budget included 1.5 million, and 19 the city received 622,000. 20 And we're pleased to be working with the 21 New York City Administration for Children Services, 22 to expand street-outreach services, provide summer 23 jobs, for sexually exploited youth, and provide case 24 management, and increase the competency of youth 25 workers who encounter sexually exploited youth. 1 I want to again thank you for the opportunity 2 to testify today. 3 I am joined by Andrew Miller, 4 Assistant Commissioner for External Relations at 5 DYCD, and we'd be happy to answer your questions. 6 SENATOR SMITH: Before we -- 7 Are you making any statement? 8 JEANNE B. MULLGRAV: He will be answering 9 questions with me. 10 SENATOR SMITH: Oh, okay. 11 And before we go to question-and-answer, 12 we're joined by my colleague Senator Sanders. 13 We've afforded members to make an opening 14 statement of some kind. 15 Go ahead, sir. 16 SENATOR SANDERS: I'll speak up. 17 First let me begin by thanking the great 18 Senator Smith for doing this hearing. 19 We needed this desperately. 20 This is a subject that is quickly coming on 21 us, the hiring of our youth during the summer 22 months. 23 I, for one, have felt that New York City, and 24 the State for that matter, was not doing enough; 25 that the budget was insufficient; that we need to do 1 more. 2 I want to thank our great Commissioner and 3 the Assistant Commissioner for being here. 4 I trust that the trip north was not on -- 5 very bad or harsh on you, but I hope that it's 6 rewarding. 7 I hope that you come out of here, not just 8 with knowledge, but with an understanding that state 9 government wants to do more with you. 10 We feel that we are partners with you for the 11 betterment of the entire community. 12 So having said that, I will let this hearing 13 continue. 14 And, again, thank you, Senator Smith. 15 SENATOR SMITH: My pleasure. 16 Any questions, Senator Martin [sic]? 17 SENATOR MARTINS: Sure. 18 The impact of a potential increase in minimum 19 wage to the program I think is pretty clear, but 20 you're asking for additional funding, or, 21 appropriate at least $35 million for the program. 22 How did you arrive at those numbers? 23 JEANNE B. MULLGRAV: We just basically looked 24 at what -- you know, what those slots would cost, 25 and how to back into, you know, the numbers we had 1 previously. 2 SENATOR MARTINS: The typical 3 summer-youth-program participant: 4 How many hours are they participating? 5 How many hours are they being paid for the 6 summer months? 7 What are we talking about? 8 JEANNE B. MULLGRAV: They're generally 9 working about 25 hours. 10 SENATOR MARTINS: A week? 11 JEANNE B. MULLGRAV: A week. 12 And in addition to that, they're getting 13 educational workshops that help support what 14 their -- what their -- the skill building that's 15 happening on the job. 16 SENATOR MARTINS: So they're getting paid for 17 25 hours, or do they also get compensated for the 18 period of time that they're taking lessons? 19 I'm just trying to -- 20 JEANNE B. MULLGRAV: Our younger students -- 21 SENATOR MARTINS: -- the numbers you have 22 here -- 23 JEANNE B. MULLGRAV: Our younger students are 24 not getting compensated for the work readiness, and 25 that's -- because it really is an investment in 1 their overall skill set, and, you know, an 2 educational piece. It's not a work-related piece. 3 SENATOR MARTINS: So out of the 4 30,000 participants, how many of those are in each 5 class? Do you know? 6 Do you have a breakdown? 7 JEANNE B. MULLGRAV: We have that estimation. 8 We have -- in terms of the younger youth, we 9 have a projected enrollment of about 6500; 10 Vulnerable youth, who are young people who 11 might be court-involved, who might be aging out of 12 foster care, who might be coming out of state 13 facilities, we have a projected enrollment of about 14 a thousand; 15 Older youth, that would be 16 to 24, 15,335; 16 And "Ladders for Leaders," which is the 17 unsubsidized jobs program, that's about 400. 18 If you're doing math quickly, you'll realize 19 that that doesn't come to 30,000, and that's 20 because, our contracts, we issued contracts at the 21 amount that we had at the time, which was about 22 23,000. 23 We know that we will be allocating the -- a 24 second wave of about 7,000 slots to these various 25 components of the initiative. 1 SENATOR MARTINS: Thank you, Mr. Chairman. 2 SENATOR SMITH: Any questions? 3 SENATOR SANDERS: Yes. 4 SENATOR SMITH: Senator Sanders. 5 SENATOR SANDERS: Thank you, sir. 6 It does speak well for Mayor Bloomberg and 7 for the City Council, to have increased -- 8 SENATOR SMITH: The City Council, huh? 9 SENATOR SANDERS: Well -- 10 JEANNE B. MULLGRAV: You know something about 11 that. 12 [Laughter.] 13 SENATOR SANDERS: Well, I -- I must admit, as 14 a former City Council member, and a mayoral 15 appointee, in full disclosure, to the -- to the 16 board, I know a little something of these matters, 17 and I personally took great pride in increasing the 18 budget of the City, to support these great 19 activities that we are doing, as we try to prepare 20 for the next generation, as I will try to take great 21 pride in helping the State understand its worthy 22 value. 23 But, as I was not alone then, I am joined by 24 some of the best that the state offers, up here, 25 including Senator Martin [sic], with those very nice 1 cufflinks. 2 So under those conditions, I look forward to 3 making sure that the best that we can do for our 4 youth will be done here. 5 Is there any message that you would like to 6 leave with the State, in terms of why it should 7 increase -- or, do you believe that they should 8 increase YDDP? 9 Let me not assume. 10 JEANNE B. MULLGRAV: Absolutely. 11 I think we have done the work, to make these 12 programs evidence-based, to make them accountable, 13 to make sure that the State, and the City, of 14 course, is getting its bang for the buck. 15 We know, to the extent that these programs 16 help with the social and emotional development of 17 young people, with the academic skill building. 18 And now we are seeing, also, a nexus between 19 employment and academic achievement, which, you 20 know, we used to see these as sort of siloed 21 initiatives. 22 And now we are realizing that what is gleaned 23 over the summer, by having a job, makes that job -- 24 makes school more meaningful when they return in the 25 fall. 1 And I know you'll be looking forward to 2 hearing from the NYU professors who did this work, 3 so that, you know, it's clear that these are 4 beneficial programs. 5 That doesn't also include, you know, the 6 impact that it has for working parents, who can feel 7 secure, knowing that their children are actively 8 engaged and are safe, and, they are more productive 9 on the job. 10 And, of course, you know, the investment, you 11 know, the more you work today, the more you work 12 tomorrow. 13 So, we know that your income is likely to be 14 higher when you have those early work experiences, 15 and that that money gets invested right back in the 16 community. 17 Young people are good at spending. We know 18 that. 19 And guess where they spend it? They spend it 20 right -- you know, right where they live. And 21 that's important. 22 And so, for all of those reasons, and 23 probably more, we believe these programs are a good 24 investment. 25 SENATOR SANDERS: Thank you, Commissioner. 1 Assistant Commissioner Miller, these are 2 worthy goals, but have you -- how would you respond 3 to a person who says that, although these goals are 4 worthy, in a time of economic troubles, we cannot 5 afford them? 6 How would you respond to such a person? 7 ANDREW MILLER: I would say these are the 8 absolute times you should invest in young people, 9 because an investment today -- an investment of a 10 dollar today will glean benefits for that young 11 person, for the City, for many years to come. 12 So, it's a wise investment, it's a small 13 investment, for the benefits that we do ultimately 14 get for the young peoples, and you should do it 15 today. 16 SENATOR SANDERS: Thank you, Mr. Chair. 17 SENATOR SMITH: Thank you. 18 I just have a couple of questions. 19 The "4500" number, is that New York City? 20 JEANNE B. MULLGRAV: That's New York City, 21 Senator, yes. 22 SENATOR SMITH: Okay, good. 23 We have a number close to 10,000 statewide, 24 which we assume would be impacted by -- 25 JEANNE B. MULLGRAV: Makes sense. 1 SENATOR SMITH: Make sure -- I was just 2 checking on my stats, make sure those numbers was 3 right. How did yours say 4500, and mine said -- 4 JEANNE B. MULLGRAV: They're right. 5 SENATOR SMITH: But, right, yours is for the 6 City. 7 Commissioner, has there been another point in 8 time where you had to deal with a similar situation, 9 whereas, the minimum wage was being increased? 10 I know it was increased a few years back. 11 What was that impact on the program, and how 12 did you deal with that? 13 JEANNE B. MULLGRAV: I -- we did -- we did 14 have to deal with it previously. And, 15 unfortunately, I think at that point, we saw 16 reductions. 17 Do you remember what year -- what year, 18 exactly? 19 SENATOR SMITH: We just raised it in 20 two thousand and, I don't know, was it nine? 21 JEANNE B. MULLGRAV: That's what I was 22 thinking it probably was. 23 I think it might have been masked by stimulus 24 monies. 25 That's -- I mean, as I -- I'm trying to think 1 back. 2 And we can certainly get you those details. 3 But I think we probably didn't feel the 4 impact as great. 5 As you may remember, with stimulus support, 6 we were able to have a program that was over 50,000. 7 And we haven't seen those numbers since 8 before the year 2000, and that's -- that coincides 9 with the federal government really abandoning SYEP. 10 SENATOR SMITH: And so, 2009, I think we all 11 agree, was when that increase was there, and it was 12 mitigated by the stimulus money. 13 And I believe that stimulus money was 14 covered, like, a year or two, if I'm not mistaken. 15 So, I'm assuming there's a one-year gap 16 somewhere in there, but are you saying, during that 17 time period, there was no reduction in summer youth, 18 in terms of the numbers that were -- 19 JEANNE B. MULLGRAV: Well, ultimately, when 20 you don't have the additional funding, then you're 21 seeing your numbers drop. 22 I mean, prior to that, we generally had a 23 program that was at about forty to 24 forty-one thousand. 25 As -- you know, as you hear now, we're 1 looking at a program of 30 -- 30,000. 2 That pales next to the interest in the 3 program, which is always about 130,000. 4 So we are saying no to about 100,000 young 5 people every summer. 6 SENATOR SMITH: So if the -- if the amount 7 for summer youth this year is 25 million, correct, 8 and you're saying if you received an additional 9 10 million, that 35 million would allow you to -- 10 with a minimum-wage increase, would allow you to 11 still bring on 30,000 young people? 12 JEANNE B. MULLGRAV: Yes. 13 SENATOR SMITH: Okay, on the -- the number of 14 young people that we're talking about hiring for 15 this year, what is the timetable? 16 And let me frame that a little bit better. 17 We are most likely going to finish our 18 budget, and these are going to be two, kind of, 19 hypothetical what-ifs, and I'm assuming you may 20 have a model too, that you might have used to come 21 to the some conclusion. 22 But let's assume that we do our budget by the 23 22nd, or the 25th, whichever, and, two questions: 24 One, if the minimum wage is in the budget, 25 what is that turnaround time for you if, in fact, 1 those numbers aren't there; 2 And then let's say the minimum wage is not in 3 the budget, and let's say we got to doing the 4 minimum wage sometime in May, or June; 5 Is there a window in which -- because I know 6 you have to make announcements also about your 7 summer-youth slots, and people have to start 8 applying, and what have you. 9 So if -- let's take the worst-case scenario. 10 Let's just say we don't pass the minimum wage 11 until May or June, what does that do to the number 12 of slots? 13 Is that enough time for you to put in place a 14 contingency plan, to say: Oh, okay, we can get 15 those additional youths? 16 Or do we lose that for this year? 17 JEANNE B. MULLGRAV: We have -- because our 18 system is used to contracting and expanding, we have 19 the ability to do it: to do -- to infuse new money 20 very quickly; unfortunately, to contract very 21 quickly. 22 So, you know, we have that capacity. 23 But, again, I'm speaking about, you know, our 24 system in New York City, which tends to be much, 25 much larger than any other jurisdiction we have in 1 the state; and, so, I would think that most other 2 jurisdictions may not have that ability. 3 And so, you know -- I mean, all of us, with 4 more time, there's better planning. 5 I mean, that -- we -- I can't state that 6 enough. 7 But, of course, we're able to absorb 8 resources very quickly. 9 And part of it is, that we have the base 10 contract, which I just gave you those numbers. And 11 then the vendors that we have selected, the CBOs 12 that we're working with, are used to being able to 13 kind of rachet up very quickly. 14 SENATOR SMITH: Just one other question. 15 On the age, 16 to 24, how did we get -- for 16 those that are 24, I'm sure they're still happy to 17 be called "youth," but how -- 18 [Laughter.] 19 JEANNE B. MULLGRAV: I'm trying to fit in 20 myself. 21 SENATOR SMITH: -- how does that -- so just 22 out of curiosity, what was the rationale, the 23 reasoning, for getting to 24, as opposed to, 24 16 to 19, or, 16 to 21. 25 And I don't think it's a bad thing, but I 1 just want to know what was, an understanding -- 2 JEANNE B. MULLGRAV: Sure. 3 In 2009, as a -- when we benefited from 4 stimulus, the terms of that arrangement included 5 going up to 24. 6 There's a real recognition across the country 7 that older and older young people are less able to 8 be self-sufficient, less prepared for the workforce, 9 and, you know, are just spending more time living at 10 home. You know, just getting married later. Those 11 kinds of things. 12 And, so, this was a recognition of helping 13 young people who still weren't able to secure a job 14 on their own. 15 That being said, once the stimulus money 16 disappeared, we stayed with the "24" number, just 17 because of the recession. 18 We had a lot of college students who weren't 19 able to find work. 20 And we also took a look at the numbers, and 21 it's still, at the end of the day, represented a 22 small portion of what we do. 23 So it wasn't, you know, taking away from the 24 bulk of the students who are going to be between, 25 you know, 14 and 18. 1 SENATOR SMITH: Okay, I think I do have just 2 one other final. 3 On the "4500," is there a formula by which, 4 if, for any reason, we didn't have the resources to 5 get you back to the 35 million, and believe me, we 6 are aggressively pursuing trying to make it happen, 7 do we have an idea how that 4500 would be reduced? 8 Is it -- is the formula based for each 9 borough, or is it -- how is that determined? 10 JEANNE B. MULLGRAV: It would be based on the 11 number of slots that they have to begin with, and 12 the percentage of slots that they have vis-a-vis the 13 total. 14 But we still have -- for example, we still 15 have about, as I said, 7,000 -- about -- 16 approximately 7,000 slots to distribute, because we 17 didn't -- we weren't certified for the amount that 18 we have in the bank now, because we have the State 19 money. 20 And, so, what we might do is, instead of 21 giving out 7,000, give 7,000 minus 4500. 22 So -- but we will do it in an equitable way. 23 SENATOR SMITH: Any other follow-up question? 24 SENATOR MARTINS: Sure. 25 You raised a great point, Chairman. 1 How are the slots divided now? 2 I mean, out of the 30,000 slots that you 3 have, or 23,000, or whatever it happens to be -- 4 let's say thirty, is it divided proportionately by 5 population? 6 Is it -- is there some other factor? 7 You know, there are different parts of the 8 city, obviously. 9 How do you address the division of those 10 slots? 11 I mean, how many are going to Staten Island, 12 as opposed to the Bronx or Brooklyn? 13 JEANNE B. MULLGRAV: Well, the Bronx has 14 21.7 percent, Brooklyn has 31.9 percent, 15 Manhattan has 19.7 percent, Queens has 22.1 percent, 16 and Staten Island has 4.6 percent. 17 And that's based on population, and also I 18 think poverty. 19 SENATOR MARTINS: Just one last question. 20 We're discussing, specifically, the 21 Summer Youth Employment Program. 22 If there were an increase in minimum wage, 23 would there be any other impacts to any other 24 programs that you provide, besides the summer youth 25 program? 1 JEANNE B. MULLGRAV: Yes. 2 We have other workforce programs, including 3 the Young Adult Internship Program, that is a 4 longer -- it's modeled on the Summer Youth 5 Employment Program, but is a 12-week internship 6 program for young people who are termed 7 "disconnected," who are not in school and that are 8 not working, and this is -- this happened during the 9 school year. 10 And that program, supported by the Center For 11 Economic Opportunity, would also be impacted. 12 SENATOR MARTINS: Thank you. 13 SENATOR SANDERS: How big would the impact 14 be? 15 Just curious now. 16 Have you done any study to how widespread, 17 how large, the impact would be on the other 18 programs? 19 JEANNE B. MULLGRAV: We certainly can get 20 back to you with that impact. 21 SENATOR SANDERS: Okay. Thank you. 22 Thank you, Mr. Chair. 23 SENATOR SMITH: All right, thank you. 24 Commissioner, let me thank you, and 25 Assistant Commissioner. 1 We appreciate your commitment to the youth of 2 this city. 3 Obviously, you've done a tremendous job from 4 all that I've heard, and from others. 5 Know that we are committed to working with 6 you. 7 We are going to be pushing for an increase in 8 the Summer Youth Employment Program, as well as 9 YDDP. 10 We can't tell you today how that's going to 11 work out, but I know our one-House resolution is 12 coming out. 13 I would ask that you pay close attention to 14 it, and give us the support necessary, should it 15 have the language in there that might be worthwhile 16 to you. 17 But, we appreciate what you have done. 18 I'm sure the youth of the city, and the 19 state, for that matter because, you have been a 20 model across the state, appreciate what you have 21 done. 22 And you as well, Assistant Commissioner. 23 JEANNE B. MULLGRAV: Thank you for your time. 24 Thank you. 25 1 SENATOR SMITH: Jackie Negri, is she here? 2 Jackie Negri is Executive Director of the 3 Association of New York State Youth Bureaus. 4 JACKIE NEGRI: Good morning. 5 SENATOR SMITH: Good morning, how are you? 6 JACKIE NEGRI: Thank you. 7 I have with me today, our lobbyist, 8 Andrea Smith [ph.]. 9 SENATOR SMITH: [Unintelligible] for the 10 record. Just for the record. 11 JACKIE NEGRI: With a "Y." Starts with a 12 "Y," for the record. 13 I'm going focus my remarks today on the 14 Youth Development/Delinquency Prevention Program. 15 The Association of New York State Youth 16 Bureaus represents over 107 youth bureaus statewide. 17 We represent county youth bureaus, as well as 18 municipal youth bureaus in cities, towns, and 19 villages. 20 SENATOR SMITH: I'm sorry. 21 Do you have any copies of your testimony? 22 JACKIE NEGRI: I e-mailed it earlier. 23 ANDREA SMITH: It should be up there. 24 SENATOR SMITH: Well, proceed. 25 JACKIE NEGRI: We serve 1.5 million youths 1 statewide. 2 We're very proud of that number. 3 We have programs at, both, the county, and 4 city, state, and local village level, town level, 5 that run the gamut of youth development and 6 prevention. 7 We have programs and services that allow for 8 youth development, allow for teen-pregnancy 9 prevention, career readiness, after-school programs, 10 high school academic preparedness. We have programs 11 that serve these children who are primarily 12 high-risk youth across the state. 13 Our services are at jeopardy because, over 14 the past six years, we have been cut by over 15 65 percent statewide. 16 The "YDDP" program -- the youth development 17 program, as well as the special delinquency program, 18 detention program -- they have been cut over 19 65 percent, from 38 million about six years ago, to, 20 now, a total combination of 14 million. 21 However, I have to say that the youth bureaus 22 have continued to provide services. 23 The youth bureaus also contract, sometimes 24 it's confusing the way our funding streams run, but 25 we are the ones who hand out the money to the 1 Boys and Girls Clubs, the YMCAs, all of the local 2 non-profits, as well as ourselves having services 3 and programs where the youth can come right to our 4 doorstep. 5 Considering the cuts over the years, it's 6 been very difficult, because programs have been cut. 7 We have allowed for opportunities that have 8 helped in -- our youth, to now be tailored back, and 9 it's a difficult thing when a youth is knocking at 10 the door, and there's no programs, and there's no 11 place for them to go. 12 So over the years, we have thought, we cannot 13 continue with this 50 percent cut, 25 percent cut, 14 et cetera, which the Executive has laid out for us 15 year after year after year. 16 The proposal in the budget combines YDDP and 17 SDPP, and puts it together in a youth development 18 program. 19 We do see some benefits to this, and support 20 it with amendments, because one of the things that 21 we are very concerned about, is that this money gets 22 then pooled into a fund and becomes a slush fund 23 that a county can use to fill in their gaps. 24 And that's not what we're looking for. 25 Nor do we assume that that's what the 1 counties will do, but we want to make sure that 2 there are clear provisions that these monies go to 3 youth bureaus and continue for youth services. 4 So some of our concerns with the language as 5 is, is we want to make sure that the youth-bureau 6 system itself stays intact. 7 This system has been placed for many, many 8 years. 9 And it's actually recognized nationally as 10 one of the best youth-development systems in the 11 country. 12 It allows for local flexibility, it allows 13 for local decision-making, and allows for 14 comprehensive planning. 15 So with that, we'd like to continue to make 16 sure that the funding is streamlined -- now would be 17 streamlined through the county youth bureaus. 18 The way the formula currently works, the 19 county youth bureaus receive the money, and then the 20 municipal youth bureaus -- your cities, towns, and 21 villages -- also get a piece of that funding. 22 We understand the need for streamlining, we 23 understand the need for mandate relief. 24 If it does go through the county, we want to 25 make sure it goes through the youth bureau. 1 And then, for our municipal youth bureaus who 2 have been receiving monies for many years, this is a 3 change for them. 4 And I can't say they're thrilled with the 5 change, but with change, comes opportunity. 6 And with us now, the opportunity is concrete 7 outcome measurements that relay to positive 8 youth-development outcomes. 9 We, as an association, have worked with 10 counties, a pilot of ten statewide, to allow for 11 results-based accountability. 12 We have software programs, that we're working 13 with the counties, so that they can determine where 14 their funding is going, and specifically know what 15 type of positive outcomes are needed in that 16 community, and make sure those outcomes are achieved 17 in order for them to continue to receive the 18 funding. 19 What we're asking, also, is that the 20 municipals continue to have a seat at the table. 21 The way that the language is written, is that 22 municipal youth bureaus now, you could have, for 23 example, a county youth bureau receive the money, 24 the way the new language is written, and maybe not 25 even invite, if it goes through the county, the city 1 or the town to the table. 2 We want to make sure that all of the youth 3 bureaus that are already intact, that their program 4 and services are at least allowed for as part of the 5 comprehensive planning process, understanding they 6 may not get funding, but their needs of those youth 7 that are in small towns and villages across the 8 state should also be addressed. 9 And if they are addressed, they would be able 10 to sit at that table, and even if they're not 11 getting the funding that they have received. 12 In addition, we are hoping that the 13 restorations that you have graciously put in, and 14 led, over the past few years, especially last year, 15 there was a 1.5 restoration that was put in, that 16 you continue to -- I think in your Senate bill, 17 you've hoped -- you've asked for restorations, and 18 we're very thrilled for that. 19 I hope during negotiations that those stay on 20 the table, because this would allow for at least the 21 funding, regardless of the youth program -- 22 development program goes through, and allow for the 23 funding to maintain at last year's levels. 24 And we really don't see how we can receive -- 25 you know, maintain anymore cuts, as we move forward, 1 especially if we're going to put in outcome 2 measures, and start to really sort of beef up our 3 game, as far as measuring what services are going 4 out the door, and how we account for the funding 5 that comes in for those services. 6 ANDREA SMITH: I think that's an important 7 point that Jackie's making, is that, we assume that 8 part of the Senate's willingness to put in a 9 restoration that's even higher than what last year's 10 would have been is related to the fact that the 11 Governor's Office is mandating that there be outcome 12 measurements included in the program, going forward. 13 And we had asked that the Legislature fund 14 that so it wouldn't be an unfunded mandate on the 15 counties and the city, but, yet, there would be some 16 assistance in buying the software, and being able to 17 develop the reporting system. 18 And we do appreciate that the Senate-proposed 19 restoration appears to have addressed that concern. 20 JACKIE NEGRI: Those are, I think, our major 21 concerns related to the YDDP. 22 I'll let Andrea speak a little bit to summer 23 youth employment. 24 The Commissioner gave you the data for 25 downstate, but we represent these bureaus statewide, 1 and they do administer Summer Youth Employment 2 programs. 3 ANDREA SMITH: Full disclosure, for about 4 ten years, I was the lobbyist for The Campaign For 5 Summer Jobs, so I think I know a little bit about 6 this. 7 First of all, I think that the increase in 8 the minimum wage will impact both the employment 9 opportunities for young people within the YDDP 10 program upstate and with the Summer Youth Employment 11 Program. 12 A lot of the YDDP programs that we run for 13 Out-of-School Time during the summer employ young 14 people in upstate counties. 15 And, you know, the Bureau of Labor Statistics 16 map will show that you some of the highest 17 unemployment rate -- youth unemployment rates are in 18 the north country and in small counties in the 19 western part of the state. 20 So we can get you that specific information, 21 but it's the New York State Department of Labor 22 statistics. 23 SENATOR SMITH: The wonders of technology. 24 ANDREA SMITH: Yes, I know. 25 So, you know -- and in response to the 1 question that you asked Commissioner Mullgrav, 2 regarding to the ability upstate to respond quickly, 3 I don't think that the administrative strength of 4 some of the counties and municipal youth bureaus is 5 as nimble as the infrastructure in the city; and so, 6 probably, you know, my best guess, as to what's 7 happened, and what did happen in other years, is 8 that, youth who were notified that they would be 9 employed, would then be notified that they could not 10 be employed; 11 Or, midstream, early in -- you know, at the 12 end of July, they would be told that there was no 13 additional funding to continue the program for the 14 rest of the summer. 15 And, so, our concerns about those types of 16 impacts are significant. 17 Even though the population is a smaller 18 number of youth, you know, just referring to the 19 poverty statistics in upstate communities, these may 20 be the only employment opportunities available to 21 vulnerable youth. 22 And even, you know, upstate youth who are in 23 marginally financially stable families, and there 24 are just not a lot of youth opportunities. 25 And these jobs are very important to the 1 communities, and to the development. 2 The educational awareness of kids who, for 3 the first time, see a workplace, and see the skills 4 that you need, and they can correlate that to the 5 need to try a little bit harder and do well in 6 school, I think, is one of the greatest benefits of 7 the employment aspects of both YDDP and summer youth 8 employment. 9 JACKIE NEGRI: I just want to close by 10 saying, we have the privilege of meeting these kids, 11 and they're such good kids. 12 I mean, you know, when we work -- go 13 statewide, from, going way out west, to Olean, and 14 the Indian reservations, where we see a real-world 15 New York, and then right through to the cities that 16 we work with, these kids are kids that are looking 17 for a place to go. 18 And they've been dealt a card at a very young 19 age, and everyone is dealt a card, but to have that 20 card dealt so young, I think is very difficult. 21 So, your continued support, to allow for the 22 programs and services across the state, to see these 23 kids through, to success, to be ready to work when 24 they get out of high school or college, to be able 25 to graduate from high school, and to be able to stay 1 off of the drugs that are laid out in front of them 2 on a daily basis, is more than appreciated. 3 And it's really great to have -- I feel 4 blessed to have that opportunity to meet, and see 5 these kids through, and hear their success stories 6 afterwards. 7 So we hope that, as we go through this 8 change, which is a major change for the youth-bureau 9 system, as far as funding, that our primary concern 10 is to keep systems in place, so that at the end of 11 the day, it's not -- we're not about keeping jobs in 12 place. 13 And it's difficult. These youth-bureau 14 directors have been along a long time, to say -- 15 they have always said: First, it's not about our 16 jobs, it's not about keeping us solvent. It's about 17 the -- you know, the services for the kids. 18 And that's what we want to make sure that we 19 don't lose during this process. 20 SENATOR SMITH: Thank you. 21 Thank you both for your testimony. 22 Questions? 23 SENATOR MARTINS: Sure. 24 SENATOR SMITH: Senator Martin [sic]. 25 SENATOR MARTINS: Thank you. 1 We're all familiar with the youth programs 2 that are available in our own communities, and, 3 certainly, how important for. 4 More often than not, especially in our 5 communities, there are more socioeconomically 6 disadvantaged. 7 You do have both parents working. You do 8 need to make sure that you have an infrastructure in 9 place that allows the community to buttress, and 10 keep children safe and actively engaged. 11 And I've seen, obviously, the effects of 12 those programs firsthand, and the positive effect of 13 those programs firsthand. 14 As we look at it, you know, statewide, and, 15 certainly, we have focused on, you know, 16 New York City, but we -- as we do look in upstate 17 New York, and in suburban communities around the 18 city, the model has, traditionally, been working 19 through the counties. 20 And, you know, I've seen -- or at least heard 21 some hesitancy in your testimony, that perhaps that 22 model is failing us, or, that you may have concerns 23 with regard to that model, going forward. 24 How would you suggest we approach that? 25 JACKIE NEGRI: I may have misspoke. 1 Going through the counties, we support the 2 youth bureaus going through the counties. 3 We want to make sure it goes through the 4 county youth bureau. 5 And that's where I think the disconnect is. 6 With the language that was put forth, there's 7 repeal of "youth bureau" language that's set within. 8 So we want to make sure -- we want to keep 9 what you have said, that -- that structure intact. 10 So that's what we're concerned about, is to 11 make sure that, through this 12 youth-development-program funding stream, it 13 continues to go through the county, to the county 14 youth bureau, and then have the youth -- 15 specifically, right, and then have the youth bureau 16 be the one, through their comprehensive planning 17 process, to determine what the need is. 18 That would allow for flexibility. 19 We believe the counties have -- they know 20 best what is needed in their county, but, to allow 21 for the towns and the cities and the villages within 22 that county to also be part of that process. 23 So, it's more the youth bureau, I think, that 24 I tried to get across. 25 SENATOR MARTINS: Sure, keep it going through 1 the county, but not a general grant; to make sure 2 that the language is in the appropriations, 3 specifically targeting the monies, through the 4 counties, to their youth bureaus, so the money 5 cannot -- we're not saying it will be -- 6 JACKIE NEGRI: Right. 7 SENATOR MARTINS: -- but so that it cannot be 8 used for some other purpose? 9 JACKIE NEGRI: For some other purpose, 10 exactly. 11 And, also, there's a lot -- in the language, 12 it gives a lot of authority to the Executive for 13 regulation development, et cetera. We know 14 everything has to be redone. 15 We believe that youth bureaus and 16 youth-development stakeholders should have a seat at 17 that table, so that that should be in consultation 18 with the industry, so that those who know best, that 19 are on the ground, doing the programs and services, 20 are able to make sure, when we get words to paper, 21 that it actually does not have a negative effect on 22 the kids that we serve. 23 So we're also asking to have that 24 opportunity, for consultation, to be at the table, 25 to make sure that this -- even though we're doing 1 more of a paper relief than mandate relief, and 2 streamlining of funding, let's not have it impact 3 negatively on the kids that we serve. 4 SENATOR MARTINS: The performance standards 5 that you spoke of, and I don't know if there's a 6 formal rubric that's been developed on that yet, or 7 if the communities are being asked to develop that 8 on their own, which is a bit odd, but, you know, 9 could you share your thoughts with regard to, you 10 know, what kind of metrics do you expect will be 11 used, in terms of developing that rubric, being able 12 to evaluate those performance metrics? 13 And whether or not -- you know, we're dealing 14 with the very large state. 15 There are so many different communities out 16 there. Each community knows specifically how best 17 to address the youth programs in their communities, 18 they know what the dynamics are of those 19 communities. 20 And, certainly, I don't think a 21 one-size-fits-all approach is fair under these 22 circumstances, especially given all the different 23 variables that we face, not only statewide, but, 24 certainly, in each one of our own communities there 25 are variables. 1 How do we measure that and still be 2 consistent? 3 JACKIE NEGRI: We have been working with a 4 group called "Results-Based Accountability," and 5 basing the outcome measures, and the goals that 6 we've put together, on New York State touchtones, 7 which are eight features of positive youth 8 development. 9 Those features include education, 10 citizenship, career readiness, are some examples. 11 So, by allowing for those general 12 New York State touchtones' eight features, which a 13 lot of the offices have encompassed and embraced, 14 then our tool is -- allows for specific outcome 15 measurements based on those general goals. 16 And that's to your point of having it 17 specific to what the county's needs are. 18 So, for example, there may be a goal in there 19 on career readiness, that teams up with the 20 Big Brothers and Big Sisters. 21 And then, for that specific county, and town, 22 they would -- excuse me -- have that included in 23 their goal and their outcomes, and then they would 24 have measurable, attainable results. 25 For example: 1 Percentage of kids who graduate from 2 high school, may be one of the attainable results; 3 Percentage of kids who have maybe their 4 workforce credentialing, and gone through that. 5 They have specific ones tailored to the need. 6 So it's, actually, we can share with you the 7 tool that we've been using. 8 We've had a pilot in ten counties statewide, 9 and it's been very effective. Those who are 10 involved with the youth bureaus are very pleased 11 with the results. 12 And we are pleased, because now we can start 13 to pull statewide, and demonstrate, here, and 14 these -- you know, take a sampling of counties, and 15 say: 16 Here's what the percentage of youth who have 17 graduated through high school have participated in 18 these programs. 19 Here's the percentage of who have 20 career-readiness skills. Or, mentoring skills. 21 So it's -- that's what we've been doing. 22 But your point's is well-taken, it has to be 23 specific to the needs of those individualized 24 counties. 25 ANDREA SMITH: We think that the outcome 1 managers will allow a county with a pocket of kids 2 who are engaging in risky behaviors, would be able 3 to tailor programs and identify risk aversion to, 4 you know, their county's priorities. 5 That's the whole value of having the 6 comprehensive plan, and having the inclusion of all 7 of the existing youth bureaus. 8 Whether or not they're going to be funded, 9 they may have an expertise, that when it comes time 10 to develop the comprehensive plan, you know, a small 11 city municipal youth bureau would be able to be at 12 the -- be with the county, developing the plan, 13 raising that risk population, and being able to make 14 sure that that population gets addressed. 15 That's exactly our goal. 16 SENATOR MARTINS: So if I understand it 17 correctly, there's a baseline, but even in that 18 baseline, there is enough flexibility, so that each 19 county, or each group, can target those areas that 20 are most important, or most in need, for that 21 particular community? 22 JACKIE NEGRI: Uh-huh. And that's the 23 benefits of this proposal, if the amendments are 24 made and it goes through, and the best-case 25 scenario, because then those counties would be 1 allowed to have specific goals, based on need in the 2 county. 3 Right now, there's a sort of an outdated 4 formula, where the monies go to, not only the 5 county, but also the municipals, and there really 6 isn't a standard for accountability. 7 What this does do, is allow for that 8 accountability, based on the outcomes, but, again, 9 keeping it enough flexibility, so that, what's good 10 in the western part of rural New York may not 11 necessarily be the same need in the city of Albany. 12 And we need to make sure that the monies are 13 spent in such a way that they allow for that need. 14 ANDREA SMITH: And we've worked with your 15 staff on developing that language. 16 And we are -- we didn't see ---we didn't see 17 that bill yet, but we're hopeful that the needs will 18 be addressed. 19 And we support Commissioner Mullgrav's 20 concern about poverty being in populate -- 21 population and poverty being some of the 22 distribution-formula considerations. 23 SENATOR MARTINS: Thank you. 24 Thank you, Mr. Chairman. 25 SENATOR SMITH: I mean, Commissioner -- I'm 1 sorry. Senator Sanders. 2 Senator Sanders. 3 SENATOR SANDERS: Well, it sounded good. 4 Thank you. 5 Ms. Negri, you spoke of the need for clear 6 provisions to ensure that money, of course, is not 7 diverted by the counties. 8 Has this happened in days gone by? 9 JACKIE NEGRI: No, but in days -- but in the 10 past, the youth bureau was in statute. And, now, 11 the way that the language is written, it repeals 12 portions of that statute. 13 So we're a little overly cautious, overly 14 concerned, to make sure that the process in which 15 the monies get distributed continue to be the 16 process that has been in place for that many years. 17 Although it will be consolidated and 18 streamlined, and go through the counties and let 19 them make the decisions, which is fine, we just want 20 to make sure we don't lose anything within the 21 language. 22 And I think that's what we -- our intent was 23 in bringing that to your attention. 24 SENATOR SANDERS: While I'm still a 25 Commissioner, I'll stop. 1 SENATOR SMITH: Just one -- I mean, as 2 similar to the increase in minimum wage, which we 3 obviously are working towards, there was very little 4 attention to the unintended consequences of the loss 5 of slots when that happens. 6 You support the YDDP merging. 7 And I just wonder if -- because we're not the 8 experts in this. Obviously, you guys live this 9 every single day. 10 Has there been any analysis on your part, on 11 any unintended consequences that we might have not 12 thought about? -- that, next year, you don't come 13 back to us, or we don't have a discussion, saying: 14 Well, you know what? Now we've got to 15 separate the two; 16 Or, it's not working. 17 Or -- and not to say that you can't 18 anticipate everything, but, when you heard of the 19 merger, and then, obviously, did the analysis, and 20 looked at it, is there any window of unintended 21 consequence that you may have saw, that we can try 22 to make sure that we take into consideration now, so 23 that we don't do, typically, what government does, 24 which is, have to go back and fix it again, and 25 spend more money, when we could have just taken a 1 little time to be smarter, and do it all at one 2 time? 3 JACKIE NEGRI: We did mention the possible 4 need of a sunset date, to make that we have 5 thoroughly had the opportunity to analyze this, and 6 make sure it's working, because it would be new for 7 a system that's been around for -- 8 SENATOR SMITH: A long time. 9 JACKIE NEGRI: -- for many, many years, yeah. 10 So we did have conversations with your staff, 11 and to that regards. And I think that may be a 12 benefit to this whole process, because it's hard to 13 anticipate -- you know, anticipate everything. 14 And everyone wants the same thing: they want 15 the programs and services for those kids to not be 16 interrupted. 17 SENATOR SMITH: So just, if I may, when -- as 18 you are going through your morphing, so to speak, if 19 all occurs as we asked, if you would keep us 20 informed, obviously, how it is working. 21 One thing I will say, that we've managed to 22 become pretty nimble in our operations, in our 23 ability to shift, given the current fiscal climate 24 that we're in. 25 And we have to be nimble enough to shift, so 1 that we don't lose too much, going forward, and get 2 locked into losing it. 3 If there's something that you see is not 4 working, or ends up having a negative impact on the 5 youth and its programming and/or the fiscal side of 6 it, I would only ask that you let us know as quickly 7 as you believe you have all of the necessary 8 foundations and evidence to back up what it is that 9 you're recommending. 10 JACKIE NEGRI: We appreciate that openness, 11 and we certainly will continue to, you know, keep 12 you informed. 13 And, again, thank you for your ongoing 14 support. 15 SENATOR SMITH: Any follow-up questions? 16 SENATOR MARTINS: No. 17 Thank you. 18 SENATOR SMITH: All right. Thank you very 19 much. 20 Dr. Nora Eichner. 21 DR. NORA NIEDZIELSKI-EICHNER: Thank you. 22 All right, so, thank you so much for inviting 23 us here today, and for holding this hearing. 24 I think these are some incredibly important 25 changes in some of these funding streams, that's 1 really wonderful to have the opportunity to address. 2 So, I'm Nora Niedzielski-Eichner, with the 3 New York State Afterschool Network, and we represent 4 providers across the state who work on serving 5 students through after-school and summer 6 programming, both, who receive state funds, and who 7 don't. 8 But, we spend a particular amount of time 9 thinking very thoughtfully, to the extent that we 10 are able to, about the State funding streams. 11 So, we are partnered with the Association for 12 the New York State Youth Bureaus. 13 We're very lucky that they participate with 14 us as well. 15 So, I don't want to duplicate Jackie's 16 testimony, but I do want to highlight a few points, 17 and then talk a little bit about how some of these 18 funding streams, and these potential changes, impact 19 the broader after-school community. 20 So I did really want to reemphasize, along 21 with Jackie, that we think it's very important that 22 the youth bureaus remain in existence, remain an 23 important part of this process. 24 We certainly understand the need for county 25 flexibility, but they have been in existence for a 1 very long time, and do tremendous work across the 2 state, and it's crucial that this funding really be 3 directed to organizations that have substantial 4 youth-development experience. 5 It's not in any way to cast aspersions on the 6 counties or to doubt the best interests of those 7 there, but we all know that expertise is something 8 that is built up over time. And particularly when 9 you're talking about some of the most vulnerable 10 populations in the state, it's really crucial that 11 decisions stay housed with those who have a lot of 12 vested interest in youth development. 13 Along those same lines, we also really want 14 to reiterate the incredible importance that the 15 counties include the cities, towns, and villages in 16 these conversations. There are a number of city and 17 village youth bureaus across the state who have done 18 tremendous work over the years. 19 They are very invested in their students. 20 They know a great deal about the micro-differences 21 between what's happening in Glen Cove and what's 22 happening in Hempsted. 23 And those things really matter enormously 24 when you're trying to plan a program that is 25 intended to reach a wide range of youth at the sort 1 of lowest possible cost for the maximum output. 2 So, we really are hopeful that that language 3 will recognize that the comprehensive planning 4 process does need to include those local voices. 5 We also really want to reiterate the 6 importance of public process and public transparency 7 on the distribution formula for these funds. 8 We recognize again, that as this is a new 9 funding stream with this consolidation, that it's 10 going to take some time for decisions to be made, 11 but it's really important that this conversation 12 involve those who are familiar with the 13 on-the-ground situation, who know the ins and outs. 14 You know, this has always been a funding 15 stream that has had some -- because of the running 16 on a different cycle than the fiscal year, and other 17 things like that, it sounds simple in explanation, 18 but the practical on-the-ground realities can be 19 very complex, and having folks who have nuanced 20 experience with the implementing that will be very 21 important. 22 We also want to reiterate, the value of the 23 1.28 million addition that the youth bureaus are 24 requesting, because these programs have been hit so 25 hard over the last few years, every penny counts. 1 When I talk to programs that we work with 2 across the state, they often aren't getting, you 3 know, dollars from their youth-bureau programs that 4 are, you know, $5,000 here, $10,000 there, sometimes 5 only a couple of thousand, and they really do need 6 those funds. They use them for things that they 7 can't otherwise do. 8 So every penny that can be squeezed out 9 really will be acknowledge and valued. 10 We also really want to follow up on Jackie's 11 points about outcomes. 12 We have a tremendous opportunity here, to 13 take a lead in the nation, and really thinking about 14 how you track youth outcomes in a way that engages 15 with the complexity of what youth need. 16 It doesn't reduce their experiences to one or 17 two factors, to test scores here, or, you know, an 18 employment placement there, but really look at the 19 range of things that really do impact their ability 20 to grow into productive citizens. 21 So the work that the youth bureaus have done 22 on these outcomes has been very impressive so far, 23 and has, I think, a tremendous value in allowing it 24 to be carried forward, again, in a way that there 25 is -- there are resources for full implementation. 1 This is not necessarily easy work, and we 2 certainly want the work to be done in a way that 3 helps programs grow, that is focused on quality that 4 is not punitive, that is really geared towards 5 seeing where and how we can grow the best system 6 possible. 7 And to do that effectively, we're going to 8 need good data, and good data takes some time, and 9 it takes computer systems, and it takes some 10 resources. 11 So it is, I think, really wonderful that this 12 Committee is thinking strategically about what it's 13 going to take to have a system like that across the 14 state. 15 And it's one that, quite frankly, we are 16 looking at how those kinds of outcomes measures can 17 be used in other after-school and summer programs in 18 the state. And I think there's a chance here to 19 have a model that can be helpful elsewhere as well. 20 We always, again, try very hard to maximize 21 State dollars, so if we can duplicate, it's always a 22 great opportunity. 23 Finally, though, one thing that I wanted to 24 emphasize, that I think builds on what Jackie said, 25 but perhaps goes a little farther, YDDP has always 1 been a program that, although it serves primarily 2 youth who are at risk in some form or another, or 3 have some form of need, has been geared fairly 4 broadly within the community. 5 SDPP has been a little more focused on youth 6 who are at risk for juvenile delinquency. 7 We really hope that as the YDD -- YDP, the 8 new program, grows, that the focus remains broad. 9 It's very important that the youth bureaus be 10 able to serve all the children in the community who 11 feel a need for their services, without there 12 necessarily having already been sort of a 13 pre-identification in some way of them being at risk 14 for delinquency. 15 It is, quite frankly, always hard to know 16 what students might need; that turning point here or 17 there, that safe space that keeps them from going in 18 one direction, or that mentoring voice that's going 19 to intervene when things start to go south. 20 And so, as, I think, part of our sense of 21 needing to keep this within the youth-bureau system, 22 as opposed to more a general placement, is it also 23 helps ensure that these funds are not going to get 24 diverted to something that's more in the juvenile 25 justice kind of area. 1 Not because those funds don't need, 2 absolutely, a reinforcement, and we are certainly 3 interested in and -- in conversations about how we 4 can support prevention efforts in that area, but 5 this really does serve a very particular niche that 6 is not duplicated by any other funding stream in the 7 state, particularly in the summertime, having a 8 place to go when school is not in session. 9 You know, any child can be an at-risk child 10 if they are home alone for nine hours a day. 11 And, so, we need to really focus on what this 12 funding stream does that no other funding stream 13 offers. 14 The second area that you had asked us to 15 speak about is summer youth employment, and I want 16 to speak there about two incredibly valuable things 17 about this program. 18 The first is, obviously, what it does for the 19 youth who are employed. 20 It is a tremendous opportunity to have that 21 first job, to get into the workforce, to have that 22 moment of, sort of, pride in what you can 23 accomplish. 24 That sense of, being able to be helpful to 25 someone else that really is, I think, what keeps 1 many of us working at the end of the day. 2 But, the other really core part of this 3 program, is that so many of these placements are in 4 summer programs for younger children. 5 In New York City, about 50 percent of the 6 placements serve in summer camps. 7 We believe that the number is approximately 8 the same in the rest of the state. 9 That means that these students are able to -- 10 by being in those programs, are able to allow 11 younger children to attend as well. 12 Students who are over the age of 16 count in 13 the staffing ratios for the summer programs. 14 And, so, what you will often see is a senior 15 staff member who may be a TS-certified teacher 16 who's, you know, looking for summer employment, or, 17 an experienced community educator, and they'll be 18 paired with a junior staff member and SYEP student. 19 So that allows them to serve, perhaps, you 20 know, 15, perhaps 20, perhaps 25 kids, depending on 21 the age of the students; whereas, that senior 22 teacher alone would only be able to serve 10. 23 So, we are very concerned that if there is a 24 loss of a number of SYEP slots, we are going to see 25 a corresponding decrease in the number of younger 1 children that can be served. 2 You know, and this unfortunately goes, in 3 general, for the minimum wage, to a certain extent. 4 Many of these programs, even if they're not 5 getting SYEP dollars, hire youth in the, you know, 6 18 -- 16, 17, 18, 20 bracket, at minimum wage. 7 And that's part of how they fund or are able 8 to sustain summer programs that serve a lot of kids. 9 Again, with not in any way to raise concerns 10 about the minimum wage increase, we deeply believe 11 in it. We know how crucial it is for the students 12 and for the families that we're serving, but it is 13 something that we're very glad that you're raising, 14 and really thinking through the consequences of, 15 because we don't want to see a loss in the number of 16 students who are getting summer programming at that 17 younger age. 18 We have already seen, as, you know, everyone 19 before me has testified, and everyone after me will, 20 huge cuts in these program over the last few years, 21 regardless. 22 And so, everything that we can do to keep the 23 number of students served, we would be very grateful 24 for that. 25 So, I'm happy to answer questions if there's 1 other things that I can touch on. 2 Thank you. 3 SENATOR SMITH: Senator Sanders? 4 SENATOR SANDERS: We're speaking about 5 after-school youth and SYEP. 6 What evaluations have we come up with so far 7 to speak of the effectiveness of all of these 8 programs? 9 DR. NORA NIEDZIELSKI-EICHNER: Uh-huh. I -- 10 offhand, I would think Jackie would probably have 11 better data on the evaluations of SYEP, but I can 12 tell you that after-school programming has gone 13 through substantial and rigorous evaluations. 14 The OST program, which is funded in part 15 through YDDP dollars, has had an evaluation every 16 year, that has demonstrated effectiveness in 17 engaging students academically, but also socially 18 and emotionally. 19 We actually, just recently, had a massive, 20 they're calling it "the compendium," but it's, 21 basically, sort of a compilation of three decades 22 worth of research on after-school. 23 And what has become very clear through that 24 work, is that after-school programs consistently 25 increase engagement from students in the school day, 1 which translates into long-term increases in their 2 likelihood of graduating from high school. 3 It also produces the kind of social and 4 emotional skills that are getting an increasing 5 amount of study, because economists have found that 6 they actually are as predictive of life's success as 7 academics. 8 So things like grit, persistence, resilience, 9 the ability to bounce back from failure, these are 10 all things that are really heavily nurtured by 11 after-school programs. 12 And so we see, particularly in student 13 populations where they may have been experiencing a 14 lot of failure in school, the opportunity to have 15 what they call "supported failure" in after-school, 16 where you learn how to try something, and try again 17 when it doesn't work right, that is created by 18 having this sort of low -- smaller student-staff 19 ratios than mentoring, actually can help students 20 then translate that into academic success, as they 21 build confidence and feel more comfortable, both 22 asking for help, and trying again when something 23 doesn't work well for them. 24 SENATOR SANDERS: I also share your view that 25 the funding -- or this particular funding, should be 1 a general funding, and let each area use it as they 2 see fit in their area. 3 Would you mind facilitating that the Chair 4 gets a copy of the compendium that you speak of? 5 DR. NORA NIEDZIELSKI-EICHNER: Yes, 6 absolutely. Be happy to share. 7 SENATOR SMITH: Thank you. 8 DR. NORA NIEDZIELSKI-EICHNER: Absolutely. 9 SENATOR SANDERS: Thank you, Mr. Chair. 10 SENATOR SMITH: Thank you. 11 Just one question. 12 Any analysis on the impact on -- the minimum 13 wage on the after-school? 14 DR. NORA NIEDZIELSKI-EICHNER: I -- you know, 15 I -- so, in relation to this hearing, I've started 16 asking some questions, to kind of -- to get a sense. 17 And there -- part of it, is that it's going 18 to vary quite a bit. 19 So, the more academically focused programs, 20 Advantage After School, and 21 Extended School Day/School Violence Prevention, 22 those programs tend to hire a larger percentage of 23 certified teachers, and other folks, college 24 students, who are going to be getting a slightly 25 higher wage. 1 I do think that there are going to be 2 repercussions, actually, with the college students 3 who are hired off in -- as academic tutors, because, 4 as the minimum wage rises, they're going to want to 5 increase that gap, I suspect, between the minimum 6 wage and what they're paying the college students. 7 But then we do also have a lot of 8 after-school programs that do hire, again, as junior 9 staff. In fact, actually, some of them that 10 deliberately do it as a youth-development approach; 11 so much like SYEP, but sort of as an internal 12 decision. 13 There's a program in Hudson, for instance, 14 that has made a really fantastic training program. 15 So their students do K-8 and the after-school 16 program, they do ninth grade in a year-long training 17 program, on how to work with younger students, and 18 they get hired once they hit 16, and that would be 19 at minimum wage. 20 So a program like that is absolutely going to 21 see increased costs, and I'm trying to get a sense 22 from folks of what they think those are likely to 23 be. 24 But at this point, I just have not -- because 25 it's going to vary so much from program to program, 1 we haven't compiled sort of an overall assessment, 2 but we are definitely working on it, and I will 3 certainly share. 4 SENATOR SMITH: Okay, yes, just as 5 Senator Sanders, our ranking member on the 6 Committee, has asked, if you could also provide us 7 with that information, that would be helpful for 8 us -- 9 DR. NORA NIEDZIELSKI-EICHNER: Be very happy 10 to. 11 SENATOR SMITH: -- going forward, as we go 12 through our quick deliberation around the budget -- 13 DR. NORA NIEDZIELSKI-EICHNER: Yes. 14 SENATOR SMITH: -- and while we're 15 negotiating. 16 DR. NORA NIEDZIELSKI-EICHNER: Absolutely. 17 SENATOR SANDERS: You spoke of an innovative 18 program in Buffalo called the "CATS Program," where 19 students go to school in the morning, and work in 20 the afternoon, and earn college credit. 21 DR. NORA NIEDZIELSKI-EICHNER: High school 22 credit. 23 SENATOR SANDERS: High school. 24 I stand corrected. 25 DR. NORA NIEDZIELSKI-EICHNER: Yeah, 1 high school credit. 2 SENATOR SANDERS: I'm jumping the gun. 3 DR. NORA NIEDZIELSKI-EICHNER: No worries. 4 We wish they were able to get college credit. 5 SENATOR SANDERS: Well, cats have nine lives. 6 Let's see what we can do here. 7 DR. NORA NIEDZIELSKI-EICHNER: Absolutely. 8 SENATOR SANDERS: Have we tried to use this 9 program any other place? 10 DR. NORA NIEDZIELSKI-EICHNER: It's so 11 interesting you should mention that. 12 So, I actually just made a connection this 13 morning to a program on Long Island that's 14 interested in duplicating this. 15 So, CATS is actually, I think, a really great 16 example, to be honest, of why State funding is so 17 important. 18 CATS received some federal funding, but they 19 also receive ESDs, SVP (School Violence Prevention), 20 money, and they have built over the last 8 years, 21 basically, a variety of programs targeted to 22 different needs. 23 So CATS is actually a mental-health provider, 24 but they recognize that after-school was a need that 25 they were seeing in their community. 1 And, so, this SYEP program grew very much of 2 that. 3 They were seeing high school students who 4 needed assistance in having enough credits to 5 graduate, but also needed assistance in work 6 placement. 7 And they run all these summer program for 8 younger students, so they were needing assistance 9 with workers. 10 So, it sort of was one of those perfect 11 synergies. They took their high school program and 12 melded it to the SYEP, and figured out how to get 13 high school credit through a principal who is really 14 engaged in trying to serve students who were in need 15 of credit recovery. 16 So, we are very much sharing that model and 17 looking for other folks who want to replicate. 18 It does take additional dollars. 19 It does not -- and SYEP -- the SYEP money 20 goes to fund the students, but the money that runs 21 that summer -- that morning program is actually 22 separate funding that CATS has acquired. 23 SENATOR SANDERS: Put me in the ballpark, 24 what does "additional dollars" mean? 25 DR. NORA NIEDZIELSKI-EICHNER: It probably 1 runs them in the neighborhood of 50,000, maybe more, 2 depending, because they have to have certified 3 teachers to be able to get credit recovery for it. 4 So, you're talking about staffing a program 5 staff, and then also hiring certified teachers, and 6 using the school-building space. 7 And then, also, the coordination, because 8 they can't place all of the SYEP students in their 9 own programs, so they share them with other summer 10 programs in the area, but they have to do the 11 coordination on that. 12 SENATOR SANDERS: I would say, gambling man, 13 I'd wager that Kevin Alexander, back in the crowd, 14 is going to want to get information from you about 15 this CATS program. 16 DR. NORA NIEDZIELSKI-EICHNER: I will 17 definitely be more than happy to speak with him. 18 Like I said, we are -- one of the things that 19 NYSAN really does our best to do, is share models as 20 we find innovative programs, and try to get them 21 out. 22 So, I'm hoping that Glen Cove, Long Island, 23 is going to have one of these programs very shortly 24 as well. 25 SENATOR SANDERS: Great place, they should 1 have it. And I can think of one of two other 2 places. 3 DR. NORA NIEDZIELSKI-EICHNER: And you can; 4 so, absolutely. 5 And anytime you want to talk about the 6 funding streams that might help bring that 7 statewide, we'd be more than happy to talk about 8 that. 9 SENATOR SANDERS: I look forward. 10 Thank you, Mr. Chair. 11 SENATOR SMITH: Thank you, Senator. 12 Thank you, Ms. Eichner. 13 DR. NORA NIEDZIELSKI-EICHNER: Thank you. 14 SENATOR SMITH: Kevin Alexander, 15 Rockaway Development Revitalization Corporation. 16 I see you all shook hands already, huh? 17 KEVIN ALEXANDER: Absolutely. 18 Good morning, Chairman Smith, and 19 Senator Sanders. 20 My name is Kevin Alexander, and I am the 21 president and CEO of Rockaway Development & 22 Revitalization Corporation, located in Far Rockaway, 23 Queens. 24 My perspective is going to be a little 25 different because we are a local organization, so we 1 look specifically at Far Rockaway and the 2 surrounding area. 3 And what I'd like to do, basically, is try 4 and shape the conversation into, sort of, how summer 5 youth connects into the broader issue of community, 6 commercial, and economic development. 7 A couple of things that we've done over the 8 years to integrate the SYEP program into the broader 9 context of community development, is looking at a 10 number of the programs that we've been really 11 fortunate to sponsor, such as the Empire Zone 12 Program, where RDRC was the administrator for over 13 15 years. 14 It created incentive programs to attract 15 businesses into The Rockaways, to strengthen local 16 businesses through tax abatements and incentives, 17 and it was a great way of just strengthening the 18 local economy, by working with business owners, 19 including even the highly successful Auburn Urban 20 Renewal Plan, which -- and also attracting hundreds 21 of businesses over the life of that program into 22 The Rockaways, which also translated into temporary 23 and permanent jobs. 24 A lot of this also was supported 25 by Senator Malcolm Smith; then-Councilman, and 1 now-Senator, James Smith; 2 Assemblywoman Michele Titus; and others. 3 Focus on small business, entrepreneurship, 4 and the most -- and the most precious resource we 5 have, its people. 6 This included: Assisting small businesses 7 with business planning, loan packaging, marketing, 8 organizing elections associations to proactively 9 address issues such as safety, sanitation, and 10 district marketing; 11 Assisting homeowners with our first-time 12 home-buyer and foreclosure counseling; 13 Providing innovative youth programs focused 14 on college and career exploration and work 15 experience; 16 And, finally, creating an innovative 17 commercial -- innovative commericial revitalization 18 plans, to attract business and consumer spending 19 into our shopping areas. 20 However, our most sizable impact has been the 21 over 10,000 youth and young adults that we have 22 impacted over 20 years through our Summer Youth 23 Employment Program. 24 Now, for purposes of the remainder of my 25 testimony, I'm going to focus on how -- one of the 1 ways in which RDRC has been able to transform the 2 SYEP program, which is normally perceived as just a 3 social program, into our biggest economic, what I 4 "call game-changer," to over 125 to 150 small 5 businesses, local daycare centers, summer camps, 6 hospitals, medical centers, and nursing homes 7 located throughout The Rockaways. 8 The SYEP program enables small businesses, 9 that rely on seasonal spikes and visitors to our 10 beach, bay, board walks, concessions, parks, and 11 natural beauty, to hire up for the summer months 12 that they could not otherwise afford to do on their 13 own. 14 Our summer youth program provides, on 15 average, 600 deserving youth with the opportunity to 16 earn a paycheck while they learn valuable lessons 17 about work that includes customer service, how to 18 follow directions, punctuality, courtesy, respect, 19 and proper attire in the workplace. 20 The majority of our work-sites sponsors 21 include local businesses who annually embrace the 22 opportunity to interact with our local youth, and 23 increase their sales and services workforce, in time 24 for the seasonal spikes of beach-goers, 25 day-trippers, and explorers into The Rockaways 1 again. 2 In addition, SYEP provides each selected 3 participant the ability to work up to 25 hours per 4 week, for 7 weeks, at 7.25 per hour. 5 Aggregately, this equates into $760,000 of 6 additional wages that has multiplier effect on our 7 local economy that includes (1) the opportunity to 8 introduce 600 youth to the world at work, 9 (2) the 125-plus participating businesses benefiting 10 from increased productivity, (3) the 5 to 7 seasonal 11 employees RDRC hires to monitor the 125 work sites, 12 and 600 youth, and (4) the reinvestment of $760,000 13 in earned income by our participants who shop 14 locally. 15 Now, why this seems impressive, it's clearly 16 not enough, when you consider that three out of 17 every four of our applicants are rejected due to the 18 lack of funding. 19 We just simply have no choice but to turn 20 away three times the number of applicants that we 21 can enroll into SYEP. 22 In addition to providing our SYEP 23 participants with job-readiness training, RDRC has 24 increased its efforts to provide financial-education 25 workshops, and information focused on budgeting, 1 understanding credit, the difference between banks 2 and financial centers, a.k.a. check-cashing 3 businesses; 4 Second, the SYEP enables us to develop a 5 longer-term relationship with many of our youth, 6 especially high school juniors and seniors who are 7 interested in enrolling in our highly competitive 8 in-school youth program that consistently places 9 over 90 percent of the 40 participants into college, 10 and has also produced, recently, several 11 valedictorians and salutatorians as well. 12 We believe that the SYEP does indeed have a 13 measurable impact on the youth and young adults that 14 have graced us. 15 I hope that you can appreciate even more our 16 sense of urgency to rebuild, restore, and rejuvenate 17 our community and local economy post "Sandy." 18 With over 350 of the 1,000 businesses 19 severely damage or destroyed by flooding, fire, 20 wind, power outages, and other challenges, including 21 the lack of financial resources, insurance gaps, and 22 loss of their consumer base, our business owners are 23 in no position to hire for the upcoming summer. 24 I have been on record stating that 25 The Rockaways could lose up to 50 percent of its 1 small businesses, which would have a significant 2 impact on taxes, including property, sales, and 3 employment; increase local employment rate in areas 4 that are already grappling with an over 15 percent 5 unemployment rate prior to "Sandy." 6 Now, my comments on the proposed minimum-wage 7 increase, definitely in favor, but not at the 8 expense of losing existing slots for SYEP or any 9 other youth program. 10 So that's the dilemma right now. 11 So, at a time where we know that less 12 businesses that voluntarily will opt out of the SYEP 13 to pay for that summer youth, that youth worker, to 14 come in, are not going to have the resources. 15 So it's, again, going to have a multiplier 16 effect in areas that have been really devastated by 17 "Sandy." 18 And that's a growing concern for us: What do 19 we do with the number of youth that we have in 20 The Rockaways that just don't get selected through a 21 lottery system, that want to work and be productive? 22 Those are my comments. 23 Thank you. 24 25 1 SENATOR SMITH: Senator Sanders, Ranking 2 Member of this Social Services Committee. 3 SENATOR SANDERS: Thank you, sir. 4 Thank you. 5 Explain this "lottery." 6 We've been hearing this quite often today. 7 Why don't you explain, for the record, how 8 does -- what is this "lottery," and how does it take 9 place? 10 KEVIN ALEXANDER: Well, the City of New York 11 has contracted out to a private company, and the 12 lottery is done, basically, electronically. 13 So, the agencies always are -- we're 14 encouraged not to -- we encourage to have applicants 15 apply online. Register online. 16 Unfortunately, in the areas like 17 The Rockaways, there are, a lot of our families and 18 homeowners and renters don't have computers, or 19 computers with Internet access, in the home. 20 So, we probably produce about 21 1,500 applications a year that are completed. 22 We then submit those back to this entity, and 23 they, basically, run the lottery. 24 So it's not really control -- it is not 25 controlled through the City or through the 1 organization, such as RDRC. It's done by a third 2 party. 3 And they do several runs, probably within a 4 month, based on the number of slots that you have. 5 So the challenge that we have, for instance, 6 and the Commissioner talked about it, I think, 7 briefly, when, Senator Smith, you asked the 8 question: How nimble can you be when the slots are 9 going up and down? 10 For a small organization that has a unit, a 11 summer youth program of three persons, it's very 12 difficult to sort of be that nimble, because there 13 are a lot of things that you have do 14 administratively. 15 So if we start with 300 slots, and all of a 16 sudden, we get a call, saying, "Go to 400," it has a 17 real -- it's a real challenge for a small 18 organization to move that nimbly. 19 So, the more advanced planning that we have, 20 knowing the number of slots that we have, of course, 21 we will never turn anything away, but it just means, 22 it becomes a challenge. 23 So, Senator, it's a third-party entity that's 24 been created, to take the data, do the applications, 25 and run the lottery. 1 SENATOR SANDERS: You also spoke of a 2 multiplier effect, the "$760,000." 3 If you could explains the "multiplier effect" 4 a little bit more to us? 5 KEVIN ALEXANDER: Sure. 6 Well, what we did was, we looked at the 7 number of slots that we presently have, at 600; and 8 we look at the number of weeks, 7; the number of 9 hours, 25; and the current minimum wage. 10 And, so, we come up with that gross number of 11 "$760,000," being that they are tax exempt, or don't 12 pay employee taxes. 13 Roughly, probably about 7.25 goes into their 14 pockets. 15 This, in turn, enables them to purchase a lot 16 of the things that they need for the upcoming school 17 year. 18 A lot of our participants shop locally 19 because we're on a peninsula, so they do a lot of 20 their shopping there. 21 So that means that, they're earning an 22 income, working in The Rockaways, primarily. 23 When they get paid, we want them to make 24 smart decisions, but then they're reinvesting back 25 in the local economy; so, the businesses also 1 benefit from that. 2 The second thing, is that the businesses are 3 not paying for this if they agree to become a 4 work-site sponsor. 5 So, they're able to staff up, or "employ up," 6 as I call it, without necessarily taking on the 7 burden of the additional -- paying the additional 8 employer wages. 9 So, they get the benefits of that as well. 10 They also get the benefit, and this is 11 probably the most important thing I see when you 12 talk about commercial revitalization, is getting 13 your merchants and business owners to understand 14 that that youth is a -- not just a resident, but 15 they're a consumer. 16 And they have to connect to that consumer 17 base, because, unfortunately, most of our youth 18 usually spend always not the wisest of ways, but 19 they spend. 20 So, that's a base for them as well. 21 And, so, that's the "multiplier effect" that 22 we take a look at. 23 SENATOR SANDERS: To underline your point, 24 sir, in Keynesian economics, one of the best ways of 25 stimulating an economy, is to give money to poor 1 people, because they are going to invest it in their 2 everyday needs, and not into luxury yachts, and 3 things of this nature. 4 Thank you very much. 5 Thank you, Mr. Chair. 6 KEVIN ALEXANDER: Thank you, sir. 7 SENATOR SMITH: Just one question. 8 KEVIN ALEXANDER: Sure. 9 SENATOR SMITH: And thank you for traveling 10 all the way from The Rockaways, up here. 11 KEVIN ALEXANDER: You're welcome. 12 SENATOR SMITH: It underscores -- 13 SENATOR SANDERS: On -- by his yacht. 14 SENATOR SMITH: By his yacht? 15 You never told me you had a yacht. 16 KEVIN ALEXANDER: I'm going to go look for it 17 now. 18 [Laughter.] 19 SENATOR SMITH: It honestly underscores the 20 significance of it. 21 Just one question. 22 You, on average, have 600 slots. 23 KEVIN ALEXANDER: Yes. 24 SENATOR SMITH: Did you do any analysis on 25 the impact of, if the minimum wage goes from 7.25 to 1 8.75, or 9, does that turn your slots into half? 2 And if so, what would that number, or that 3 multiplier effect that Senator Sanders talked about, 4 be? 5 I mean, does it cut it in half, or a third? 6 Just -- 7 KEVIN ALEXANDER: We're at 600 now. 8 We probably would be at about 450. 9 Looking at, I think, Queens, overall, gets 10 about 6,000 slots; or, 22 percent of the 30,000. 11 So, roughly, we can lose up to about 12 150 slots. 13 SENATOR SANDERS: In Queens? 14 KEVIN ALEXANDER: Well, in The Rockaways. 15 In Queens, oh, gosh, we would probably go, 16 honestly, from 6,000, or 6,200, down to, maybe, 17 about, 4,500? 18 If I know the formula correctly, in terms of 19 what the Commissioner said, 22 percent. 20 SENATOR SMITH: So just one question, because 21 you made an interesting comment in your opening 22 statement: That you support the minimum wage, but 23 not at the expense of losing slots. 24 So my question is: If we could not 25 compensate for the loss in slots this time around, 1 in terms of the budget, where they're talking about, 2 I think, 19 -- 12 to 19 million, that would keep 3 them at 35 -- 35 million or so, and that wouldn't 4 have to lose any slots, would you say that we should 5 not increase the minimum wage, and -- so we can 6 maintain all of the slots that we have? 7 Or -- 8 KEVIN ALEXANDER: Yes. 9 SENATOR SMITH: Okay. 10 KEVIN ALEXANDER: Yes. 11 SENATOR SMITH: Okay. 12 SENATOR SANDERS: Just to chime in -- 13 SENATOR SMITH: Yeah, sure. 14 SENATOR SANDERS: One proposal, which I do 15 not agree with, but one proposal was said to have a 16 training wage, an entry-level minimum wage, which 17 might deal with your issue a little bit better. 18 I don't agree with it much. 19 KEVIN ALEXANDER: Okay. Thank you. 20 SENATOR SMITH: Okay, thank you. 21 KEVIN ALEXANDER: You're welcome, sir. 22 SENATOR SMITH: Thank you. 23 Kevin Douglas, United Neighborhood Housing 24 Services of New York [sic]. 25 And then our final speaker will be 1 Dr. Amy Ellen Schwartz. 2 Is Dr. Amy Ellen Schwartz here? 3 No? 4 Okay. 5 Well, maybe you might be the final speaker. 6 KEVIN DOUGLAS: That means I get all the time 7 that's left. 8 SENATOR SMITH: Okay. 9 KEVIN DOUGLAS: Well, good morning. 10 SENATOR SMITH: Good morning. 11 KEVIN DOUGLAS: Thank you for having me here. 12 My name is Kevin Douglas. I'm a policy 13 analyst with United Neighborhood Houses of New York. 14 We're the non-profit association of 15 38 settlement houses throughout New York City, 16 4 neighborhood centers. 17 We do everything from cradle to grave, so to 18 speak: early childhood education, after-school, 19 workforce development, [unintelligible] literacy, to 20 senior-citizen services -- the whole gamut. 21 And they really attempt to bring those 22 together to serve families as a whole. 23 Collectively, our network serves about 24 500,000 New Yorkers a year. 25 And because we're located in some of the 1 highest-need communities, part of the most important 2 work we do is really around workforce development, 3 and youth-development work. 4 So, that clearly relates to the topic of 5 today's hearing around SYEP, YDDP, and the impact of 6 the minimum wage. 7 Before I get into the impact of, you know, 8 the minimum wage on these programs, I want to be 9 very clear that we are definitely in support of an 10 increase in the minimum wage. There's lots of 11 research out there that indicates that this is a 12 significant need for New York State. 13 So this would impact about a million 14 New Yorkers, in terms of people that are close to 15 the minimum wage, or slightly above it, in terms of, 16 if you bump it up, they're going to see a benefit. 17 In terms of how it relates to youth, also, 18 the Fiscal Policy Institute found that almost 19 20 percent of the kids in the state who have a 20 parent working at minimum wage would benefit from 21 this. It's 860,000. 22 And, it's hard to divorce the impact that a 23 minimum-wage increase would have on parents from, 24 you know, the impact that it has on children working 25 through programs, or, SYEP. 1 So, even though there is a negative effect, 2 if you will, if there's not an increased investment, 3 we certainly support an increase in minimum wage. 4 It's long overdue, and we think that the time 5 for it is now. 6 And not just to increase it, but to make sure 7 it's indexed for inflation, so that we maintain the 8 value of that into the future. 9 As you know, it's been a number of years 10 since the wage was last increased, and we don't want 11 to get into a position where we increase it this 12 year, and then we revisit it ten years later and 13 find out, again, that it's not meeting people's 14 needs. 15 So I just want it to be very clear that we 16 certainly support increasing the wage. 17 The Commissioner earlier mentioned that there 18 used to be a significant source of federal funding 19 that supported SYEP. 20 When the Job-Training Partnership Act was 21 phased out in 1999, replaced by Workforce Investment 22 Act (WIA), that funding was -- unfortunately, it 23 went away. 24 And so, United Neighborhood Houses, along 25 with the Neighborhood Family Services Coalition, 1 formed The Campaign For Summer Jobs. 2 You've been a tremendous supporter of ours up 3 here in Albany over the years, and I want to thank 4 you for that. 5 We bring a couple hundred youth up here to 6 meet with legislators, and really talk about the 7 importance of the program. And we're really 8 focused, not only making sure there's adequate 9 resources at the city level, on the state level, but 10 that there's a good programmatic model behind it. 11 So, in terms of the importance of SYEP, I 12 don't imagine I need to convince you of the 13 benefits, and we have -- I know other people have 14 spoken to it already, but I just want to highlight a 15 couple of them. 16 Probably the most important one, is really 17 the fact this is the first work opportunity for 18 youth. 19 It makes a huge difference, if you get your 20 first job at 14, or if you get your first job at 18, 21 and have no work experience. 22 So the ability to be in a safe environment, 23 with supportive adults, and be able to make a 24 mistake. You show up for work late, you're not 25 going to get fired. 1 They're going to say: Look, you're working 2 now. This is the expectation, you have to be on 3 time. 4 They can teach people about money management, 5 learn about punctuality, respect, communication, 6 getting along with their peers, and this really is 7 what it means to be a responsible worker; developing 8 what we call "soft work skills." And those are 9 absolutely critical to develop at a young age. 10 And there's research out of 11 Northeastern University, that has found that when 12 youth work during their high school years, they're 13 more likely to work after high school, at more 14 sustained rates, and they also have higher lifetime 15 earnings. 16 So we know that, in terms of long-term 17 impact, youth employment is very important. 18 I don't want to steal her thunder; I know 19 that NYU is here today, to talk about the benefits 20 of the program, academically. 21 Very briefly, they have found that it 22 improves academic-outcomes attendance. That sort of 23 thing. 24 So, there's very significant benefits to that 25 extent as well. 1 The prior gentleman talked about the impact 2 in The Rockaways, of $760,000, in terms of spending 3 in the community. 4 If you extrapolate that out into 5 New York City, SYEP is a highly, kind of -- it's -- 6 there's not a lot of admin associated with it. 7 Almost all of the money that goes to the program 8 goes directly back into the community. 9 So, as a whole, if you look at New York City 10 last year, the program was about $43 million, total; 11 and 38 million of that went back into communities, 12 in terms of spending. 13 As the Commissioner mentioned, they're 14 spending it on food, clothing, supporting their 15 families, and they're also opening savings accounts. 16 So we know that there's a real impact, 17 economically, as well. 18 The challenge for us is that, even though 19 there's widespread recognition of the value of SYEP, 20 the money isn't always there. 21 And, you know, people will say: We support 22 it, but our hands are tied; we have a limited amount 23 of money. 24 And over the years, we've seen significant 25 disinvestment in the program. 1 Obviously, the stimulus dollars were only 2 time-limited, and when those went away, there was, 3 you know, a significant impact on the program in the 4 city. The City tax contributions have fallen over 5 the years. 6 And of the State, we saw a tremendous 7 decrease from the days that we were seeing 8 35 million a year, it dropped down to 15 1/2. 9 And we are grateful, very grateful, last 10 year, that the Legislature worked with the Governor 11 to increase it to 25 million, and it's proposed to 12 do the same this year. 13 However, because SYEP is so wage-dependent, 14 we know that there will be a significant dropoff in 15 the number of youth that are able to be served if we 16 don't increase investment in the program. 17 The Commissioner mentioned, we're looking for 18 35 million. 19 And I know there were some questions from 20 Senator Martins about how that number was arrived 21 at. 22 And as you're looking at there, there's a 23 number of charts in front of you that kind of 24 explain, based on the different options -- the 25 number of hours youth are working, their wages -- 1 how you actually back into that number. 2 And I want to be clear that that 3 "$10 million" figure isn't just representative of 4 New York City. 5 We know that's what it would cost. The 6 portion of that that goes to New York City, would be 7 sufficient to cover our slot loss, in the 8 increase -- of a minimum-wage increase to 8.75 or 9 $9 an hour. 10 New York City gets about 54 percent of that 11 funding, and the rest is spread throughout the 12 state; and, so, we anticipate that they will have 13 similar needs. 14 So I want to be clear that that $10 million 15 will benefit the whole state, and the overall ask is 16 for $35 million. 17 In terms of, kind of the -- kind of the 18 either/or; you know, either you raise the minimum 19 wage, and if you don't come up with the money for 20 the programs, it's a problem, I don't see these as 21 mutually exclusive. 22 I think the right thing to do for New York, 23 is that we make sure we increase the minimum wage. 24 It's going to help their families who are 25 working, it's going to help the children in their -- 1 and their families, but then we also have to make 2 sure that we put the investment into YDDP, SYEP, and 3 I don't see those as separate. 4 These are both things that we'd encourage the 5 Legislature to do. 6 In terms of the broader impact, you asked 7 earlier about YDDP, and I know we're not just folks 8 in the SYEP. 9 Nora alluded to, briefly, the fact that many 10 SYEP workers actually work in day camps, summer 11 camps. 12 In the city, this Out-Of-School Time (OST), 13 this provides affordable childcare for parents 14 during the summer. 15 And as was mentioned, a lot of the SYEP 16 workers go to those camps. 17 And we have members that have said: If I 18 have less youth working in my summer camp, that's 19 going to impact the quality of services, it's going 20 to put financial strain on my program, and that's 21 going to directly impact the working families who 22 depend on those programs. 23 So, we want to make sure that that's 24 considered as well. 25 Beyond the fact that there would be an impact 1 through a minimum-wage increase, we also want to 2 highlight the fact that YDDP has shrunken 3 dramatically over the years. 4 Just a few years ago, it was 28 million. 5 It was proposed to be cut in half by the 6 Governor. The Legislature added a little bit more 7 last year. 8 So even in the event that the minimum wage 9 were not to go up, we want to see a restoration to 10 that funding, because it does support these critical 11 after-school and summer programs for youth. 12 And, lastly, in terms of minimum wage and the 13 impact on SYEP, you have the charts in front of you 14 there. We're projecting: 15 If you increase the minimum wage to 8.75, the 16 slot loss is around 3,700; 17 If you increase it to $9, the slot loss is 18 around 4,200. 19 These are really estimates, and they really 20 are our best understanding to this point. 21 I really want to underscore the fact, though, 22 that even if the minimum wage were not to increase 23 this session, regardless of whether it's phased in 24 in July, or January, that SYEP is at a historic 25 all-time low, as it is now. 1 Last year, the city had about 29,000 youth in 2 the program, and this is out of over 132,000 that 3 applied. 4 It means, over 100,000 youth who wanted 5 something positive to do over the summer, wanted 6 some money in their pocket, wanted to help their 7 families, we said, No, sorry. 8 And that's not just last year. That's 9 happened in each of the last three years, we've 10 turned away over 100,000 youth. 11 And that has significant consequences. 12 We know, in New York City, there's about 13 200,000 disconnected youth. 14 These are the youth that aren't connected to 15 work, they're not connected to employment. And if 16 we want to kind of combat that crisis, and get them 17 involved in the workforce and education, we can't 18 say no to them when they show up in their earlier 19 years, trying to get a job. 20 So, we would really push for this increase in 21 35 million for SYEP, regardless of whether the 22 minimum wage is increased. 23 And we certainly support that. 24 You know, you intimated, this is something 25 that you guys are working on. And we really see it 1 as a significant need in the community. 2 So, I guess, really, in closing: 3 Support minimum-wage increase. It's 4 important. We need to do it now. 5 We also know that youth-employment, 6 youth-development programs, impact the same 7 families, and we also need to support those as well. 8 So, thank you for your support of 9 The Campaign For Summer Jobs over the years. 10 And, I would be happy to answer any 11 questions. 12 SENATOR SMITH: Thank you. 13 Senator? 14 SENATOR SANDERS: Thank you, Chair. 15 You had mentioned at least 100,000 youth who 16 applied, and were unsuccessful. The lottery did not 17 work well for them. 18 I would also draw to your attention, of 19 course, this 100,000 does not even include the 20 discouraged youth; those who felt that it would not 21 happen, it would not work. 22 We -- those numbers could go as far as, as 23 high as, three hundred thou, or something of that 24 nature. 25 I wanted to draw your attention to a side 1 effect of all of these things. 2 With -- Senator Smith has some initiatives 3 out, and among his initiatives, he's been a champion 4 against the concept of sagging. 5 "The concept of sagging." 6 And one of the most successful ways of 7 combating this social phenomenon, is a job. 8 People who are in a job have a standard of 9 dress that they must adhere to, and the failure to 10 do that means that your job prospects sag. 11 So under those conditions, one of the best 12 things that we can do, if we were serious about that 13 problem, is to help people become socialized into 14 the world of work. 15 Thank you very much, Senator, and Chair. 16 SENATOR SMITH: Your testimony speaks for 17 itself, and the data. 18 SENATOR SANDERS: Good stuff. 19 SENATOR SMITH: Know that we are conducting 20 these hearings just for this kind of information, 21 because, as we began running through the budget, and 22 the details -- as they say, is, the devil is always 23 in the details -- you know, the question started 24 arising, you know: 25 Great, minimum wage, and we all support that. 1 There's no question about it. But then there's 2 those unintended consequences, which we failed to 3 look at. 4 And not that, from any shortcomings, but it's 5 just that, we're rushing to the end of the door, 6 because we see that light, and we want to make sure 7 we get there before it closes. 8 And then, when you get there, you forgot that 9 you didn't bring all to chairs with you. 10 And, so, appreciate your testimony. 11 And, you know, I just hope you'll be around 12 if we need you during the final day of budget 13 negotiations; if we need someone to come and provide 14 some information for some of our colleagues. 15 KEVIN DOUGLAS: We certainly appreciate the 16 opportunity to testify and provide the resources, as 17 you need them, in the future. 18 And, just to quickly respond to your fact -- 19 your statement: 20 We actually saw that, when the federal money 21 went away, when the City cut their money, when the 22 State cut their money, kids were getting rejected. 23 And because it's a lottery system, they were 24 getting rejected, one year, second year in a row, 25 third year in a row, and we actually saw the numbers 1 of youth actually start to decrease, in terms of the 2 number that were applying, because of the 3 discouraged-worker phenomenon. 4 So we know that this doesn't even begin to 5 talk about the universal need, and the youth that 6 are interested, because there's this unintended 7 consequence. 8 So, we appreciate that you guys are paying 9 attention to this issue. 10 SENATOR SMITH: Thank you. 11 SENATOR SANDERS: Thank you. 12 SENATOR SMITH: Let me thank all of you who 13 are here today. 14 Our last speaker, Dr. Amy Ellen Schwartz, 15 her train is late, so we may have her testimony read 16 into the record. 17 But, I do want to thank my colleagues who 18 were/is here: 19 Our ranking member on Social Services, 20 Senator Sanders; 21 And, also, Senator Martin [sic]. 22 I want to also thank our team who is here, 23 because, obviously, as senators, we look good at the 24 table, but it's our staff that makes us look good. 25 Our counsel to the Committee was 1 Paul Nickels [ph.], who's back there. He's been 2 running in and out, so you may not have seen him; 3 And, obviously, you met earlier, 4 Beth Corrente [ph.]. She was here as well; 5 Anna Marie Costello, our press secretary, who 6 has recently come on board; 7 My chief of staff is in the back, 8 Meredith Henderson; 9 We have our media and production team, over 10 there, you know, just working hard. You don't even 11 hear them, but they do tremendous work. And we've 12 been streaming live, this hearing, as well; 13 And, our Senate photographer, who just left 14 as well. 15 So, we appreciate everybody who came today. 16 This was very compelling testimony. 17 It will be very helpful to us as we're moving 18 forward. 19 If you are around today, the Senate is 20 putting out their one-House resolution. 21 I suggest that you read the resolution very 22 carefully; look to see where we may have had some 23 impact. And, if not, don't think all hope is lost. 24 That is only the one-House resolution. We 25 will be looking towards doing our budget, and 1 printing bills, sometime in the latter part of next 2 week. 3 And so, your input consistently, from this 4 point, forward, would be very appreciative. 5 We wanted to highlight the significance of 6 increasing the minimum wage, which we support. 7 But, also, we wanted to highlight the 8 significance of what that would mean to the lack of 9 slots, as most people were looking at sort of a 10 one-way mirror: We'll just give you more money for 11 the minimum wage, period. We did our job. 12 We want you to recognize that, yes, you can 13 do that, but you also have to increase certain 14 areas: summer youth employment, after-school 15 network, YDEP...all of that needs to be compensated 16 for, when that occurs. 17 So, we thank you very much for supporting 18 that argument for us, in your testimony. It will be 19 used as we go forward, convincing our colleagues. 20 So, thank you very much. 21 (Whereupon, at approximately 12:02 p.m., 22 the public hearing held before the New York State 23 Senate Standing Committee on Social Services 24 concluded, and adjourned.) 25 ---oOo--- 1 (The public hearing was reconvened at a 2 later time, and the final invited speaker 3 testified, as follows:) 4 DR. AMY ELLEN SCHWARTZ: Thank you. 5 And thank you for the opportunity to give 6 testimony today. I appreciate the commitment of the 7 New York State Committee on Social Services to 8 improving youth development in New York. 9 My name is Amy Ellen Schwartz. I am the 10 director of the Institute for Education & Social 11 Policy at NYU. 12 I'm also a professor of public policy, 13 education, and economics at the Wagner School, and 14 Steinhardt School, at the university. 15 My research is in applied econometrics, 16 focusing on issues in urban policy, education, and 17 public finance. 18 Today I will give you an overview of our 19 research, and discuss the potential positive 20 effects, youth outcomes, of the Summer Youth 21 Employment Program (SYEP). 22 I'll highlight our findings and share our 23 plans to expand the research in the future, but I 24 shouldn't go farther without saying that our 25 research would not have been possible without the 1 efforts of my co-authors Jake Leos-Urbel, 2 Meryle Weinstein, and Beth Whitesman, and equally 3 important, the collaboration of the New York City 4 Department of Youth and Community Development, the 5 New York City Department of Education, the 6 U.S. Department of Labor, and the 7 Spencer Foundation, who provided support. 8 I imagine you've heard some of this already; 9 nonetheless, for completeness, let me say a few 10 words about "What is SYEP?" from our point of view. 11 The SYEP is administered by New York City's 12 Department of Youth and Community Development. 13 For SYEP, all New York City youth, ages 14 14 to 24, are eligible to participate in a program. 15 Youth apply through community-based 16 organizations throughout the city. These service 17 intake sites, they supervise job placements, and 18 they provide training. 19 Participants work in entry-level jobs in 20 the non-profit, private, and public sectors. 21 Placements with summer camps and daycare centers are 22 most common, but there are others. 23 Participants work up to 25 hours a week, 24 for 7 weeks, in the summer, and they earn the 25 New York State minimum wage. 10 percent of these 1 hours are devoted to education and training. 2 Today I'll be talking about research that 3 focuses on the New York City high school students 4 who apply to SYEP, but I should note that kids who 5 are no longer in high school, and who are not yet in 6 high school, are also eligible. 7 Before we turn to numbers, we should ask: 8 Why do we think SYEP might work, and why it might 9 have a positive effect? 10 There are many reasons to think that SYEP 11 would have a positive effect on youth outcomes. 12 Kids may learn new skills, gain 13 responsibility, gain self-esteem, and general 14 knowledge of workplace expectations. 15 Even for those doing menial tasks, it could 16 give them a view into what their future would look 17 like without further education, but it could also 18 give a window into what it might look like if they 19 gain more education. 20 Prior research also suggests that keeping 21 youth engaged in productive activities helps 22 prevent negative outcomes that could interfere 23 with our educational success. 24 These are all the same kinds of reasons 25 that middle-class parents give for why they engage 1 their own children in summer jobs or other 2 positive experiences during the summer. 3 That said, we know that money makes a 4 difference, and money makes people better off. 5 SYEP provides income for New York City youth 6 during the summer. 7 Students who apply to SYEP are overwhelmingly 8 low-income. Approximately 90 percent are eligible 9 for free or reduced-priced lunch. 10 So the summer income may also reduce the 11 amount of time that students need to spend during 12 the school year on part-time after-school jobs, or 13 may just give them some money to afford 14 supplementary materials. 15 So how do we estimate the impact? 16 That's kind of the big question: What 17 difference does it make? 18 So on the whole, estimating the impact of 19 summer opportunities is very challenging. Often 20 there's a worry that youth who apply for jobs, and 21 who get jobs, are different than those who don't 22 apply, or who don't get jobs. They're more 23 motivated, they're more responsible. 24 And, particular, when we aren't able to see 25 anything but the difference between some kids having 1 jobs and some kids not, it's hard to pick apart 2 what's causing what. 3 In this example, we are able to make use of 4 an important decision that SYEP made some years 5 ago, which is, to allocate the available jobs 6 using a random-assignment procedure. 7 So rather than first come, first serve, or a 8 subjective criteria, since the demand for SYEP 9 exceeds the available spots, they wait until 10 everybody has had an opportunity to apply for a job, 11 and then they have a lottery. 12 This is the gold standard for estimating 13 impact evaluation -- estimating impacts through 14 program evaluation, because the differences between 15 the kids who were given the jobs and those who were 16 not, is really nothing. It was random. 17 Okay, so, I'd be happy to talk more about, 18 What are the outcomes? and, What are the details 19 of the process? but let me cut to findings. 20 We looked at the short-term effects of 21 winning that lottery: 22 We looked at attendance; 23 We looked at attempting standardized tests in 24 the year following participation; 25 And we looked at the pass rates on English 1 and math Regents exams. 2 We only looked, in this first study, at 3 public-school students who applied to SYEP in 2007. 4 So we matched this data from DYCD to data 5 from the New York City Department of Education 6 files, through a student ID, created these 7 matches, and we looked at what happened to these 8 36,630 SYEP applicants. 9 I say the number out loud because it's a big 10 number. This is not a small-scale experimental 11 program. There aren't questions here about, Is it 12 scalable? Is it replicatable? 13 This is a scale. 14 So, it's really quite remarkable. 15 What we find is, what I would describe as, 16 modest positive effects on attendance, and 17 particularly among those students who are at 18 greatest educational risk; those students who are 19 16 years or older, had not so perfect attendance. 20 These are the students who show the greatest 21 gains. 22 We find that SYEP increases the probability 23 of attempting, and then passing, English and math 24 Regents exams, again, for these students who are 25 ages 16 and older, particularly with those with 1 low prior school attendance. 2 For these students, SYEP increases the 3 probability of attempting the English Regents by 4 almost 3 percent, and of passing by 2 percent; 5 For math, the increase is 1.2 percent for 6 attempting, and 1.3 percent for passing. 7 This amounts to about 100 more kids passing 8 these exams each year. 9 These findings, we believe, suggest that 10 even though the explicit goal of the program is on 11 workforce readiness, the program has a broader 12 impact on youth, including an increase in school 13 attendance, the attempts that students have at 14 taking tests, which is, as you know, the first step 15 toward passing; and then, ultimately, on their 16 success of passing Regents exams. 17 These are really important milestones. 18 You cannot graduate high school if you don't 19 go to school. You cannot pass the exams if you 20 don't sit for the exams. 21 And this is putting kids on the path toward 22 graduation. 23 In our future work, we want to understand a 24 lot more about this. We want to know what happens 25 if we look at different years. 1 This is a single year of data; one point in 2 our economic cycle. It's an open question still, 3 how the impacts are sensitive to differences in 4 the unemployment rate, generally. 5 We also haven't looked at all of the long-run 6 outcomes. 7 Does the short-term success translate into 8 continued success in the next year, and the year 9 after? 10 Are there long-run effects on high school 11 graduation? 12 Are there long-run effects on college-going? 13 These are all really important questions, all 14 trying to help us understand, how it is that what a 15 kid does in the summer, and particularly if they get 16 a job, shapes their future success and workforce 17 readiness. 18 Thank you again for your time, and for 19 allowing me to share our findings in support of 20 SYEP and youth-development programs. 21 UNKNOWN FEMALE SPEAKER: [Inaudible 22 question.] 23 DR. AMY ELLEN SCHWARTZ: We have -- DYCD has 24 shared with us the data, and we got a small grant 25 from the Spencer Foundation to do the data match. 1 So, we're doing some work along those 2 lines, and doing what always seems like the 3 hardest part of this kind of project, which is 4 raising the money. 5 So, we have submitted a grant proposal to the 6 U.S. Department of Education, in the hopes that they 7 would help us fund this agenda. 8 A particular challenge in this kind of work, 9 is that this is crossing domains. 10 We're asking, whether a program that's about 11 giving kids jobs has educational effects, 12 following the idea that, down the line, this is the 13 path toward better labor-market outcomes, this is 14 the path toward economic independence. 15 But we're not looking at sort of the 16 traditional things either group looks at. 17 So, the Department of Education, the 18 U.S. Department of Education, many departments of 19 education, focus a lot of their attention on, how 20 what you do in the school building during the school 21 day shapes how students do on the tests you give 22 them, and on future education. 23 On the other side, there's all of this -- 24 there's interest for those who are doing workforce 25 things, on how, What are the workforce outcomes? 1 And I think this sort of project, and this 2 sort of work, that understands these things go 3 together, is really important, and it's 4 cutting-edge. It's in the sense, remarkable. 5 But we're the first folks to be doing this. 6 But, there you have it. 7 Trying to ask, "What does this job mean for a 8 child's development into an adult?" is going to mean 9 looking at a lot of different directions. 10 This piece we're interested in looking at, 11 education. 12 In the longer run, you would want to look at 13 how they fare. 14 Do they -- you know, Do kids stay out of 15 trouble? 16 So many people would say, what -- you know, 17 you want to keep kids from just wasting their time, 18 you know, getting into trouble in the summer. 19 So maybe that's part of what's going on. 20 You know, just a really open question also 21 about: What works best? 22 Is it the combination of doing some training, 23 doing some work? 24 What kind of work works best for whom? 25 Are there kids who are most a risk? 1 Can we identify groups that should be 2 targeted? 3 All open questions. 4 So, we see our work cut out for us. 5 UNKNOWN SPEAKER: [Inaudible.] 6 DR. AMY ELLEN SCHWARTZ: Thank you. 7 UNNOWN MALE SPEAKER: [Inaudible] short-time 8 period, or, several years out, after having had 9 the summer employment? 10 And then I guess the other question would be: 11 In the research, are you taking into account, 12 I guess, the type of summer job the children had, so 13 kids that had certain jobs did better than 14 others that had -- 15 DR. AMY ELLEN SCHWARTZ: Two great questions. 16 UNNOWN MALE SPEAKER: That might be too 17 expansive, though [inaudible.] 18 DR. AMY ELLEN SCHWARTZ: Two great questions. 19 So, in terms of how long we plan to track 20 them, our current plan, is to track them as long as 21 they are at -- in New York City public schools. 22 Now, in part that's, that's a matter of 23 convenience. 24 So, it might not sound like that, but, 25 matching, and finding kids, and tracking people, is 1 actually hard. 2 But because we -- with the support of the 3 New York City Department of Education, we're able to 4 match onto education data. We can track them 5 through the New York City Department of Education 6 administrative data as they move from one 7 high school to another, take one exam, and -- 8 So, what happens then after they leave? 9 We have a plan, if we can, to track them if 10 they go into the City University of New York, with 11 whom we have already an agreement, to allow us to 12 track them in. 13 But, for now, that's about as far as -- 14 that's about as far as my energy can take me. 15 You know, if we can get through that far, and 16 we still see effects, you know, you can bet I'll 17 be coming back, and thinking: Okay, now, how -- 18 what do we do next? 19 But, you know, it's possible that we see 20 effects peter out. And it's possible that we 21 see -- you know, we have just too hard of a time 22 tracking kids. 23 So, we'll see. 24 Now, about which jobs matter most? We're 25 looking into it. 1 Seems our first pass will probably be to 2 look at the different community-based organizations, 3 because the jobs match so tightly onto which CBO 4 they're working with. 5 So there are CBOs for whom -- virtually, 6 all the jobs are kind of summer-camp related, so, 7 you're just never going to tell the difference 8 between that. 9 Some are going in another direction, giving, 10 you know, some -- some -- a broader array. 11 But I think our -- you know, we don't now 12 know what each kid is doing, you know, in a detailed 13 way, to be able to say, we know what tasks they're 14 doing. 15 And should the U.S. Department of Education 16 be willing to support the project, as we hope they 17 will, we do plan to do a survey of kids, of 18 students; both, participants, and applicants 19 who were not offered positions, because it's 20 important to find out, What are the other kids 21 doing? 22 And, you know, if the other kids are getting 23 worse jobs, or doing nothing, that will tell us a 24 lot. 25 So we're going to hope to learn about both 1 groups, and maybe, over time, develop ways to 2 get more insight into it. 3 It's -- you know, this is the upside of it, 4 being a big group, is it's a big group. 5 And as I said, this is -- this is not some 6 designer, you know, hot-house program that you would 7 then say: Hmm, well, that worked in the lab. You 8 know, is that going to work if you try to do it for 9 a lot of kids? 10 But the other side is, we have to work, to 11 some extent, with those kinds of data you can get 12 for large groups. 13 So, we're hoping to balance that, if we can 14 do some focus groups at the community-based 15 organizations as well, to just have some sense of, 16 you know: What do they think? What was their 17 experience? 18 So -- 19 UNNOWN MALE SPEAKER: Because one of the 20 things that I've seen before, because, you know, we 21 work in the Legislature, and a number of 22 individuals, the youth in particular, that come and 23 get exposed to an atmosphere -- 24 DR. AMY ELLEN SCHWARTZ: Right. 25 UNKNOWN SPEAKER: -- for the purposes of a 1 job date, they end up liking it, and come back. 2 So, to the extent that, you know, your study 3 may track -- 4 DR. AMY ELLEN SCHWARTZ: Absolutely. 5 UNKNOWN SPEAKER: -- and which, you know, 6 your people get exposed to a career, and then might 7 end up taking that -- 8 DR. AMY ELLEN SCHWARTZ: Right. 9 UNKNOWN SPEAKER: -- in their studies, and 10 education, and then, ultimately, maybe even coming 11 back to have [inaudible] profession. 12 DR. AMY ELLEN SCHWARTZ: Well, let me give 13 you an example of another mechanism. 14 One of the fabulous things this does for 15 kids, is it starts to connect them to the 16 financial-services sector. 17 15-year-olds can be getting ATM cards. 18 I understand they're giving -- they don't pay 19 them, you know, in cash, like you'd get paid for to 20 babysit. 21 They'll give them an ATM card of some 22 variety, or some bankcard, so that they can access 23 their money. 24 And this may be the very first time these 25 kids will have seen this. And they might never have 1 for quite a long time. 2 So, this, it's a completely different 3 mechanism. This isn't going to affect your ability 4 to get your school outcomes, but it could very much 5 affect your ability to conceive of saving, banking, 6 connecting, loans, student loans. 7 You know, it's an entree to a world that many 8 low-income kids will not have. 9 So, I'm a huge fan of this program, because 10 it's so multi-faceted in ways of introducing 11 students to a world that they might have -- not 12 otherwise see. 13 So, we can have a long-run of life, I hope to 14 come back and be able to tell you, and, we've done 15 this great study of banking. 16 UNNOWN MALE SPEAKER: [Inaudible.] 17 UNKNOWN FEMALE SPEAKER: [Inaudible.] 18 DR. AMY ELLEN SCHWARTZ: One piece at a time. 19 UNNOWN MALE SPEAKER: Thank you. 20 UNKNOWN FEMALE SPEAKER: Thank you. 21 DR. AMY ELLEN SCHWARTZ: Thank you. 22 (All invited speakers have now provided 23 their testimony, and the hearing has fully 24 concluded.) 25 ---oOo---