Literature on the topic and the experience of settlement houses within our network (United Neighborhood Houses) that administer summer youth employment programs tells us the following:

-SYEP often provides the critical first job for youth that allows them to develop valuable professional and life skills, including responsibility, punctuality, money management, workplace expectations and teamwork.

-Through SYEP, youth are able to explore career options as they transition to adulthood, and often help support their families. In fact, their highly liquid earnings help stimulate the economy through purchases of school supplies, food, clothing and other goods and services from local businesses.

-Youth that work during their high school years demonstrate increased school persistence and graduation rates. In addition, young adults who work during high school obtain higher weekly wages and earn more per year 10-15 years after leaving high school.

-The jobs SYEP participants perform are essential to their communities. Thousands of youth across NYC work as counselors and aides in day camps. Without them, many camps would have to greatly reduce the number of children they serve, raise their fees, or shut down all together- jeopardizing the ability of working families to secure safe, structured summer care for their children.

Engagement with the world of work and the beginning of soft skills development, cash spent in local economies on necessities and family support in the midst of deeply troubling economic times, and the bonus effect of subsidizing the cost of day camps desperately needed by working families- all of this is had for roughly $1,500 per participant in New York City’s Summer Youth Employment Program- quite a bargain by any standard.

So while yes, we can and always should challenge the State to maximize the effectiveness of its investments, the very real benefits of SYEP and the State’s investment are abundantly clear to participants and their families, and perhaps even more so to the 100,000-plus youth turned away from the program annually for want of funding.

Kevin Douglas
United Neighborhood Houses, Campaign for Summer Jobs

Amid all of the chants that “everybody won” and the portrayal that everything here is wonderful, nowhere is the mention of the details of how there is any accountability for measurable returns on these hundreds of taxpayer ‘investments’, a point the Controller should weigh in on. ‘Responsibility’ is spread across virtually every State and county agency, which really means there’s no accountability at all!

The detailed list of ‘awards’ can be found here: http://www.governor.ny.gov/assets/documents/CFAAWARDSBooklet.pdf. Like revelations of some public salaries, in the recognition that this money is coming out of your pocket, be prepared to become ill.