TESTIMONY OF:

Jordan Hall

Senior Youth Advocate, Adolescent Representation Team

BROOKLYN DEFENDER SERVICES

Presented before the New York City Council Committee on Youth Services

Oversight Hearing on The Summer Youth Employment Program

My name is Jordan Hall and I am a Senior Youth Advocate on the Adolescent Representation Team at Brooklyn Defender Services (BDS). I want to thank Chair Rose and the Committee on Youth Services for holding this important hearing today on the Summer Youth Employment Program.

BDS provides multi-disciplinary and people-centered criminal, family, and immigration defense, as well as civil legal services, social work support and advocacy to nearly 30,000 people and their families in Brooklyn every year. Our Adolescent Representation Team provides specialized legal services and social work support to young people who are arrested in Brooklyn. We represent approximately two-thousand adolescents age 13 to 21 each year, the majority of whom are Black or Latinx and live in low-income communities.

The Summer Youth Employment Program has been an asset for the youth we serve—and for low-income Black and brown youth across the City. In 2019, 81% of SYEP participants were Black or Brown and 84% were enrolled in Brooklyn, Queens, and the Bronx. Research on SYEP is indicated that participation increases likelihood of employment in the following year and reduces the likelihood of incarceration or death.¹

SYEP is a step toward career success. Youth who participate in the program receive on-the-job training, gain necessary skills, and receive supportive mentoring from their supervisors. The programs give young people something to look forward to, provides structure during the summer, and boosts their confidence.

For young people with justice involvement—including youth at Crossroads and Horizons juvenile detention facilities—SYEP may be one of the few job opportunities available.

Participants aren’t judged by the charges they are facing, but are allowed to be young people and given the same opportunities to learn and grow as their peers.

In this time of great economic uncertainty, many young people are concerned about helping support their families and getting food on the table. My clients are competing with thousands who have been laid off during the recession for job openings. While I am able to support them through their job search, resume writing, and interview prep, entry level job openings commonly filled by young people are now heavily competitive. SYEP gives young people a chance to gain experience, build their resume, and strengthen their future career opportunities.

We ask you to carefully consider what message it sends to our young people when we cut summer youth employment programs to afford to pay the officers who terrorize their communities, or when teachers are shortchanged while the NYPD blows past its annual overtime allotment by $100 million yet again. If the City wants to in invest young people, it must create opportunities for young people to feel safe, to thrive, and see a viable, successful future for themselves and their communities.

The City’s investment in SYEP—and the 75,000 young people who participate each year—is an indication to young New Yorkers that their lives and time have value. Where a society allocates its budget is a statement of its values. We encourage the City Council to consider these values when determining if SYEP will be funded in the FY22 Budget.

Thank you again for holding this important hearing. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact Kathleen McKenna, Senior Policy Social Worker, at kmckenna@bds.org.

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¹ Gelber, Alexander, Adam Isen and Judd B. Kessler. 2016. "The Effects of Youth Employment - Evidence from New York City Summer Youth Employment Program Lotteries." Quarterly Journal of Economics 131 (1): 423-460.