Mayor de Blasio Announces Next Phase of NYC's Young Men's Initiative

Mayor de Blasio Announces Next Phase of NYC's Young Men's Initiative, Opening New Doors for Young Men of Color

YMI to offer critical support for President Obama’s ‘My Brother’s Keeper’ Initiative, boosting efforts in literacy, workforce training, and crime prevention

Cyrus Garrett, veteran of Everytown for Gun Safety and Organizing for America, named new director of YMI

Mayor Bill de Blasio today announced the next phase of New York City’s Young Men’s Initiative (YMI), including significant new commitments by the City to confront inequality and create opportunity for young men of color. First launched by Mayor Bloomberg in 2011, YMI’s programming will align with President Obama’s “My Brother’s Keeper” initiative, launching four new programs aimed at increasing literacy in young children, improving graduation rates and workforce readiness, as well as protecting youth from violent crime.

To spearhead the next phase of YMI, Mayor de Blasio named Cyrus Garrett, a veteran of Everytown for Gun Safety and Organizing for America, as its new executive director. The announcement was made at the new Jobs-Plus Center at the Van Dyke Houses in Brownsville, which opened this month and is funded by the Young Men’s Initiative and administered by the NYC Human Resources Administration in partnership with the New York City Housing Authority, Center for Economic Opportunity, and Department of Consumer Affairs. The center expects to serve 1,600 local residents with job placements, training, financial counseling, and a range of supportive services.

YMI works to connect black and Latino young people to opportunities and support that can lead them to success. Black and Hispanic young men have 1.6 times the high school dropout rate of their white peers, and they are 1.3 times more likely to be unemployed and 6 times more likely to have a felony conviction. YMI seeks to address these disparities.

The initial phase of YMI focused on the launch of new programs targeting young men of color. This next phase will focus on overhauling City agencies’ approach to interacting with and serving these populations. City efforts will focus on neighborhoods in central Brooklyn, southeast Queens, northern Manhattan, South Bronx, and the North Shore of Staten Island.

Three goals within My Brother’s Keeper will provide the focal points for four new City programs under the Young Men’s Initiative:

Goal: Ensuring all children read at grade level by 2nd grade

• Program: Increase Tutoring – Provide direct support through tutoring and reading programs for 10,000 children age K-2.

Goal: Ensuring all youth complete post-secondary education and training

• Program: High School Mentoring – Increase mentoring opportunities focused on preparing young people for college by engaging with existing non-profits who provide mentorship. Engage 5,000 young men of color by 2017.

• Program: Education Career Recruitment – Develop new initiatives and programs aiming to put an additional 1,000 men of color on course to become NYC public school teachers over the next three years.

Goal: Ensuring all youth remain safe from violent crime

• Program: NYPD Community Relations – Establish a central role for YMI in efforts to improve community/police relations. This will include meaningful opportunities for police officers and young men of color to interact in positive spaces.

The City has a $22.5 million annual commitment to the Young Men’s Initiative, nearly half of which is dedicated to employment-services programs such as Jobs-Plus, with additional investments in the areas of education, health and justice. The City will leverage existing agency programs and resources to augment YMI’s reach. The Mayor’s Fund to Advance New York City will seek to maintain and expand private support for programming.

To align City government fully with YMI’s priorities, agencies including the Human Resources Administration, Department of Education, Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, and Administration for Children’s Services are undertaking agency-wide reviews to evaluate their outcomes and interactions with young men of color. Those reviews will be articulated in an annual report tracking disparities facing African American and Latino men in New York City, and the steps being undertaken to address them. The City will also reconstitute the YMI Advisory Board, undertake a new public engagement campaign, and convene officials and thought leaders at both the city and national level.

330 Powell Street

Brooklyn, NY 11212

January 30, 2015