L.L. 2017/062

Enactment date: 4/25/2017  

Int. No. 708-A

By Council Members Eugene, Chin, Rose, Lander, Kallos, Cohen, Levin and Menchaca

A Local Law in relation to establishing a task force on disconnected youth.

Be it enacted by the Council as follows:

Section 1.

   a.   For the purposes of this section, "disconnected youth" means youth between the ages of 16 and 24 years who are neither attending school nor employed.

   b.   There shall be a task force on disconnected youth whose purpose is to examine the obstacles to education and employment for disconnected youth and to make recommendations regarding measures to improve outcomes for disconnected youth. Members of the task force shall serve without compensation and shall be appointed no later than 30 days after the enactment of this local law. The task force shall be composed of 25 members and shall include:

      1.   The commissioner of youth and community development or their designee;

      2.   The commissioner of small business services or their designee;

      3.   The chancellor of the city school district of the city of New York or their designee;

      4.   The commissioner of the administration for children services or their designee;

      5.   The commissioner of probation or their designee;

      6.   The commissioner of the human resources administration or their designee;

      7.   The commissioner of health and mental hygiene or their designee;

      8.   The commissioner of homeless services or their designee;

      9.   The executive director of the mayor's office of criminal justice or their designee;

      10.   The chancellor of the city university of New York or their designee shall be invited to participate;

      11.   The executive director of the center for economic opportunity or their designee;

      12.   The executive director of the mayor's center for youth employment or their designee;

      13.   The executive director of the mayor's office of workforce development or their designee;

      14.   The deputy mayor for strategic policy initiatives or their designee;

      15.   Four additional members shall be appointed by the mayor, including two members who shall represent organizations whose mission is to provide assistance to youth aging out of foster care and youth involved in the criminal justice system; one shall represent the business community; and one shall represent the young men's initiative;

      16.   Four members shall be appointed by the speaker of the council, including two members who shall represent organizations whose mission is advocating for disconnected youth; one member shall represent the business community; and one member shall represent the young women's initiative; and

      17.   Three additional members who are youth leaders between the ages of 16 and 24 at the time of their appointment shall be appointed, two by the mayor and one by the speaker of the council.

   c.   Upon appointment of all the members, the task force shall elect a chair from its membership by a majority vote at the first meeting of such task force. The task force shall meet not less than four times prior to submitting the report required pursuant to subdivision d of this section. The task force may establish its own guidance and procedures with respect to the conduct of its meetings and other affairs not inconsistent with law.

   d.   No later than March 1, 2018, and no later than March 1 biennially thereafter, the task force shall issue a report to the mayor and the speaker of the council. Such report shall include, but not be limited to, providing guidance on the following topics:

      1.   An assessment of the obstacles that prevent disconnected youth from pursuing educational opportunities or entering the workforce, including but not limited to, issues related to housing, childcare, health care and substance abuse, criminal justice, transportation, wages, and language and cultural barriers.

      2.   An analysis and discussion on how to address any such obstacles;

      3.   Recommendations for how to better inform the public on the availability of services for disconnected youth;

      4.   A review of the quality, and the type of programs that serve disconnected youth, including whether they adequately address the education and skills disconnected youth need to attain and retain work;

      5.   The costs related to implementing programs for disconnected youth;

      6.   Recommendations regarding how to improve existing programs serving disconnected youth;

      7.   Recommendations regarding how to improve data collection for disconnected youth programs and make the data publicly available;

      8.   Recommendations on effective follow-up services such as mentoring, work related peer support groups, further education or training, career pathway development, support for maintaining a job, and recommendations regarding the length of time such services should be offered to any disconnected or formerly disconnected youth;

      9.   An analysis of the education levels and skills sought by employers;

      10.   Identifying the most effective ways that disconnected youth programs can meet employer needs;

      11.   Recommendations on the creation of partnerships between programs for disconnected youth and employers that can serve as a job pipeline for participants;

      12.   Identifying high growth industries that generate living wage jobs for youth; and

      13.   Identifying ways to foster and strengthen partnerships between public and private providers that serve disconnected youth.

§ 2. This local law takes effect immediately and remains in effect until March 1, 2022, when it is deemed repealed, following the submission of the final report required by subdivision d of section one of this local law.