CCC testified at the New York City Council Finance and Youth Services Committees hearing on March 6, 2017 regarding the Fiscal Year 2018 Preliminary Budget.

The Preliminary Budget includes three important proposals to strengthen youth services: 1) Add $6.2 million to create 10 new Beacon Community Centers; 2) restore funding for summer programs for 22,800 middle school students; and 3) increase funding for the Summer Youth Employment Program (SYEP) to serve 5,000 more youth.

While CCC’s testimony supported these proposals, the testimony also urged the administration to make additional investments in youth services in the Executive Budget.  This included restoring $16 million for elementary after-school programs and adding funding to serve more children and address the rate; adding funding for SYEP to address the minimum wage increase, and fully restoring and baselining funding for 34,000 middle school students.