UAW Local 2325 Opposes the Elimination of the Summer Youth Employment Program

The Association of Legal Aid Attorneys, UAW Local 2325, is disappointed by Mayor DeBlasio’s plan to completely eliminate the Summer Youth Employment Program (SYEP) this upcoming summer. This is a vital program for thousands of young New Yorkers whom our members serve every day. SYEP provides many of these youth with valuable job experience, as well as income that they and their families rely on. Further, our clients involved in the foster care system or the justice system have been looking forward to this program all year. Not only does SYEP motivate them, but it provides them with some financial independence while allowing them to serve their City. SYEP is a critical lifeline for these young New Yorkers, and taking away this critical lifeline from them will exacerbate the trauma they are experiencing from COVID-19. It is bad policy to disenfranchise 75,000 young people that want to work, without consulting with work placement sites to find solutions. The City must fund SYEP and work with advocates and placement sites to ensure young people can participate in the program safely.