New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg announced a new initiative this week to help reverse some of the negative trends afflicting young minority males in the city. The initiative, funded partly from city funds and partly from his own foundation, is looking to launch “boldest and most comprehensive effort” to tackle the rising numbers of unemployment, poverty and incarceration among this group.
“A job is the best anti-poverty and anti-crime program ever devised anywhere in the world,” Bloomberg said.
New York City will spend $127 million in public and private funds on programs designed to help young black and Latino men.
Billionaire Mayor Michael Bloomberg will kick in $30 million from his foundation and hedge fund manager George Soros will match that amount, according to the mayor’s office. The remaining $67.5 million will be paid by the city.
The Young Men’s Initiative was first reported by The New York Times on Wednesday. The mayor’s office called it the nation’s “boldest and most comprehensive effort to tackle the broad disparities slowing the advancement of black and Latino young men” in a statement.It will include job placement, fatherhood classes and training for probation officers and school staff on how to help the young men get ahead. More than a dozen city agencies will be involved. The program will target about 315,000 black and Latino men between the ages of 16 and 24.
Sounds promising. We hope that this will be the start of significant change in NYC, but some aren’t so sure. Some critics of the plan say that job training is helpful, but where are the so-called jobs they will be filling?
Any of New York family care to give their two cents on this? Do you think this is the right approach? Get more details on the plan here.