Mayor de Blasio Announces New Initiative Pairing Vocational and Educational Opportunities for Young Parents with Child Care

September 8, 2017

Award of federal education grant will help launch program supporting 50 parents aged 17-to-24 and their children

NEW YORK—Today, Mayor de Blasio and Gabrielle Fialkoff, Senior Advisor to the Mayor and Director of the Office of Strategic Partnerships, announced a four-year $250,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Education to integrate child-care support and parent coaching into its services for young parents who are out-of-work and out-of-school. New York City will invest an additional $316,000 in this new initiative, the New York City Performance Partnership Pilot (NYCP3). Developed by the NYC Center for Youth Employment (CYE) in partnership with the NYC Children’s Cabinet, the Department of Youth and Community Development (DYCD) and the Administration for Children’s Services (ACS), NYCP3 attends to the specific needs of young parents who are also out-of-school and out-of-work, offering family-friendly support to help them achieve their employment and education goals—including, but not limited to, high school equivalency preparation, occupational skills training, and child care. With this program, New York City will test the idea that providing stable, high-quality child-care and related support to young parents will remove obstacles that impede their economic success and stability.

“No one should lack access to opportunity simply because they’re a parent,” said Mayor Bill de Blasio. “When young people are able to finish their education or start a career, the whole city reaps the benefits. The NYC Performance Partnership Pilot helps create opportunity for young parents to help them create a better life both for themselves and their children.”

"Life can be particularly challenging for young parents in NYC, who are detached from school and work. While developing the independence to live on their own, or grappling with poverty, they may feel that the cards are stacked against them. The NYC Performance Partnership Pilot will provide young parents with the child care, education and career training they need to unlock their full potential," said First Lady Chirlane McCray, ‎Co-Chair of the NYC Children's Cabinet and Chair of the Mayor’s Fund.

Young people aged 16-to-24 who are neither working nor in school frequently struggle with lower lifetime earnings, poor health, housing insecurity, justice system involvement, and other negative life outcomes. Young parents who are disconnected from the labor force face even steeper challenges and worse long-term outcomes. Building upon current DYCD-administered programs for out–of-school youth, the NYCP3 will help identify what kind of support is effective in improving the outcomes for young parents and their families.

Through the initiative, DYCD and ACS will support 50 young parents ages 17-to-24 and their children with services that address the education, employment and developmental needs of both parents and children. The project objective is to improve participants’ access to multiple career pathways by providing guaranteed childcare and educational and workforce support, including high school equivalency preparation, work readiness and occupational skills training (including paid work experiences) and supportive services, and assistance with placement in employment and/or postsecondary education. Youth participants will be recruited citywide and receive services from Opportunities for a Better Tomorrow, a highly regarded service provider based in Brooklyn.

“We are strongest as a city when we support our most vulnerable citizens. The New York City Performance Partnership Pilot will help us determine the best ways to increase opportunity for young parents who are disconnected from the workforce and help put them and their children on a path to long-term success. We are proud to generate novel models like this to better enable all families across the City to thrive,” said Gabrielle Fialkoff, Senior Advisor to the Mayor, Director of the Office of Strategic Partnerships and Vice-Chair of the Mayor’s Fund.

“For young people to successfully complete the transition from childhood to adulthood, they need supports and resources – supports that are often unavailable to the youth who need them the most. By connecting young parents in need to stabilizing supports like childcare, employment and education, we can positively impact their lives and those of their children,” said Richard Buery, Deputy Mayor for Strategic Policy Initiatives and Chair of the Children’s Cabinet.

“Through the Center for Youth Employment we are thrilled to see the launch of this new pilot program, which joins a national network of initiatives exploring innovative approaches to serving our most vulnerable populations,” said Darren Bloch, Executive Director, Mayor’s Fund to Advance NYC.

"This exciting project was developed to promote the Children’s Cabinet's effort to foster collaboration among City agencies in order to improve safety and well-being outcomes,” said Benita Miller, Executive Director of the Children’s Cabinet. “Through this project, the City will test two-generation interventions aimed at improving the educational and vocational outcomes for young adults while making sure their children have access to quality early childhood learning programs.”

"This new and important initiative reflects our City's work to ensure high-quality early care and education for New York City children from birth to 5 years old, and our commitment to putting our young adults on the path to meaningful careers," said Schools Chancellor Carmen Fariña. "I am excited about this pilot to deepen that work and better serve New York City's children and young adults."

“Ensuring the best outcomes for our young people means partners must work together— this is a perfect example of thoughtful partnership that seizes on the critical supports parents need to raise healthy, thriving children,” said Administration for Children’s Services Commissioner David Hansell. “ACS is proud to work with the Children’s Cabinet and the Department of Youth & Community Development to ensure parents have quality child care through our continuum of Early Care & Education services.”

“As a member of the NYC Children’s Cabinet, the Department of Youth and Community Development works collaboratively with other agencies to develop and implement effective programs and policies to address the needs of our vulnerable youth and their families. The NYCP3 pilot is an exciting initiative that provides comprehensive support for young parents participating in our OSY program. Each young person has their own unique struggles and this initiative further demonstrates the administration’s commitment to move beyond a one-size-fits-all approach by connecting them to as many resources as possible,” said DYCD Commissioner Bill Chong.

“NYCP3 leverages the strengths of multiple City agencies and draws both local and federal support, all on behalf of vulnerable young New Yorkers. CYE is grateful to our partners in this work and excited for what we will learn about how best to provide holistic services for young parents and their children,” said David Fischer, Executive Director of the Center for Youth Employment.

The Center for Youth Employment was established in May 2015 by Mayor de Blasio and First Lady Chirlane McCray to expand, improve, and connect youth and young adults– including those in homeless shelters, foster care, the justice system, LGBTQ youth and young parents--to programs and other opportunities to help them add skills, gain work experience, and explore potential career paths. CYE has focused on strengthening systems and developing partnerships within and across government, the private sector, philanthropy, and the nonprofit community. A public-private initiative, the Center was conceived and launched by the Mayor’s Fund to Advance New York City in collaboration with City agencies and private partners.