As mayor of one of the most exciting cities in the world, Michael Bloomberg is aware that behind the bright lights of Broadway, and the financial electricity of Wall Street, New York is home to an underclass of African-American and Latino men with bleak prospects for a successful future. In an effort to correct that situation, Bloomberg put up $30 million of his own money to help fund The Young Men’s Initiative. (YMI). Hedge fund billionaire George Soros will match that amount with money from his Open Society Foundation. The remainder of the nearly $130 million project will be funded by the City of New York.
African-American and Latinos make up 84% of the jail population of New York City, according to Bloomberg. Most of that population will eventually be released back into the community. To keep that population from returning back to jail or prison, and to prevent young people of color from becoming a part of the NYC criminal justice system, the Young Men’s Initiative will be comprised of several components including:
Education
Remedial math and literacy classes will be taught, and those who attend will be eligible for an after-class internship program in which participants will be paid $7.25 an hour. Participation in the internship program is contingent on strong participation in the educational classes.
Throughout the city, school system, test scores and graduation rates of minority youth will be compiled, and each school will be graded on the success rate of minority students. A low rate for the school could mean that the school could be closed, according to the In another area, social education, the YMI will also hold fatherhood classes.
Criminal Justice System
The New York Probation Department, which has over 30,000 clients, the majority of them African-American or Latino, will no longer be confined to centralized offices in each of the boroughs that make up NYC. Instead, probation officers will be situated in satellite offices in high crime neighborhoods and in community organizations that help with housing, medical and mental health issues, and who offer programs that can provide job preparedness and social skills to probationers, as well as recreational activities. Being able to connect those on probation with needed services in a timely manner is one of the goals of this new concept.
Employment
The Young Men’s Initiative will include 900 paid mentors, many with criminal histories, to engage YMI participants in community betterment projects. Employing mentors who have had run-ins with the law and have turned their lives around is not only inspirational to those on probation, but gives potential employers a chance to see that those with a criminal background can, and do, make responsible and hardworking employees when given the chance. City agencies will be reviewed to determine if unduly harsh restrictions are placed on applicants with criminal histories. The Mayor also requests that those in the position to hire for City positions do not ask about an applicant’s criminal history at the initial interview. The above-mentioned internship program for those in the remedial math and literacy classes is expected to provide work histories for young men, many of whom never held a job.
Mayor Bloomberg and George Soros’ determination to help disadvantaged minorities is being heralded as having the potential to make a major positive impact on young people The three-year YMI program is expected to help those transitioning from jail back into their communities, and to keep other young minority men from ever becoming another statistic in the criminal justice system.
Sources: The New York Times and CNN News
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