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Q&A
Council Member Stevens questions ACS Commissioner on youth program expansion and demand
1:48:56
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122 sec
Council Member Althea Stevens inquires about the funding and rollout of youth program expansions, particularly the Youth Safety and Success Initiative. Commissioner Jess Dannhauser responds with details on planning efforts, budget allocations, and the expansion of programs like ACES.
- Additional funding of $77.2 million in FY 2025 and varying amounts in subsequent years for youth programs
- ACS plans to serve an additional 2,800+ youth across expanded programs
- ACES program to expand from 160 youth primarily in The Bronx and Northern Manhattan to 600 youth citywide
Althea Stevens
1:48:56
And the preliminary plan added funding from a combination of city and state, the federal funding resources across the year of plans for youth programs in fiscal twenty twenty five, '7 point '7 '7 point '2 million was added, 22,300,000.0 in fiscal twenty twenty six, '4 point '7 million in 2027, and 4,800,000.0 for fiscal twenty twenty eight, and 44,900,000.0 in fiscal twenty twenty nine.
1:49:24
And this is for the Youth Safety and Success Initiative New Needs.
1:49:29
How many how has the rollout of this expansion been going?
Jess Dannhauser
1:49:33
We are just getting started because it's fiscal year twenty six dollars but we've been doing a lot of planning around career choice.
1:49:43
We've begun to work with the ACES team so that they're ready for the expansion.
1:49:48
So we're doing a lot of planning.
1:49:50
We'll be getting out this week the budgets to the foster care agencies for fiscal year twenty six so that they understand their fair futures allocations and many other investments that we're making.
1:50:02
We expect to be on track to serve an additional 2,800 plus youth across these programs.
Althea Stevens
1:50:10
Has ACS seen an increase in demand due to the expansion of this preventive programs?
1:50:16
If so, which programs and by how much?
Jess Dannhauser
1:50:19
So where we assessed the demand was for programming that is very community based, that is word-of-mouth between young people, that does a lot of group work with young people, and is very engaging.
1:50:34
And so that's why we made this significant investment in the ACES program that'll go from 160 youth primarily in The Bronx and Northern Manhattan to citywide for 600 youth.
1:50:46
We think this is key to making sure that we're serving young people and we're trying to keep as many out of secured attention as possible.
Althea Stevens
1:50:54
Those are all the questions I have.
1:50:56
Chair Brennan?
1:50:57
I