NYC Council Releases Agency Report Card for the Department of Youth and Community Development, Urging Stronger Support from City Hall and Strategic Direction

Council issues "D" Rating for the agency, citing City Hall impediments

City Hall, NY - Today, the New York City Council released its agency report card for the Department of Youth and Community Development (DYCD), the third in a series of evaluations on how effectively city agencies serve New Yorkers and identify opportunities for improvements to operations and service delivery. DYCD received an overall letter grade of D, reflecting issues of City Hall management that continue to limit the agency's ability to fulfill its mission of supporting young New Yorkers and communities.

While the agency plays a critical role in expanding opportunities for young people, ongoing challenges and impediments caused by the mayoral administration have led to the agency's chronic understaffing, limited program expansion, and insufficient communication with providers. The Council's evaluation was hampered by the mayoral administration, which withheld key information needed to provide a comprehensive assessment and recommendations.

This agency report card initiative stems from Speaker Adrienne Adams' 2024 State of the City address, in which she called for enhanced oversight and accountability for city government agencies. The Council previously released evaluations of the Department of Veterans' Services (DVS) and the Department of Parks and Recreation (DPR).

The full report can be viewed here.

"Young people in our city deserve support, enrichment, and greater access to opportunity," said Speaker Adrienne Adams. "While the Department of Youth and Community Development plays a pivotal role, their success is hampered by inadequate support from the mayoral administration. Nearly half a million young New Yorkers benefit from DYCD's diverse programs, and our city should strengthen the agency's ability to serve them. I thank Council staff for their work on this report card initiative to comprehensively evaluate the operations and performance of important city agencies that serve New Yorkers."

DYCD is responsible for most of the City's youth programming outside of regular school hours, serving more than 432,000 young New Yorkers annually through educational enrichment, leadership development, workforce pathways, and services for runaway and homeless youth. Yet, as demand for services grows, the agency's staffing, systems, and resources have not kept pace, creating barriers for youth and families.

Among the Council's key recommendations to improve services are:

• Develop and publicly release a strategic plan to guide long-term priorities and outcomes.
• Strengthen communication and collaboration with providers, including adopting clear standards for responsiveness.
• Improve the contracting process with timely payments and more regular updates to program models and RFPs.
• Expand accessibility, mental health and legal supports, and language access for youth and families.
• Modernize digital platforms and referral tools, including real-time tracking of shelter availability.
• Increase staffing and compensation to better support programs, providers, and youth participants.

The Council is a co-equal branch of city government and has a City Charter mandate to conduct oversight of city agencies. While the Mayor's Management Report (MMR) provides important data about the performance of city agencies and the outcomes they produce for New Yorkers, its metrics don't always show the full picture. To provide further insight into agency performance, the Council has begun to conduct its own evaluations of city agencies and will issue report cards for individual agencies on their delivery of services to New Yorkers with recommended action steps to remedy underperformance. There is great talent within the agency and this report represents a fresh opportunity for the mayoral administration to empower DYCD to better serve and improve the lives of New York's young people.

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