NYC launches virtual youth jobs program amid spike in gun violence 

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By David Brand

New York City’s Office of Neighborhood Safety announced the rollout of a virtual youth employment program designed to give young people work and learning opportunities amid dual spikes in gun violence and unemployment.

The Anti-Gun Violence Employment Program, administered remotely for the first time, will provide employment and other opportunities to about 700 young people between ages 14 and 24, with the virtual initiative formally launching on July 13. The AGVEP will focus on children and young adults from neighborhoods and NYCHA housing complexes with the highest rates of COVID-19.

Participants will earn stipends ranging from $850 to 1,200 for 10 to 15 hours of work over a six-week period. Courses include youth leadership and organizing, career readiness, financial empowerment, web development and coding and music production. The initiative comes a week after the city preserved the annual Summer Youth Employment Program as part of the most recent budget.

Kids and young adults with activities and jobs to occupy their time are far less likely to resort to conflict and gun violence, the city theorizes.

"The most powerful route to safety is to provide meaningful opportunity to New Yorkers,” said Elizabeth Glazer, director of the Mayor's Office of Criminal Justice. “These investments are even more important at this juncture in our city’s history as we turn more and more to a community-first approach to safety."

The AGVEP was founded in 2016 and connected young people with in-person jobs at community-based organizations. The virtual program will allow the initiative to continue during COVID-related closures and social distancing considerations.

"Empowering communities — and young people in particular — should be the foundation of all justice reforms,” said Young Men's Initiative Executive Director Jordan Stockdale.