Jobs

A 2008 study by the Public Advocate Betsy Gotbaum found that the majority of welfare applicants experienced long waits, received misleading information and had to come back multiple times. Let’s reform our Job Centers by (a) ensuring applicants receive clearly written materials on requirements for applications and compliance, (b) reducing wait times and (c) better training workers to improve customer service. The City Council should pass the Ready Access to Assistance Act, to allow applicants to enlist an advocate on their behalf to help them better navigate the system, and to allow non-profits to set up tables in the office’s public areas to better assist applicants.

The City’s current welfare-to-work program focuses on getting job seekers into the workforce as soon as possible. Let’s instead focus on education and training, so that welfare recipients get into good paying jobs in which they can build a career. This will improve economic growth and ensure that those passing through the welfare program have the skills needed to compete in the modern economy. The State Legislature should revisit legislation to have welfare offices take steps towards emphasizing nontraditional employment and jobs paying over 185 percent of the poverty rate.

Over one thousand youth in New York City age out of our foster care system every year, with thousands more needing to become independent while still in their teens. In order to assist working youth in our City, we should support Assembly Member Susan John's extension of the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) to young workers ages seventeen to twenty four with increased standard deductions and deductions for student loan interest -- this would make youth eligible for an average benefit of $280. For our part, the New York City education system could integrate tax preparation into its secondary and higher education curriculum where our government should have a duty to help students file taxes and qualify for benefits like a new EITC.