New Haven officials: ARPA funding exhaustion cuts year‑round youth jobs to 40; summer employment topped 700

At a Sept. 3 meeting of the City of New Haven Youth Services Committee, Director Williams of the Youth and Recreation Department told committee members the department has exhausted one-time American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) allocations that had expanded summer and year‑round youth jobs, and said the city's year‑round employment program will drop to 40 slots this fiscal year.

Why it matters: The reduction shrinks the department's capacity to employ and provide year‑round services to young people and forces staff to scale back expensive signature events previously funded in part with ARPA dollars.

Director Williams, director of the Youth and Recreation Department, told the committee that ARPA money that had supported expanded hiring is gone. "The $2,000,000 that was given to us from ARPA from the city'who paid it has been expended," she said, and she added that a separate local allocation from Representative Walker also has been spent. "Post ARPA is now 40, which was our year round program for this year," Williams said.

Business Manager Eric Blake reported summer employment figures to the committee: "We were able to hire approximately 787 students this summer," he said, adding the program ran in multiple sessions and paid participants "$16.15 an hour for 25 hours a week." Blake said the summer placements covered a variety of roles, from sports and agriculture to administrative work.

Committee members asked how those year‑round staff slots will be distributed. Williams said the department will fund 40 year‑round positions from its baseline budget (pre‑ARPA levels) and has committed 12 of those 40 positions to a tutoring initiative run with the New Haven Tutoring Initiative.

The department also told the committee it is prioritizing lower‑cost or partner‑funded signature events going forward. Williams said the department cannot fiscally absorb large, single‑event concerts without new external funding: "The concerts cost us about 350,000," she said, and provided a breakdown later in the discussion that included artist fees, venue and sound costs. Williams said the hip‑hop concerts historically ran about $250,000 and some gospel concerts about $110,000, and that those price increases make funding such events from the department's core budget infeasible.

Staff outlined continuing program activity through the end of the calendar year and into next summer: the fall program guide is scheduled for distribution Oct. 1; swimming lessons are set to resume in October with five weekly sessions; middle‑school and high‑school girls' leagues and clinics are scheduled to start in September; and established community events such as a trunk‑or‑treat (Oct. 31), a Thanksgiving giveaway (Nov. 19), a Friends of Rudolph event (Dec. 7) and summer program dates for 2026 were listed.

Discussion vs. decision: The presentation and follow‑up answers were informational; no committee vote or budget appropriation was taken at the meeting. Committee members asked the department to explore lower‑cost event options and to return with funding options if the committee wishes to pursue scaled or partner‑funded concerts.

The department provided additional context about sustaining formerly ARPA‑funded programs by leveraging partner relationships (for example with DMV, New Haven Public Schools and probation) but said continuing the expanded scale will require new, ongoing dollars.

For further reading: Eric Blake said the department is planning a smaller, year‑round network program launching in October and will seek additional funding to expand beyond the 40 slots if new dollars are secured after January.

Ending: Committee Chair Kimberly Edwards thanked staff for the work and asked them to return with proposals for lower‑cost events or external sponsorships if available. The meeting adjourned after a brief procedural vote.