Council committee reviews 10 workforce, youth and tax-assistance grants totaling about $2.53 million

On April 3, 2025, the Boston City Council Committee on Labor, Workforce, and Economic Development heard presentations on 10 grants totaling about $2.53 million that the Office of Workforce Development (OWD) would administer for tax-assistance, youth employment and career-center services.

Committee Chair District 6 City Councilor Benjamin Weber read the docket entries into the hearing record and said the committee will bring the measures to the full City Council for a vote next week. "I'll bring them before the council, I think, at the next meeting, next week, for a vote," Weber said.

The package includes two federal- and state-funded tax-preparation grants and multiple awards for youth programs and career-center operations. Constance Martin, who manages the mayor's financial empowerment work in the Worker Empowerment Cabinet, described the Boston Tax Help Coalition and the city's Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) work: "Last year, we filed over 12,000 free taxes in Boston ... This saves the average household about $250," Martin said, and she added the coalition generated about $22 million in refunds and roughly $7.3 million in earned-income tax credits for residents.

Tanisha De Leon, deputy director of YOU (Youth Opportunities Unlimited) with OWD, summarized the youth-program grants and how the funds are used. "Youth have access to cohort-based programming, where they can get paid $16.25 an hour," she said, and interns are paid $18 an hour. De Leon also gave program-level budget splits included in the dockets: one grant from the Baupost Group uses about 69% for youth stipends and 31% for operations; the MLK Scholars grant is about 90% stipends and 10% operations; an "Uncornered" grant is projected at about 60% stipends and 40% operations.

Katie Gall, OWD director of grants, reviewed the career-center funding lines in the package, including carry-in WIOA adult program funds, Wagner-Peyser funds and a state workforce-competitiveness allocation. She noted that some federal dollars are tightly regulated and that WIOA dollars are "allocated on a two-year cycle," meaning funds awarded in FY24 can be expended across FY24 and FY25. Gall said the city braids federal, state and local funds to support two MassHire career centers (one operated by Jewish Vocational Services downtown and another operated by ABCD in Roxbury) and that OWD serves as the fiscal agent for Boston's MassHire workforce board.

Amounts read into the record by Chair Weber (as read) include: - Docket 0294: Volunteer Income Tax Assistance grant, U.S. Department of the Treasury — $100,000 - Docket 0295: Boston Tax Help Coalition (Santander Bank) — $75,000 - Docket 0400: Volunteer Income Tax Assistance funding, Massachusetts Executive Office for Administration and Finance — $410,000 - Docket 0405: Friends of Youth Opportunity Boston (Baupost Group) — $50,000 - Docket 0454: FYOB MLK Scholars Program (The Boston Foundation, pass-through) — $43,312.50 - Docket 0526: Carry-in WIOA adult program (U.S. Department of Labor, passed through MassHire Department of Career Services) — $1,190,071.64 - Docket 0529: Workforce Training Fund (MassHire Department of Career Services) — $95,000 - Docket 0531: Shelter supplement funding (MassHire Department of Career Services) — $41,828.60 - Docket 0642: Wagner-Peyser Program (U.S. Department of Labor, passed through MassHire) — $382,163.59 - Docket 0643: "Uncornered" grant (Massachusetts Department of Public Health, pass-through EDIC of Boston) — $143,000 (chair also referenced $140,000 as a rounded figure in the hearing)

Committee members asked presenters about service access and program design. Councilor Ed Flynn asked how OWD and partner organizations reach and serve people with disabilities; Gall and Martin said the career centers and tax sites have specific accommodations and that OWD funds partners that provide disability-specific services. Gall noted OWD made a $300,000 grant to integrate behavioral health supports into youth-serving programs.

Councilor Aaron Murphy and others pressed about youth access to internships and summer jobs for Boston Public Schools students, including students with disabilities and special education needs. De Leon described YOU as a referral-only program focused on justice-involved and at-risk youth and said YOU places the majority of grant funding directly into youth pay (stipends and hourly wages) while providing case management and barriers removal (IDs, birth certificates, document assistance) as part of intake.

Presenters warned of uncertainty at the federal and philanthropic levels. Martin said the IRS grant for VITA this year was smaller than usual and that local philanthropic support may be diverted to basic needs; Gall and others said some federal workforce programs historically have broad bipartisan support but that the office is monitoring federal developments closely.

No formal votes were taken at the committee hearing. Chair Weber said the committee will present the docketed measures to the full City Council for approval next week. "I think probably next Wednesday we'll have a vote approving all the... grants," he said.

The hearing record lists the dockets as read and notes mayoral sponsorship for several items. The committee adjourned after testimony and questions; public testimony was not taken at this hearing.