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Lawmakers hear DYCD testimony on CSBG use and urge more funding for expanded services
Summary
At a joint Senate–Assembly hearing, DYCD described how New York City uses federal CSBG funds for literacy, ESOL, fatherhood and youth programs and urged more state and federal support; lawmakers pressed on mental-health integration, youth participation and scaling capacity.
Senator Roxanne Persaud and Assemblymember Maritza Davila convened a joint public hearing to gather testimony on the federal Community Services Block Grant (CSBG) program and New York State’s draft plan for distributing federal CSBG funds.
Andrew Miller, assistant commissioner for external relations at the New York City Department of Youth and Community Development (DYCD), told the committees that DYCD serves as the city’s community action agency and uses CSBG to fund a network of community-based organizations that deliver literacy, ESOL, immigrant services, high school youth programs and a fatherhood initiative. "CSBG funded programs played a critical role in the city's efforts to help communities hit hardest by the pandemic and will help us through the recovery," Miller said in his opening testimony.
Miller and Judith Sam, DYCD’s senior director of community action, provided program figures and participant examples: DYCD reported it received about $34,500,000 in CSBG funding for city fiscal year 2024 and said the agency partners with hundreds of community-based organizations and served more than 13,000 individuals (figures as stated in testimony). Miller cited the fatherhood initiative and high school youth program as notable examples of measurable outcomes, describing an ESOL participant who became a U.S. citizen after improving English proficiency and a father who secured supervised visits after completing a fatherhood cohort.
Lawmakers focused questioning on three main priorities. First, Senator Persaud and others pressed DYCD on plans to embed mental-health supports across programs; Miller said DYCD is developing guidance and will add stronger mental-health emphasis to future RFPs. Second, legislators sought clarity on youth participation in advisory bodies: DYCD confirmed Neighborhood Advisory Boards and the youth board recruit 16-and-older participants to amplify youth voice. Third, members probed whether providers could scale services if funding increased; DYCD urged additional state and federal dollars and pointed to program expansions such as the Summer Youth Employment Program, which DYCD said grew from serving roughly 35,000 young people to about 100,000.
Committee members also questioned the alignment of CSBG-funded adult services with workforce development, partnerships with Small Business Services, and capacity limits for fall programs. DYCD representatives said adult literacy, immigrant services and economic development programs are funded separately from New York City Department of Education streams but may include referrals and collaboration with CUNY and library systems.
The hearing did not include any formal votes. Lawmakers closed by thanking witnesses and reiterating an interest in sustaining and expanding CSBG-funded efforts while the Department of State finalizes the state plan that will guide allocations for 2025–26.
