City Council committee hears bill to shrink and formalize Youth Board; DYCD raises implementation questions

Councilman Matthews Stevens, chair of the New York City Council Committee on Children and Youth, opened a hearing on Intro 448-2026, a proposed amendment to the New York City Charter that would restructure the City Youth Board.

"This bill would establish term limits for board members, reduce the size of the board from 28 to 18, and ensuring balanced appointments by both mayor and city council with representation from every borough," Stevens said, describing the measure he sponsored.

The legislation would formalize the board's role in issuing annual policy and legislative recommendations and require the Department of Youth and Community Development (DYCD) to respond in writing to each recommendation within 90 days. Proponents say those changes are intended to strengthen youth participation and accountability.

Andrew Miller, assistant commissioner for external relations at DYCD, told the committee the board currently includes leaders from business, academia, government, foundations and the nonprofit sector and meets quarterly. Miller said the board has been a regular source of program recommendations and examples of board influence include contributions to workforce programming and the Compass after-school initiative.

"A current board member worked on building our current Compass program over 20 years ago, which was then known as out of school time and with a budget of $46,000,000. In the time since then, the system has flourished and has grown thanks to the council support to $755,000,000," Miller said, citing the department's historical funding figures as context for the board's involvement in program development.

Miller and Sarah Marks, senior director of intergovernmental affairs at DYCD, said the department supports the bill's intent but plans to recommend amendments to preserve DYCD's ability to staff and support the board. They flagged possible implementation challenges if membership is reduced while geographic-distribution requirements are tightened.

"We always want to make sure that we have enough members on the board to meet quorum," Miller said, noting that fewer seats and strict borough quotas could make maintaining quorum and continuity more difficult. DYCD suggested exploring phased transitions, staggered terms, or holdover provisions to avoid losing institutional knowledge.

Stevens asked about youth recruitment and how the department supports younger members; Marks said young participants are recruited through youth leadership programs such as My Brother Sister Keeper Youth Council and the NYC Youth Agenda, and that some young people are appointed by the City Council.

In public testimony, Josh Mosby, who said he coordinates a violence-prevention program at Girl Vow, urged the committee to keep youth voices central. "We try to say nothing with them, nothing for them without them," Mosby said, describing a youth advisory board the organization formed and noting that youth participants receive stipends.

The committee did not take a vote on Intro 448-2026 during the hearing. Committee staff and DYCD indicated they would work on technical amendments — including term-length options and transitional language — to address concerns about continuity, quorum and administrative capacity. The hearing record closed after an attempted roll call for remote witnesses produced no additional testimony before the chair adjourned the meeting.

What happens next: The committee is expected to review any recommended amendments from DYCD and committee staff before scheduling further consideration; no formal vote or final action on the charter amendment was recorded at this hearing.