Our Brothers’ Keepers
By MICHAEL BLOOMBERG and GEORGE SOROS
February 28, 2014
Jobs: Young black and Latino men often face specific employment barriers, like criminal history and long periods of unemployment. The Young Men’s Initiative created job programs to address those barriers. More than three of every four young men who participate in the program land a job, well above the national average for similar programs.
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Health and fatherhood: Young men who grow up with fathers in their lives have a much better chance of finishing school and staying out of trouble with the law. The Young Men’s Initiative created new programs, like the Fatherhood Academy, to help fathers and children connect. At the same time, to help more teens avoid unplanned pregnancies, the city mandated sexual education in public schools and expanded access to reproductive health services. Those efforts helped reduce teen pregnancy by 15 percent over the last two years. Today, teen pregnancy and abortion rates are both at historic lows in New York City.
Juvenile justice: New York City worked with state leaders to allow young people who do fall off track to remain in their home communities, rather than be sent to upstate facilities far away from their families and their schools. The city also brought probation services closer to home communities and connected young offenders with resources to keep them on the right track—and that’s one reason the number of youth placed in custody has plummeted by 61 percent in New York City.
New York still has a long way to go, and we have learned many tough lessons. But there’s no question the Young Men’s Initiative has helped thousands of young men improve their odds of success.
We know that other cities and community organizations are also engaged in their own local efforts. Notable examples include Cities United—an effort by mayors to reduce exposure to violence—and the National League of Cities’ project to provide technical assistance and training to nearly a dozen municipalities seeking to develop strategies similar to the Young Men’s Initiative. If more cities step up to meet the challenge President Obama issued, we can change the course of many young lives—and the future of our country.
We both are glad to join President Obama, other foundations and corporate leaders in this effort.
Michael Bloomberg is the former mayor of New York City.
George Soros is chairman of Soros Fund Management and author of the forthcoming Tragedy of the European Union.
https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2014/02/obama-my-brothers-keeper-bloomberg-soros-104082_Page2.html