COUNCIL OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA

DC COUNCILMEMBER MICHAEL A. BROWN

Chair, Committee on Housing and Workforce Development
___________ 1350 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, Suite 406 ___________
Washington, DC 20004
MEDIA ADVISORY
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
CONTACT: Linda Boyd - (202) 724-8105; lwhartonboyd@dccouncil.us; Drew Hubbard (202) 724.8198
Thursday, July 29, 2010

COUNCILMEMBER MICHAEL A. BROWN TO HOLD PUBLIC OVERSIGHT ROUNDTABLE ON THE

FISCAL YEAR 2010 SUMMER YOUTH EMPLOYMENT PROGRAM
“Brown Seeks Updated Status on Progress of SYEP; Will Consider Proposed Emergency Legislation to Extend the SYEP
to 7.5 Weeks”

WHAT/WHO: Councilmember Michael Brown, Chairperson of the Committee on Housing and Workforce
Development to hold a public oversight roundtable on the Fiscal Year 2010 Summer Youth
Employment Program to receive an update on the progress of the program and to consider
proposed emergency legislation that would extend the program to 7.5 weeks.

DC Department of Employment Services (DOES) Director Joseph P. Walsh will present the
status report on his agency’s implementation of the 2010 SYEP along with officials from the
Office of the Chief Financial Officer (OCFO). Other witnesses will include parents and youth
who have expressed concerns about the program.

WHERE: Monday, August 2, 2010, at 10:00 a.m.

Room 500 - John A. Wilson Building
1350 Pennsylvania Ave., NW, Washington, D.C. 20004

BACKGROUND: To consider the Mayor’s proposal to extend the SYEP by an additional 7 days, the Council will
examine the financial feasibility of the plan at the public roundtable and hear from the DOES director and OCFO
officials. If necessary, a legislative meeting will follow the roundtable.

The concerns about the SYEP extension plan include the following:

 Lack of a detailed fiscal impact statement about the extension;

 Current spending above the approved SYEP budget;
 Intra-district transfer of $8.4 million from the TANF to the SYEP;
 Two separate $500,000 reprogrammings;
 Lack of information about the amount, source, and spending restrictions of the additional $2 million in
Stimulus Funding;
 Longstanding operational and overspending problems;
 Possible overspending of nearly $10 million in cost overruns; and
 Indications that the SYEP was planned for 7.5 weeks from its inception, despite the fact that District law
limits the program to 6 weeks.

Last year, the Council passed legislation limiting the program to six weeks and the number of participants in the
program to 21,000. This was done in an effort to correct gross overspending permitted by Mayor Adrian Fenty’s
administration in 2008. The overspending placed the future of SYEP in jeopardy as the program was mismanaged and
allowed to balloon to obscene proportions, well outside the budgetary limits set by the Council.

Since the beginning of the program several weeks ago, Councilmember Brown has received a steady stream of
correspondences from concerned parent, youth and host site managers. Brown feels that some of these concerns can
surely be attributed to the normal hiccups related to a large program such as SYEP. As in past years, concerns have
surfaced over registration, certification, pay dates and work site assignments.

“While I certainly support providing our youth with every opportunity possible to gain additional work experiences
and am open to supporting Mayor Fenty’s proposal to extend the SYEP, which would allow for additional earnings, I
also must perform appropriate oversight in this matter so that an informed decision can be made,” said
Councilmember Michael A. Brown. “The roundtable will afford us the opportunity to hear from the Executive about
the financial impact of the proposal as well as provide assessment of the programmatic and managerial aspects of
the program.”

Those who wish to testify should contact Drew Hubbard at (202) 727-8230 or dhubbard@dccouncil.us, and provide
name, organizational affiliation, and title of organization by 5:00 p.m. on Friday, July 30, 2010. Witnesses should bring
20 copies of their written testimony to the roundtable. The Committee allows each individual 3 minutes for oral
testimony so that other witnesses will have an opportunity to be heard. Additionally, written statements are
encouraged to be submitted and will be made part of the official record.

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