“The country’s disconnected youth are nearly twice as likely to live in poverty, more than three times as likely to have a disability of some kind, nine times as likely to have dropped out of high school, and more than twenty times as likely to be living in institutionalized group quarters as their connected counterparts.” - Measure of America

“More than 90 percent of applicants to Chicago’s OSC+ Program received free or reduced price lunch, and applicants lived in neighborhoods where a third of households live below the poverty line and unemployment averages nearly 20 percent.” - J-Pal Policy Briefcase

“The best way to prevent looting is to provide people with a living wage, provide for their basic needs,  treat them with human dignity, and facilitate a life that is about thriving.” -USA Today

“The need to develop trust and transparency between opportunity youth and employers as a way to overcome the biases that erect formidable barriers to connection” - Schultz Family Foundation

“Providing in the short term for the basic needs of these communities and committing over the long term to building an infrastructure of opportunity for young people in isolated and impoverished rural areas as well as in deeply disadvantaged urban neighborhoods must be our priority” - Measure of America

“Compared to white students, Black students were more likely to have extended family members who needed money and asked them to help. When Black students got a summer job, for example, they might end up sending checks to help a nephew or a cousin. Economists refer to this as ‘leakage.’” - Investopedia

“The SYEP initiative also serves as a source of income for low-income families, the IBO said. Last summer, 85 percent of participants came from families reporting incomes of $31,000 or less, and many of them lived in the city’s public housing.” - New York City by the Numbers

“Funding cuts for the city’s Summer Youth Employment Program (SYEP) might cause young people to lose over $109 million in wages in 2020 (NYC)” - Manhattan Times