NEW YORK—Mayor Bloomberg announced on Thursday morning the Young Men’s Initiative, a bold and expansive plan to merge the gap between young black and Latino males and their peers. The $127 million initiative will stretch over three years with programs and policy installations across the five boroughs.

Bloomberg made the announcement at a meeting hosted by the Council of Urban Professionals. He was joined by Deputy Mayor for Health and Human Services Linda I. Gibbs, Schools Chancellor Dennis M. Walcott, President of the Eagle Academy Foundation David Banks, President of the New York Women’s Foundation Ana Oliveira, and George Soros.

After beginning his third term in office in January 2010, Bloomberg asked David Banks, president of the Eagle Academy Foundation, and Ana Oliveira, president of the New York Women’s Foundation to lead an investigation into what barriers young black and Latino young men encounter; an 18-month investigation ensued and the Young Men’s Initiative is the outcome of their study.

Results from the investigation showed the disparities between males 18 to 24 years of age, according to their race. The poverty rate for blacks and Latinos in the age group was 50 percent higher, the unemployment rate was 60 percent higher and 90 percent of murder victims and perpetrators are black or Latino.

“When we look at poverty rates, graduation rates, crime rates, and employment rates, one thing stands out: blacks and Latinos are not fully sharing in the promise of American freedom and far too many are trapped in circumstances that are difficult to escape,” Bloomberg said Thursday morning.

Bloomberg Philanthropies, the mayor’s personal foundation, will allot $30 million to the project and the Open Society Foundation Campaign for Black Male Achievement will match his donation. Investor and philanthropist George Soros founded the Open Society Foundation. Another $67.5 million will come from the city.

The plan focuses on four major spheres: education, health, employment, and the justice system. A special focus will be on the Department of Probation, where the majority of the 30,000 New Yorkers in the system are black and Latino. The department is to add satellite offices in neighborhoods with the highest number of disconnected youth that would provide resources for employment and education opportunities.

Other programs include Expanded Success Initiative for schools that will motivate students to strive and close the achievement gap between blacks and Latinos and their colleagues. Another education program, School Progress Reports, will offer a new system of measuring improvement of black and Latino students specifically.

Jobs-Plus, a proven system of employment opportunities will also expand its reach toward young males of the specific race groups.

Agencies will provide young fathers with support and education about parenting responsibilities; grant them access to clinics and other mentoring programs; all in the hope of increasing the young fathers’ involvement in their babies’ lives.

Deputy Mayor Linda Gibbs and Chancellor Dennis Walcott will supervise the program implementation across city agencies.

Councilman Ydanis Rodriguez of District 10 in Central Harlem saw many positive aspects in the approach to a problem that has lasted many years. Rodriguez agreed with the initiative’s focus dispersed among the four spheres of public services.

“Young people don’t need to be placed in McDonald’s or Burger King. We need to bring real training programs that will ... put those young people in permanent jobs where they can support their family,” Rodriguez said.

Rodriguez is the chairman of the City Council’s Committee on Higher Education, and he sees many young males drop out of college and unable to find appropriate work.

He noted that “we should look at the causes,” of why young males of the distinct groups find challenges balancing education and employment, usually having to choose between one or the other at a young age.

“Many of them have to work 30 hours in order for them to get benefits from the public assistance program,” Rodriguez noted. “Our young people, they want to work,” he said, “they should contribute to the development of the city.”

Councilman Robert Jackson also voiced his support of the initiate in a statement released Thursday afternoon.

“Despite the administrations’ previous missteps, the mayor is to be applauded for implementing a plan that makes him more accountable for this city’s black and Latino males’ future direction,” Jackson said in a press release.

“The plight of black and Latino young men growing up in our city is bleak when it comes to their future prospects such as gainful employment, self-sustainability, and a life without crime and incarceration,” added Jackson.

Bloomberg Launches Young Men’s Initiative