During the City Council’s stated meeting on May 5, City Council members Sandra Ung of Queens and Kevin Riley of the Bronx introduced a bill that would create an Office of Continuing Education and Adult Literacy within the city government.
Under the proposed legislation, the office would connect residents in underserved neighborhoods with adult training resources to improve workforce readiness, technological proficiency and literacy programs while also providing wraparound services addressing child care, food insecurity and mental wellness for adult learners.
According to Ung and Riley, the proposed multi-agency collaboration wouldn’t just affect the individual development of community members. They argued it would encourage progress in community development citywide. With this office available to assist people, Ung and Riley believe it could have a positive impact on economic and societal expansion within the city.
“Continuing education and adult literacy programs are crucial tools to help members of our low-income and immigrant communities advance in the workforce and better provide for themselves and their families,” Ung said. “We need an office to expand and promote these programs in the neighborhoods where they will have the greatest impact.”
“Investing into our people through comprehensive support services, extensive professional training and educational programming makes all the difference in inciting individualized growth for New Yorkers while rebuilding and uplifting our communities as a whole,” Riley said. “This bill would lay the framework to tackling quality of life issues that plague our districts, starting at the root of the problem — upgrading outdated infrastructure by addressing inequality and the lack of access to developmental resources to the communities that need it most.”
