Boston Council Hears Calls to Restore Youth Jobs and Fund $4 Million Mental Health Pilot

BOSTON — April 28, 2026 — Boston residents demand reversal of youth job cuts and $4 million mental health pilot funding at City Hall budget session. The Committee on Ways and Means, chaired by District 6 Councillor Ben Weber, held a public listening session Tuesday on the fiscal year 2027 budget, docket numbers 0733 through 0740, drawing dozens of testifiers who urged the council to restore a $6 million cut to school year youth employment, reinstate the $450,000 Access to Counsel program for Boston Public Schools families facing eviction, and fully fund a community-led non-police mental health crisis response pilot at $4 million — noting roughly $1.3 million has been allocated but falls short of the program's designed scope. Members of the Boston People's Response Campaign, which grew out of an $875,000 city-funded design process begun in 2021, described the gap as too large to implement the model. Councillor Brian Worrell called the proposed budget "the one that I have seen that has had the most cuts in it" during his four-plus years on the council, and Weber publicly noted his disappointment that more colleagues were not present to hear testimony.