Among several key Medgar Evers College programs training students for significant New York area employment sectors is Retraining for Access to Careers in Health and Human Services (REACH). The program annually prepares more than 1,000 students, who are receiving public assistance, or are downsized DC37 or Local 1199 union members for careers in human services, health, and public administration careers. Those who complete the program get such well-paid jobs that fewer than 1% have had to apply for transitional first year public assistance benefits, saving more than an estimated $5 million in City funds. The State Education Department-funded Central Brooklyn School- to-Career Opportunities Partnership has, since 1996, trained 1,600 teachers and administrators, conducted summer institutes and career development workshops, and has also placed 400 out-of-school youths as part-time paid interns with local employers or facilitated their enrollment in GED programs. This broad consortium of borough institutions and businesses has reached out to over 24,000 students at all levels, as well as nearly 2,500 out-of-school youths. The College's Bunche/DuBois Center for Public Policy is playing a key role in negotiations and planning for an Economic Empowerment Zone in Brooklyn. A related initiative is the Small Business Center, which provides counseling and referral services to the local community, as well as lectures and seminars on such topics as mortgage financing, importing/exporting, women in business, and entrepreneurship. Among the College's many grant-funded continuing education and external initiatives are the Flatbush and New Fort Greene Beacon Centers, which serve 500 children each in after-school and Saturday programs funded by the New York City Department of Youth Services; and the Talent Search Program, which provides tutorials and assistance in entering college to 1,200 students with a U.S. Department of Education grant. Other educational outreach programs funded at Medgar Evers are the CUNY-CATCH Program for Ex-Offenders, the Science and Technology Entry Program (STEP), and the CUNY/SUNY Child Welfare Worker Education Program, designed to upgrade care in group homes.	The National Association of State and Land-Grant Colleges reports in Value Added: The Economic Impact of Public Universities, that public institutions multiply the effect of tax dollars, generating a median average return of $4 for every state dollar invested.