Its mandate is enshrined in the 1987 Philippine Constitution: "The State recognizes the vital role of the youth in nation-building and shall promote and protect their physical, moral, spiritual, intellectual and social well-being.

[12] The agency serves as the National Secretariat of the Sangguniang Kabataan (SK), local youth councils in the Philippines.

[13] It is also mandated to conduct a study on the situation of the youth sector every three years to identify priority needs, prevailing attitudes, and gaps in service delivery.

[17] Under the term of NYC Chairperson Ronald Cardema, the agency stopped sponsoring the award-giving program establish the "President Rodrigo Roa Duterte Youth Leadership Awards", which did not materialize.

JV Ejercito (Honorary Chairperson) In October 2018, the 12th National Youth Parliament held in Davao City was met by a series of controversies.

First, then-NYC Chairperson Ronald Cardema was criticized for openly accusing youth groups Kabataan Partylist and Anakbayan as communist recruiters during the program's orientation.

Delegates were asked to do the "Duterte fist-pump" pose during a photo opportunity, while SK Federation Presidents were invited to celebrate with Go in the evening.

This was met by criticism from youth and civil society groups as the initial bill contained provisions deemed unconstitutional.

[22] In June 2020, the agency's employees association sent a letter addressed to President Rodrigo Duterte citing NYC Chairperson Enriquez's "abuse and usurpation of authority, violation of security of tenure, and harassment".