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ES2 Issues
ACCESSIBLE AND AFFORDABLE CHILD CARE FOR WORKING NEW YORKERS
ES2 supports the Winning Beginning NY Legislative Agenda.
In this fiscal climate, New York State must spend existing resources wisely while continuing to support our most vulnerable citizens, who are disproportionately impacted by the economy. This does not mean cutting or reducing investments to support our youngest children; it means maintaining current funding levels and investing money in programs that work—programs that will positively impact New York’s State’s families in the short-term, during this crisis, while setting them up to succeed in the long-term, when the crisis has passed.
Children are helped most and the economy is made strongest when scarce resources are allocated on the basis of the best evidence of what will lead to positive child outcomes. Economists have clearly documented the high return on investment in early education. With an estimated return on investment of $4-$17 per dollar spent, early childhood education is one of the best investments we can make right now.
Every child must have the same opportunity for high-quality, culturally and linguistically competent early care and learning and parents must have access to programs that fit their schedules. In order to keep families in New York and to promote current and future workforce growth, the state must take the following steps.
The Legislature Should:
- Restore funding for home visiting programs.
- Restore funding for the Healthy Families New York (HFNY) program for a total of $25 million.
- Restore $5 million in funding for the Nurse-Family Partnership (NFP) program.
- Prevent the loss of child care subsidy funding for low-income families across the state.
- Add $40-$50 million to the state child care block grant.
- Restore Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) funding for SUNY/CUNY child care, migrant child care, and child care demonstration programs.
- Restore funding for afterschool programs to FY09-10 levels. This includes a restoration of Advantage Afterschool funding to $30.5 million and Extended School Day /School Violence Prevention funding to $27.8 million.
Winning Beginning NY also supports the implementation of QUALITYstarsNY, Pre-K reform, and paid family leave.
c/o Hunger Action Network of New York State
260 West 36th Street, Suite 504 New York, NY 10018
Phone: 212-741-8192 ext. 0# / Fax: 212-741-7236
info@hungeractionnys.org