By Kate Breslin, Schuyler Center President and CEO
Every person deserves access to good health care, and that includes dental care. That is not a radical idea. It is a basic expectation that our health systems should be built to meet. Yet right now, too many New Yorkers cannot get basic dental care. Not because they have not tried or don’t care, but because the doors are locked. There is no dentist in their area. The nearby practices do not take their insurance. Appointments are unavailable. Out-of-pocket care is unaffordable. These are not personal failures. They are the predictable result of a system that wasn’t designed to reach everyone.
Schuyler Center recognized this pressing issue and launched the Future Oral Health Workforce Project in 2024. Over two years, this initiative brought together and synthesized insights from over 300 individuals, statewide studies, expert consultations, and community convenings to develop comprehensive recommendations for building a more equitable and effective oral health system. The goal is both simple and challenging: Bring good, affordable oral health care to more New Yorkers in more areas of the state.
We didn’t arrive at this conclusion without taking the time to talk with consumers and providers; to thoroughly investigate how dental therapy is working in the other states where it is authorized; and review data about safety and effectiveness spanning several decades. The data and the experiences in other states show that adding dental therapists to the oral health workforce brings better care to more people, especially people with low incomes and in rural communities.
For Schuyler Center, this is both an equity and a public health issue. No one should lack access to dental care because of where they live or what insurance they have. As an organization dedicated to reducing poverty and creating an equitable New York for all populations, we see that dental therapy can improve access to oral health treatment for the most underserved populations and can create good jobs near the people they serve.
And it can start working soon: Other states have shown that it is possible to create and open a program to train dental therapists in just a few years.
We are fully committed to bringing dental therapy to New York State because getting dental care shouldn’t depend on your zip code or your income. That is basic fairness and basic humanity.
The New York Partnership for Dental Therapy is a statewide coalition of organizations committed to expanding access to oral health care by authorizing dental therapists to practice in New York State. Dental therapists are credentialed providers who bring preventive and restorative dental care to communities that have long gone without adequate access.
Schuyler Center recently welcomed four new members to the Board of Trustees. We are grateful for their leadership, expertise, and service while we work to create a New York State where all children and families can thrive.
Learn more about our newest board members:
Damyn Kelly is a recognized leader in the nonprofit sector. As a strategic thinker and planner, he combines experience, data, evidence-based practices, and strong ties to the community to lead organizations seeking to enhance the quality of life for the marginalized and underserved in New York City. Damyn currently serves as the President and CEO of Lutheran Social Services of NY, an $85 million social services organization, employing 660 human services professionals across 39 sites. Programs of LSSNY include: immigration legal services, foster care, supportive housing, family shelters, early childhood education, prevention services and food pantries.
Hope Lesane is an experienced policy leader specializing in early childhood education and advocacy. As Senior Policy Advisor at the CUNY Early Childhood Professional Development Institute, Hope works with statewide leaders to advance early childhood initiatives. Her work centers on workforce development, compensation, and advocacy efforts impacting New York State’s early childhood professionals.
Previously, as Associate Director for Early Childhood at The Education Trust-NY, Hope led a prenatal-to-three advocacy coalition and cultivated extensive community relationships across New York State. She drafted influential policy reports and represented the organization before the NYS Childcare Availability Task Force and the NYS Board of Regents.
In her former role as Director of Early Childhood Initiatives at Teach For America-New York, Hope developed a specialized training institute and successfully secured scholarship funding for early childhood corps members. She additionally possesses deep experience in instructional coaching and classroom teaching, having served at both the Manhattan Charter School and the Grand Street Settlement Head Start Program.
Hope holds a Master of Science in Early Childhood Education and Students with Disabilities from Touro College and a Bachelor of Science in Elementary Education from Nyack College. A resident of Brooklyn, she lives with her husband, Jamaal, and her two children, Mia and Theo.
Rev. West McNeill is the NYS Labor-Religion Coalition Program Director. They are ordained in the United Church of Christ and have over a decade of experience organizing with community, faith, and labor organizations across New York State. They were named to City & State’s “Faith Power 100” list of New York’s most influential religious leaders. West holds an M.Div. from Union Theological Seminary in New York City, a B.A. in journalism from Ithaca College, and is a graduate of the Union Leadership Institute of the NYS AFL-CIO and Cornell.
B Panchanadeswaran (Panch) is a senior Finance Executive with over 40 years of global experience across the Financial Services Industry, with a strong track record leading companies through startup, growth, and turnaround phases.
Currently Head of Monetization at Pagaya Technologies (NASDAQ: PGY), a global technology company enabling financial products accessible to more customers nationwide. Panch has served as CFO of Caliber Home Loans, Consumer and Commercial Banking at Santander Bank N.A., Citi Mortgage, and Citi Financial. His expertise spans Capital Markets, Pricing, and Portfolio Management.
A seasoned Risk Management leader, Panch served as COO of Global Consumer Risk at Citi during the Financial Crisis, interfacing with regulators, redesigning the bank’s Risk architecture, and leading its first Stress Testing exercise. Throughout his career, Panch has managed diverse lending programs — Cards, Personal Loans, Auto, and Mortgages — across large banks, regional banks, and nonbank finance companies, serving the full credit spectrum in varied regulatory environments.
His global experience living and working in India, Turkey, Belgium, Dubai, and the USA has shaped a dynamic, flexible management style marked by strong communication skills and an analytical, results-oriented approach.
Panch holds a CPA from India and a degree from the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad. A New York City resident for 20 years, he actively contributes to numerous NGOs.
On May 27, 2026, the Governor signed into law the 2026-27 New York State Enacted Budget. Schuyler Center’s Last Look is our initial assessment of the enacted State budget and how it advances priorities that improve the health and wellbeing of all New Yorkers, especially children and families living in poverty. The dollar amounts included in this document—and all of Schuyler Center “Looks”—reflect budget appropriations, or “spending authority.” Appropriations tell us the maximum spending authority permitted by the State, which is often much greater than what the State actually spends. Actual state expenditures are more closely reflected in the financial plan which will be released in a few weeks.
This year’s budget makes key investments that will support children experiencing poverty but will likely not be bold enough to protect families from the full impact of federal cuts and rising costs. The Enacted Budget makes meaningful investments in child care, including record funding for child care assistance, pre-K, and universal child care pilot programs, and includes new protections for immigrant families, some new funding for legal services, and inclusion of New York City in funding for Raise the Age services. It does not include new investments in health coverage, nutrition supports, Early Intervention Services, and WIC funding.
154 years ago this month, Louisa Lee Schuyler looked at what was happening to the poorest people across New York and decided it wasn’t good enough. She didn’t have a staff or a budget or a policy agenda. She had a conviction that human beings deserved better, and that the people with the knowledge and the will to fight for them had an obligation to do so. That conviction became her mission, and it remains Schuyler Center’s work today. As we mark our anniversary this month, I find myself thinking about how much that original impulse still drives everything we do: the research, the testimony, the coalition meetings, the days spent in the halls of the Capitol, or traveling across the state to learn about how policy impacts communities. We do this work because New York State should be a place where every person can thrive, starting from the very beginning of life, and because we know that with the right policies, it is genuinely possible.
This past year gave us real proof of that. Because of our community of supporters, New York enacted the largest expansion of the state child tax credit, putting up to $1,000 back in the pockets of families with young children. Free school meals are now guaranteed for every student in the state. More families can get affordable child care. None of it happened quickly or easily. All of it happened because people showed up, year after year, and refused to let these issues fall off the agenda. I am so proud of what we’ve built together, and I am clear-eyed about what’s still ahead. Now, massive federal funding cuts threaten basic services families depend on. Child poverty is still too high. The work is far from finished.
So as we mark Schuyler Center’s 154th anniversary, I’m asking you to invest in what comes next. A generous donor is matching every gift made this month, dollar-for-dollar. That means your contribution will go twice as far for New York’s families. Whatever you’re able to give, it funds the data analysis that makes the case, the advocacy that moves policy, and the sustained presence that turns an idea into a real difference in a family’s life. Please make your gift today at scaany.org/donate.
From the bottom of my heart, thank you for being part of this. We may be 154 years into this work, but I believe we’re just getting started.
This May 11th, Schuyler Center is celebrating our 154th Founder’s Day! On this day in 1872, what we know today as the Schuyler Center for Analysis and Advocacy, was founded by Louisa Lee Schuyler in the parlor of her parents’ home. Originally founded as the State Charities Aid Association (SCAA), the mission was to promote an active interest in New York State institutions of public charity and aid the state in the administration of its public charities. It was organized as a nonprofit, nonsectarian, and independent organization and remains so today.
The early achievements of SCAA include founding a committee that removed young children from poorhouses, educating the public about tuberculosis, working in adoption and foster care, developing a training school for nurses, and advocating for improvements to the deplorable conditions in tenement houses. This advocacy continued throughout the 20th century, setting the stage for The Schuyler Center to become a powerful force in protecting families and children in New York State.
In December 2000, SCAA changed its name to the Schuyler Center for Analysis and Advocacy, to reflect its expanded mission to analyze and inform public policy and to acknowledge in a permanent way the organization’s indebtedness to Louisa Lee Schuyler for her vision and action.
Today, Schuyler Center continues to build upon the legacy started by Louisa Lee Schuyler 154 years ago. Our dedicated team continues to advocate fiercely for improved conditions for New Yorkers living in poverty and advance social welfare policy for all New York families.
For 154 years, we’ve asked one relentless question about every policy decision: Is this good for children? That question guides our work today, in a moment that demands more from all of us. Federal funding cuts are threatening Medicaid, nutrition programs, and child care assistance that millions of New York families depend on. Nearly 1 in 5 New York children still lives in poverty, a higher rate than 38 other states.
Right now, expert, evidence-based advocacy has never been more vital, or more at risk of being drowned out. Your support keeps Schuyler Center in the room, making the case for children who cannot always speak for themselves.
Louisa Lee Schuyler was born into a wealthy family in 1837 in New York City. At 24, she became a leader in the Women’s Central Association of Relief, where she was tasked with overseeing all of the volunteers on the home front of the Civil War, including distributing supplies and providing training materials.
With this experience, she founded the State Charities Aid Association, useing the skills she developed during the Civil War to create visiting committees. She established these committees of volunteers with the intention to visit every institution in New York State to make the public aware of the deplorable conditions and to make recommendations to the State Commissioners of Public Charities, later renamed The State Board of Charities.
Louisa leveraged her position in society by inviting her wealthy friends to join these visiting committees and using that social power to make recommendations and urge change. Initially, she visited Westchester County Poor House and Bellevue Hospital with volunteers and wrote a report to the State Board of Commissioners, which gave approval to inspect other charitable public institutions. This gave SCAA. the ability to champion big changes, including removing children from poor houses and placing them in foster families (https://socialwelfare.library.vcu.edu/organizations/state-institutions/schuyler-louisa-lee/).
Other notable achievements of Louisa Lee in SCAA’s early years include: founding the first Training School for Nurses in 1873, passing of The State Care Act, Chapter 126, Law of 1890 (requiring aftercare of those institutionalized for mental illness), and organizing physicians and laymen for the Committee on the Prevention of Blindness. She was also appointed as one of the original Trustees of the Russell Sage Foundation, and in 1915, se received an honorary degree of laws (L.L.D.) from Columbia University.
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