Federal pandemic supports have turned the tide on child poverty; New York is positioned to ensure the progress continues.

Federal pandemic supports have turned the tide on child poverty; New York is positioned to ensure the progress continues.

Census poverty data released on September 14, 2021 delivered some promising news:  the pandemic stimulus interventions – particularly the expanded child tax credit – reduced the national child poverty rate (SPM) by 3% (4.6 million children). Now, to build on this progress, we are looking to Governor Hochul to sign and enact the Child Poverty Reduction Act, S.2755C/A.1160C as one of her first acts as Governor. The bill, with bi-partisan co-sponsorship, swept through the Legislature last spring with near-unanimous support from upstate and downstate, rural, urban, and suburban legislators and constituents. Signing this legislation would serve as a declaration from New York’s leaders of the State’s intent to cut child poverty in half in ten years, while simultaneously advancing racial equity. The Child Poverty Reduction Act provides New York the tools needed to reduce child poverty. It commits to cutting child poverty in half in ten years, requires an annual public report of the effects of budget proposals on child poverty and regular reporting on progress, and establishes the Child Poverty Reduction Advisory Council to develop a plan to achieve the goal. As New York mounts its recovery from the pandemic, this legislation will ensure that our children are centered in that recovery. 

The pandemic relief federal stimulus has been lifesaving to families who continue to be hit hard by the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, particularly families with young children still ineligible for the vaccine. Since the pandemic hit New York, its impacts have caused hundreds of thousands more children and families to fall into poverty or near-poverty (FPL), in addition to the 700,000 children living in poverty, or 18% of all New York children, living in poverty before the pandemic struck. Racial inequities have widened and been laid bare. By March 2021, 31% of New York adults reported it had been somewhat or very difficult to pay for usual household expenses and 24% reported not being current on rent or mortgage, with eviction or foreclosure in the next two months likely.   

The Child Poverty Reduction Act positions New York to build on recent important wins for New York children, including the state minimum wage increase, and the recently released plan of the Child Care Availability Task Force to dramatically expand access to affordable, quality child care. These are important springboards for progress, but not enough on their own to ensure we achieve a significant—and lasting—reduction in child poverty in New York.  

For our children experiencing poverty, every day that we fail to prioritize ending child poverty puts them more at risk for material hardship and negative long-term outcomes. The experience of poverty and trauma in childhood can have long-lasting impacts on development. The toxic stress of poverty can alter the brain development of young children—causing permanent changes in the structure and functioning of the brain. As a result, many children who experience poverty face significant challenges—in the form of poor health, academic obstacles, and lower earnings—for the rest of their lives. With the stakes so high, there should be no delay in tackling child poverty in every inch of our great state. 

Learn more about our work to reduce child poverty in New York:  

Schuyler Center Chosen as a Recipient of Child Care NEXT Grant

Schuyler Center Chosen as a Recipient of Child Care NEXT Grant

On July 28, 2021, The Alliance for Early Success announced five states chosen as recipients of Child Care NEXT grants, a major initiative to support in-state coalitions ready to mount long-term campaigns to achieve transformative change to their state’s child care systems. New York is one of those states and Schuyler Center for Analysis and Advocacy is proud to be one of the lead organizations, along with our partners, Alliance for Quality Education and The Children’s Agenda.

“Child care is in desperate need of a demonstration that moves beyond tinkering around the edges and shows the powerful ripple effect that a bold change can have in economic vitality and family well-being. And states are where those kinds of creative policy solutions are born and proven.”
—Helene Stebbins, Executive Director, Alliance for Early Success

What is Child Care NEXT:
Child Care NEXT seeks to transform child care policies and systems in states so that children, families, providers, and educators are served both effectively and equitably. It is organized by the Alliance—a 50-state early childhood policy advocacy nonprofit, and guided by a steering committee of 15 national policy and grassroots organizations. The goal of Child Care NEXT is to demonstrate how major structural change in state Early Care and Education (ECE) policy can make fundamental differences for children, families, and the economic vitality of their communities and states.

Like Schuyler Center, Child Care NEXT believes fundamental social change requires building and sustaining political power, organizing, and advocacy capacity at all levels—from neighborhoods and communities to the state capitol, and everywhere in between.

What this means for New York child care:
After an extensive application and review process, five states were chosen because of their readiness to successfully pursue an ambitious agenda, and their capacity to bring to life all of the Child Care NEXT Core Principles which are

  • building and sustaining political power, organizing, and advocacy capacity at all levels;
  • transforming child care policies and systems in states so that they serve all children, families, providers, and educators effectively;
  • ensuring those who are most impacted by child care policies and programs have a meaningful role in shaping the solution and campaign; and
  • centering racial equity in the work.

The state teams chosen have built strong foundations for operationalizing these core principles and showed recent advocacy, policy, and revenue efforts in early care and education that demonstrate a commitment to robust changes in their states’ child care systems.

What this means for Schuyler Center going forward:
The five selected states will receive deep, ongoing support to develop and implement campaigns that achieve transformative state child care policy, support which we are grateful for as we continue to fight for policies that strengthen New York’s children and families.

As part of the cohort, we are prepared to demonstrate to the rest of the nation how strategic, equitable, and system-wide change in child care can dramatically improve the lives of children, families and communities.

It has been Schuyler Center’s mission to represent a diverse population of children and families from traditionally marginalized communities in New York, and to provide compelling proof points for bold change in a range of economic, political, and regional contexts. We have been, and continue to be ready to mount long-term campaigns to achieve substantial and sustainable change in New York State’s child care policies.

We are thrilled to be a part of this movement.

See what Child Care Next had to say about the New York Team Leaders Schuyler Center for Analysis and Advocacy, Alliance for Quality Education, and The Children’s Agenda:

“The New York team is experienced, diverse, and geographically dispersed. It includes advocacy organizations from across the state, as well as family child care and center-based early education providers who are in the field every day serving the children and families in their communities. This team grew out of work that began in 2017 with the creation of the Empire State Campaign for Childcare (ESCCC). They started designing their North Star two years ago, and through their participation and influence on the Governor’s Child Care Availability Task Force, ensured their vision is reflected in the final recommendations.

The New York team plans to implement the recommendations set forth in this comprehensive, ambitious, and practical plan, which aims to equitably expand access to high-quality child care to all New York families that need it, and to provide child care educators with compensation and support reflective of the extraordinary value of their work.”

For more information:

President’s Message: New York has the means to tackle child poverty—it needs the will and public accountability.

President’s Message: New York has the means to tackle child poverty—it needs the will and public accountability.

June 2021.

Remember it: this is the month and year New York State legislators declared their intent to cut child poverty in half in ten years.

Before the pandemic, poverty affected the lives of one in five New York children and, in some communities—including Rochester, Buffalo, and the Bronx—one in every two children. Before the pandemic, a Black child was two times more likely to live in poverty than a white child. Before the pandemic, New York’s child poverty rate was higher than 31 other states. 2020 was already well-past time to address child poverty.

Since the pandemic, hundreds of thousands more children and families have plunged into poverty. Racial inequities have widened and been laid bare. By March 2021, 31% of New York adults reported it had been somewhat or very difficult to pay for usual household expenses and 24% reported not being current on rent or mortgage, with eviction or foreclosure in the next two months likely.

The Child Poverty Reduction Act S.2755-C (Ramos)/A.1160-C (Bronson) carves the beginning of a path to cut child poverty in New York State. This legislation declares policymakers’ intent to cut child poverty in half in ten years and establishes the Child Poverty Reduction Advisory Council tasked with developing a plan to do it. The Council will evaluate specific policies and their impacts on child poverty, including racial disparities, make concrete budget and policy recommendations with benchmarks and timelines, and publicly share data to make sure that New York meets its goal.

S.2755-C (Ramos)/A.1160-C (Bronson) went before the legislature with 41 co-sponsors in the Assembly and 24 co-sponsors in the Senate. Legislators’ votes in support were overwhelming and included Democrats and Republicans from rural, urban, and suburban communities that span the entirety of New York State.

Outside of the legislature, nearly 60 partners, coming from all corners of the state and all walks of life, have joined Schuyler Center for Analysis and Advocacy in pushing for passage of the Child Poverty Reduction Act. Enthusiasm for this bold and urgently-needed initiative comes from nurses, pediatricians, parents, educators, child care providers, colleges and universities, community health centers, hospital leaders, child welfare agencies, libraries, youth bureaus, and community-based organizations. These are the people who, every day, see and try to cure child poverty’s ills. These are the people who know it would better for our children, our families, our communities, and our state, if we prevented poverty before it seeded poor health, problems in school, and reduced opportunity.

This law, if signed by the Governor, will be a bridge from today, when we make policy and budget decisions and hope they don’t plunge more children into poverty, to a day when New York is intentional about reducing child poverty and improving equity, by creating an expectation of analysis, measurement over time, and public accountability about whether and how a wide variety of policy and budget decisions affect opportunity and economic security for our most vulnerable children.

Following the Great Recession in 2008, when poverty rates rose, they continued to climb for six years, until 2015, when they finally dipped slightly. This time needs to be—and will be—different, for the sake of every single child and family whether they live in Buffalo, Batavia, or Brooklyn.

There is no time to waste. Right now, there are federal funds available to jump start this effort.

New York certainly has the means to tackle child poverty—it needs the will and the public accountability included in this legislation. When the Governor signs the Child Poverty Reduction Act, New York will signal our shared intention to make budget and policy choices that leave no child behind. Let’s go!

Sincerely,

Kate Breslin
President and CEO[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]

Happy Birthday to Schuyler Center! We’re 149! 

Happy Birthday to Schuyler Center! We’re 149! 

Did you know? Today is our 149th birthday!

Per the minutes of that meeting: On the evening of May 11th 1872 several ladies & gentlemen met at the house of Miss Schuyler, 19 West 31st St., New York, for the purpose of organizing an association in aid of the State Charities of New York.

Schuyler’s plan was to organize county visiting committees of citizen volunteers, charged with visiting and inspecting services for children, “paupers,” and hospital patients and make recommendations for improvements to the proper authorities.

Using visiting committee reports and SCAA’s first annual report which stated that the removal of children from almshouses was one of the most urgently needed public reforms in New York State, Schuyler and SCAA secured passage of the Children’s Law of 1875. In 1881, under Schuyler’s leadership the “right of entrance law” was passed giving interested citizens the right to inspect, visit, and examine any state charitable institution. SCAA next successfully engaged in a four year legislative battle, pressing the State of New York to take responsibility for care of people with mental illness. In 1908, after reading a report with photos of children who were “unnecessarily blind” Schuyler organized the State Committee for the Prevention of Blindness, which eventually became the National Committee for the Prevention of Blindness.

We’re elated to start our 150th year! We’re fighting child poverty; strengthening supports for families; securing investment in the early years of life; and building stronger systems for child health and well-being.

Now is the time to cut child poverty in New York.

Now is the time to cut child poverty in New York.

Join us in calling upon New York leaders to make a binding commitment, this year, to cut child poverty in New York in half in ten years by passing the Child Poverty Reduction Act (S.2755A/A.1160A). Momentum is growing around this bill. It has more than 20 co-sponsors each in New York’s Assembly and Senate.

Why this matters:

Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, nearly 30% of New York State’s Black children lived in poverty; due to structural, historic, and ongoing racism, Black children are more than twice as likely to live in poverty than their Non-Hispanic white peers. The recently passed federal American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) will jumpstart child poverty reduction efforts by bringing to New York an influx of new–but temporary–supports for families, including a dramatically expanded federal Child Tax Credit, and nearly two billion in federal child care relief funds. For New York to ensure an equitable, sustained recovery that prioritizes supporting children, families, and communities now, and in the future, the time is now to pass the Child Poverty Reduction Act.

The Child Poverty Reduction Act provides New York the tools needed to reduce child poverty. It creates a public commitment to cutting child poverty in half in ten years.

Take action now to help get this bill passed and to the Governor’s desk before this legislative session ends!