The foundational principle of Louisa Lee Schuyler’s work was that democracy could, and must, be made to work in those areas appropriate to it.
When Louisa founded SCAA in 1872, she focused her efforts on organizing and bringing a voice to communities and their disenfranchised members in order to inform and influence government policy, believing government must be made to function well for all.
We do the same today. Schuyler Center effectively shares data and advocates for evidence-based approaches and policies that center the most disadvantaged New Yorkers.
We focus on families and children living in poverty because we must — for many reasons, including:
• Hundreds of thousands of New York’s children live in families below 100% of the federal poverty level and when children in low-income families just above poverty are included, the number exceeds a million children;
• The American Academy of Pediatrics reports that poverty and other adverse social determinants have a detrimental effect on child health and are root causes of child health inequities;
• Poverty and racial inequities are inextricably linked, with children of color experiencing poverty and near poverty at nearly twice the rate of white children and existing systems perpetuate this;
• Poverty and child welfare are linked, with children living in lower income families at higher risk of experiencing childhood traumas, which are correlated with health and socio-economic problems as adults;
• Poverty among young adults is climbing and now sits at nearly 20%;
• Poverty contributes to negative outcomes for children, including disparities in school-readiness and continued lags in learning.
Our state and country were founded on principles of equality. We have a long way to go.
As we head toward the finish line of the 2022 New York State Legislative Session, Schuyler Center’s policy team is focused on passage of the crucial legislation outlined below, in the areas of Child Care, Child Welfare, Health, and Child Poverty.
A.7661 (Hevesi)/S.6655-A (Brisport) — Decoupling child care subsidies from parents’ hours of work — Offers enhanced early education opportunities for children, provides stable, reliable child care for families, and more stability for providers, by allowing parents who work part-time or fluctuating hours access to full-time child care assistance.
A.7095 (Clark)/S.6077-A (Brisport) — Child Care Pay Rate Differential— Requires all districts to pay a 15% differential for providing care to children from families experiencing homelessness and for children who need care during non-traditional hours (evenings, nights, and weekends).
__(Cruz)/S.8962 (Brisport) — Removing barriers to access to child care assistance for immigrant and other families— Eliminates immigration status and burdensome work documentation requirements to ensure more equitable access to child care assistance for low-income New York families. There are approximately 31,000 undocumented children under the age of 13 in New York State who are categorically excluded from the child care subsidy system due to their immigration status. In addition, tens of thousands more families struggle to access child care subsidies because they work in the informal or gig economy, making it difficult to meet work documentation requirements.
__(Clark)/S.9010 (Ramos) — Eliminating minimum earnings and minimum hours of work requirements for child care subsidies— At present, families can be denied eligibility for child care subsidies because they earn too little, or have had their work hours cut back, disproportionately harming some families who need child care the most, particularly for parents and families who work unpredictable hours. This bill would eliminate these requirements, leading to more equitable access to child care, and more stability for children.
A.10209 (Lunsford)/S.9029 (Ramos) — 24-Month Eligibility Option — Permits local social service districts to authorize families to receive child care assistance for up to 24 months between eligibility determinations, eliminating unnecessary barriers to access for families, and administrative burdens for counties.
Automatic Market Rate Increases— Requires social service districts to automatically raise child care provider rates to the new market rate whenever the state sets a new market rate.
Enrollment-based reimbursement— Shifts provider reimbursement for children receiving child care subsidies from an attendance-based model to an enrollment-based approach.
A.2150-A (Rosenthal)/S.6900 (Brisport) — Brendan’s Law— Requires child care providers and certain other facilities installing new or replacement window coverings to install cordless blinds to prevent the possibility of serious harm to young children.
A.7560-B (Rosenthal)/S.6287-B (Mannion) — Elizabeth’s Law— Requires the provision of informational materials to child care providers and certain physicians regarding the impacts and dangers of congenital cytomegalovirus infection.
Child Welfare
A.1777-B (Hevesi)/A.5419-B (Brisport) — Modernize the child welfare housing subsidy — Updates the child welfare preventive services housing subsidy from $300 a month, which has not changed since 1988, to $725 a month with annual increases based on calculations tied to inflation. It also allows the subsidy to be offered to youth exiting foster care up to age 24; the current subsidy is only offered to youth ages 18 to 21.
Health
A.9475 (Reyes)/S.8639 (Brouk)— Reimbursement for early and periodic screening, diagnosis and treatment— Directs the NYS Department of Health to submit a Medicaid State Plan Amendment (SPA) allowing for additional reimbursement to schools for essential mental, behavioral, and physical health services.
A.3451-B(Solages)/S.63-B (Persaud) — Diaper Allowance— Provides for an allowance for diapers for families with children under the age of two who are receiving public assistance. For many families, a diaper allowance will save them from having to choose between keeping their baby healthy and comfortable, and falling deeper into economic insecurity or poverty.
Convene the Child Poverty Reduction Advisory Council — New York enacted the Child Poverty Reduction Act on February 28, 2022. The deadlines to appoint members of the Child Poverty Reduction Council and convene the Council have passed (April 15 and May 1, respectively). The Governor, Senate Leader, and Assembly Speaker must act now to empanel the Advisory Council and start working with intention to reduce child poverty in New York.
On October 28, 2021 Schuyler Center CEO Kate Breslin sat down for a conversation with NYS OCFS Commissioner Sheila Poole. Their conversation was wide-ranging, covering universal childcare, federal funding and legislation, race and gender equity, family-centered supports, universal basic income, mental health, preventative approaches to child welfare services, and more.
One of Schuyler Center’s top end of year priorities is to secure passage of S.8421/A.10513, a bill that would establish annual reporting requirements on utilization of child welfare preventive services. These services include home visiting, housing assistance, child care, day care, homemaker services, parent training or parent aide, clinical services, transportation, job training, education, and emergency services (i.e. cash grants). They are designed to help families deal with any issues which might prevent them from taking care of their children on their own, and provide an environment where children can thrive. Without these services, more families will be separated, with children placed in foster care.
One of Schuyler Center’s core principles is to promote policies that prevent harm to children and families, that strengthen families, and keep families together. Another core focus is holding public systems to account. Tracking data is the first step in improving outcomes. We cannot set a goal to achieve without first seeing our starting point. Getting a clear picture of the status of preventive services in New York State helps to identify the gaps as well. The data that would be collected under this bill will help the Office of Children and Family Services (OCFS) gain an understanding of how counties implement child welfare prevention. By collecting data on the services available to New Yorkers, OCFS will be able to see how many families are using these services, and for how long, and with what outcome. Do the families stay together, or are children placed with relatives or in foster care?
Providing families with proven supportive services is more important than ever right now. The pandemic and its impacts have placed many New York families—disproportionately families of color—under extraordinary stress. One of the circumstances that often bring families into contact with protective services is poverty. Since the beginning of the pandemic, more than 1 million children have had a parent lose their job, and 4,200 children have lost a parent or guardian to COVID-19. An estimated 325,000 children are now in or near poverty. Preventive services can safeguard families, and get them the support they need to continue taking care of their children the way they would have before March 1, 2020.
This bill was passed by both houses in July, but Governor Cuomo hasn’t signed it yet. We urge the Governor to support families by signing this bill before the end of this year. Since bills have a life cycle that ends at the end of the calendar year, it will have to be reintroduced in 2021 if he doesn’t sign before December 31, 2020.
To keep the momentum going, we urge partners to join us in urging Governor Cuomo to sign S.8421/A.10513 without delay. The preventive services data that would be gathered would help ensure families and communities are being provided the tools they need to weather mental health, social, and economic challenges.
On January 27, 2020, the CHAMPS-NY campaign, co-led by Schuyler Center and Families Together in NYS, gathered in Albany with providers, parents and advocates to raise awareness about the power of family-based care for children who enter foster care. The group urged support for their FY 2020-2021 budget and policy priorities. Assemblymembers Andrew Hevesi and Ellen Jaffe joined them for the rally on the Million Dollar Staircase.
On December 31, 2019, our own Dede Hill wrote a powerful Times Union Commentary challenging New York leaders — the governor and Legislature — to make a public commitment to cut child poverty in half in New York by 2030. [/vc_column_text]
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