On Thursday, May 28th, 2020, the CHAMPS-NY coalitionheld a press conference to highlight the need for a moratorium on “aging out” of foster care in New York State during this ongoing public health crisis. CHAMPS-NY, a statewide group of providers, advocates and thought partners, works to promote state policy and practice changes to ensure children entering foster care are placed into family-based settings whenever possible.
In the press release, Kate Breslin, Schuyler Center President and CEO and CHAMPS-NY co-chair notes,
“In the middle of a global health crisis, when a safe and stable home are vital to both individual and public health, no young person should be pushed from their home or be forced to leave foster care without a family simply because they turn 21. Governor Cuomo needs to take Executive Action to ensure that all young people in foster care in New York State have the option to remain in foster care after their 21st birthday, and for at least 180 days after the last region in the state has fully reopened.”
The press conference itself was featured on Friday, May 29th, 2020 in an article in Chronicle of Social Change. It was the fifth article in that month to shed light on this urgent issue.
Since the pandemic began, nine states have taken executive action to protect youth in foster care. New York, the state hardest hit by this crisis, is not one of them.
On Tuesday, May 19, 2020, Kate Breslin and the NYS Assemblymember Patricia Fahy presented a webinar with SUNY Albany Nonprofit U on Advocacy in the Age of COVID-19. They discussed the interaction between public policy, advocacy and nonprofit organizations, including how nonprofits influence—and are influenced by—public decision-making. While this workshop was not solely COVID related, they discussed current affairs and issues that affect today’s policy environment, as well as the total impact of COVID-19 on the Capital Region’s nonprofit entities.
Assemblymember Fahy noted this hopefully short term health crisis, which has caused an upheaval in every aspect of our lives, heightens the importance of advocacy. The economic devastation we are facing is likely to be long term and economic disparities are bound to continue.Thirty-nine percent of those earning under $40K are now unemployed or furloughed and people of color and the less educated have been the hardest hit. Those who are making the policy decisions are not nearly as impacted as those who are paying the price.
Ms. Breslin added how, in light of current events, Schuyler Center has pivoted and reassessed policy priorities. New York needs assistance from the federal government because the state won’t be able to fund all the needs on its own. This recession is likely to last a long time, and New York State is in desperate need of money from the federal government for people who are covered by Medicaid, who need child care subsidies, and/or are working in the child welfare system.
Kate and Assemblymember Fahy both stressed how public policy can either make the ground fertile for opportunity or contribute to its desolation. Our power is in our strength in numbers—our collective voice and ability to convince policymakers about what is right and needed. It is the job of advocates to shine a light on issues often overlooked, and work to build bridges across systems that need alignment.
On Monday, May 18th, 2020, the Raising NY Coalition released a planto offer affordable, safe, high-quality child care during this ongoing public health crisis, and to begin rebuilding the child care system to make it stronger and more equitable than before the pandemic. New York cannot reopen without essential supports for our children and families—including child care.
The Raising NY coalition is a diverse statewide coalition of parent, early childhood, education, civil rights, business, and health organizations dedicated to increasing the number of children who are on track for school readiness and is co-chaired by Schuyler Center President and CEO Kate Breslin.
Parents of infants and toddlers across New York State are experiencing intense financial insecurity during the coronavirus pandemic, with the crisis exacerbating pre-existing inequities among communities of color and families from low-income backgrounds. At the same time, more than a quarter of child care providers are closed due to the pandemic, and without significant financial support, many may not be able to reopen.
The federal emergency relief and stimulus bill known as the CARES Act provided New York State with significant funding to address critical child care needs. The plan recommends how those and other available funds can be most effectively invested to meet the immediate, emergency needs of families and providers, and to begin to implement longer-term reforms to expand access to quality child care to more infants and toddlers.
As New York slowly reopens, New York lawmakers—federal, state, and local—must stand firmly with our children and families, particularly families of color, and consider implementing the policies we recommend in our Building Back Better: Policy Priorities for New York’s Recovery. These recommendations are intended to meet the immediate, emergency needs of New York children and families, and to take advantage of the critical opportunity presented by the recovery to rebuild New York’s systems to be stronger and more fair than before the pandemic.
While all New Yorkers have faced challenges associated with the pandemic, the challenges are not borne equally. Those already facing poverty, disability, ill-health, and racial discrimination are far more likely to contract COVID-19, and fall severely ill, or even die. Those same New Yorkers are more sharply impacted by school closures, layoffs, supply shortages, social distancing, and other measures being implemented to address the COVID-19 pandemic—due to longstanding structural inequities. New York families with young children are also among those being hit hard by the impacts of the pandemic, particularly the economic fallout.
There is much work to be done to ensure the well-being of New York families and children facing the many challenges presented by the COVID-19 crisis. We look forward to continuing to work with our many partners inside and outside government to meet these challenges, and to build a stronger, more equitable New York.[/vc_column_text]
During the months of April and May, 2020, Schuyler Center Director of Policy Dede Hill spoke out about New York’s child care system in the wake of COVID-19.
“All providers—both those keeping their doors open and those that have temporarily closed, fear that without financial supports, they will not have the resources to reopen when the pandemic subsides,” Hill said.
On May 6, 2020, she was featured in an interview on Capitol Pressroom to discuss how New York’s child care system has been pushed to the breaking point by the Coronavirus crisis.
With the state on pause, it can be difficult for essential workers to find childcare during this crisis. New public funding will provide “scholarships” for essential workers to pay for the services. Dede Hill, Director of Public Policy at the Schuyler Center for Analysis and Advocacy, and Beth Starks, Executive Director of the Chautauqua Lake Child Care Center, explained how the funding program will work.
Click the image below to listen to the interview or listen here.
On April 30, 2020, Raising NY, a coalition co-chaired by Schuyler Center President and CEO Kate Breslin, released the findings of a survey of New York parents with young children on the impacts of COVID-19. The survey results reveal that New York families with young children are being hit hard by the impacts of the pandemic, particularly the economic fallout. More than one-third of parents reported having skipped or reduced the size of their meals due to financial insecurity caused by the Coronavirus; 11% reported having skipped or reduced the size of meals for their children. Nearly 60% worried they would be unable to cover basic expenses like rent, health care or food, if the crisis continued.
Raising NY worked with Global Strategies Group to conduct the statewide poll of parents of infants and toddlers in late April 2020. More than 400 parents from around the state participated.
Listening to parents of infants and toddlers is key to supporting families during the Coronavirus crisis. Learn more about what they had to say.
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