by Helen Smith | May 20, 2020 | COVID-19
On Monday, May 18th, 2020, the Raising NY Coalition released a plan to 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.
For more information: Raising New York Plan[/vc_column_text]
by Helen Smith | Jan 27, 2020 | Child Welfare
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.
That evening, CHAMPS-NY partners appeared on Capital Tonight. Watch the interview here!
CHAMPS 2020 Policy Priorities, November 2019
CHAMPS-NY Foster Care Fact sheet, January 2020
Strengthening New York’s Kinship Guardianship Assistance Program to Better Support Permanency for More Young People in Foster Care, January 2020
by Helen Smith | Sep 17, 2019 | Child Welfare
September is Kinship Care Month in New York State! This month is an opportunity to recognize the commitment of thousands of kin—relatives or close family friends—across the state who step in to care for children when their parents are unable to do so. While the number of kin becoming formal foster parents has increased—currently about 25% of all foster care placements—most often children living with kin are not in approved foster homes.
Children live with kin for many of the same reasons that lead to placement in foster care with non-relatives, namely neglect, parental substance abuse or mental health issues, physical abuse and other safety concerns. Because of this, children often arrive to a relative’s home having experienced trauma.
Kin provide safe, stable homes for the children who come into their care, and enable them to stay connected to their culture and family tradition. That connection has been shown to minimize the trauma to the child and result in better outcomes, including improved mental and behavioral health.
At the Schuyler Center, we have long worked, through partnership with the NYS Kinship Navigator, to ensure that kinship families are provided with the supports they need to care for their children. In our work as co-lead of the CHAMPS-NY campaign, we are continuing that work, and advancing policy and practice change to better support kinship families, including through increased awareness of the benefits associated with becoming approved relative foster homes, should that be in the best interest of the child and their family.
CHAMPS builds on research that shows loving, supportive families—whether birth, kin, foster or adoptive—are critical to the healthy development of all children. And here in New York, we believe it is critical that all those families—birth, foster, kinship and adoptive—are supported so that children remain safe and find stability and permanency in their family.
This September, as always, let us take a moment to thank the kinship caregivers in our communities and commit, as a state, to do our best to ensure they receive the support they need.
For additional information on benefits and services available to kinship families, visit the NYS Kinship Navigator website or call their toll-free helpline at 877-454-6463.
To learn more about the CHAMPS-NY campaign, visit their website.[/vc_column_text]
by Helen Smith | Dec 19, 2018 | President's Message
More than one in five New York children live in poverty, a greater percentage than in 32 other states. And those numbers are substantially higher for children of color. There is abundant evidence that poverty causes children and families to experience not only material deprivation, but also toxic stress and numerous other negative outcomes, which can sometimes trigger – or be mistaken for – child maltreatment or neglect. Given the overwhelming evidence of connections between poverty and maltreatment (whether real or perceived), a focus of child welfare interventions should be connecting the family with comprehensive and ongoing economic supports. Too often, this is not the case.
The Schuyler Center for Analysis and Advocacy recently released a new white paper, Improving New York Child Welfare Outcomes by Strengthening Family Economic Security. As child poverty rates in New York remain high, Schuyler Center’s report highlights intersections between poverty and child welfare and the need for our state’s systems and services to more comprehensively address the needs of families.
To ensure families have the resources they need to provide for their children, the State should invest in family economic security in addition to other family supports. Our paper includes a series of recommendations related to strengthening family economic security and preventing child abuse and neglect.
Read the full paper here.
Kate Breslin
President and CEO
[/vc_column_text]
Recent Comments