As New York's children head back to school, each and every one of us has the responsibility to ensure every child receives a quality education in positive learning environments that support their success. That's why The Children's Agenda advocates for stronger schools that put children first. Educational success, however, depends not only on what happens in schools. What happens outside of schools is also critical. From Early Intervention and Preschool Special Education services that ensure children who have developmental delays are ready for school to quality after-school and summer learning opportunities for older children -- it takes a village to raise our children. The Children's Agenda plays a unique role in this endeavor. We: - Research because decisions should rely on more than intuition
- Advocate because our reports don't help kids if they sit on shelves
- Collaboratively build systems because solutions are better when the community is at the table
Read on (and click the links!) for research, advocacy and systems building updates and opportunities to get involved. It takes all of us, together. |
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Child care programs have faced unprecedented challenges as a result of the pandemic. Many programs closed their doors temporarily and some permanently, across the nation and in New York. We analyzed publicly available data by county and ZIP code and compared how many programs were operating and how many children they had the capacity to care for. From infants and toddlers up through school-age children, the closures have impacted thousands of children. Child care matters. It allows parents to work (especially mothers) and supports an expanded workforce for employers. It also can support children's educational attainment and outcomes into early adulthood. The solutions to the child care shortage include all levels of government: - Federal government needs to support business development of new and expanded child care programs and a phased-in expansion of income eligibility through Child Care Development Block Grants.
- New York State needs to move to universal child care and early education, establish a permanent stabilization program to develop the workforce, target specific supports to family-based child care, and establish counter-cyclical supports to help weather economic downturns.
- County governments need to adopt income requirements, child absence policies and family co-pays to the full extent allowed by law and market child care assistance programs.
Quality, affordable child care gives children of all ages a safe and nurturing environment where they can learn and thrive. |
| Policy Director Pete Nabozny explaining county-level data at press conference releasing "Rebuilding Our Future: Child Care Closures in New York During the Pandemic" |
New York has capacity to care for 10,554 fewer children Monroe County has capacity to care for 1,694 fewer children High poverty communities and communities of color were disproportionately affected. |
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| Advocating for Our Youngest Who Will Grow Into Tomorrow's Leaders |
Infants, toddlers and preschoolers across New York are not receiving timely and comprehensive developmental services. The shortage of providers (such as speech, occupational, and physical therapists) is a direct result of chronic underfunding. It is also a violation of federal requirements to provide timely services. New York must increase equity and access in the Early Intervention system and ensure timely services for children birth - 3 years old with developmental delays and disabilities. Doing this requires multiple solutions. Two of the pieces The Children's Agenda has been working on are: - Increasing rates for Early Intervention reimbursements to providers by 11%
- Authorizing studies of the actual costs of providing Early Intervention so the long-term method of setting rates can keep up with actual costs
The financial cost of increased funding is small compared with the long-term savings when children grow to achieve their full potential. As one parent shared: "My daughter was born premature. Her doctors noticed early on that her motor skills were delayed. Early Intervention gave her the therapy she needed and taught us how to support her development. Fast forward -- while in high school she earned her black belt in karate and is now thriving in college. Early Intervention set her on the path to be the bright, successful young woman she is today." But even more than state budgets, the question is -- What is the moral cost if we do not provide for our children? |
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Action Alert Take 1 minute and call Governor Hochul today and urge her to sign A.6579/S.5676 into law. Call (518) 474-8390; press 3, then press 1. Here's what to say: My name is _____ and I live in [city/town]. I am a - parent of a child with a developmental delay or disability
- [type of therapist/provider] who works with children who have developmental delays and disabilities
- New Yorker who cares about children with developmental delays and disabilities
I urge Governor Hochul to sign bill A.6579/S.5676 right away to address the severe shortage of Early Intervention providers in New York. Kids can't wait when they need help with speech, feeding, motor skills, or other challenges. Service providers have to be there when kids need them Thank you for supporting children and families. |
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Schools should be places where students are welcomed and supported in their learning and development. But across New York, children as young as kindergarten lose out on instruction because of suspensions. Too often, suspensions are imposed for normal, youthful, non-violent behaviors. Under state law, students can be suspended for up to 180 days -- an entire school year. Data from across the state show that students of color, especially Black students, are disproportionately impacted. New York schools must end their reliance on suspensions as the default way to discipline students. Instead, children should be held accountable for their behaviors through age appropriate, restorative and trauma-informed interventions so they can learn from their mistakes. The Children's Agenda is part of statewide and local coalitions working to: - Limit use of suspensions in Pre-K through 3rd grade
- Shorten maximum length of suspensions to 20 school days
- Prohibit suspensions for minor infractions
- Require students who are suspended receive academic instruction
- Require codes of conduct to include restorative approaches
- Hold charter schools to the same standards for behavior and discipline
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| Solutions Not Suspensions In the first two years after the Rochester City School District adopted a new code of conduct that included restorative practices, they saw: 27% drop in suspensions 28% drop in courses failed by students who were suspended 47% drop in suspensions for "other disruptive incidents" like wandering halls, fooling around in class, etc. |
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Parent Leadership Spotlight |
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Qutisha Britt, mom to 4-year old Azalya Roze |
| Armett Barnes, owner of Armett's Care & Share Family Daycare |
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Every issue we work on at The Children's Agenda is driven by what people in our community tell us are the pressing issues for their children and families. This month parent Qutisha Britt and child care provider Armett Barnes shared their experiences of how the pandemic impacted children, parents and child care providers. Speaking at the press conference where we released Rebuilding Our Future and on WXXI Connections, their stories and insights reminded policymakers that behind the numbers are real children. If you are a Rochester parent and want to get involved with advocating for changes in laws and policies, send a message to Carmen Torres using the button below or call her at (585) 256-2620 ext. 2613. |
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Episode 19 – The Path to Universal Child Care This episode of Raising Rochester was guest hosted by our colleagues at the Schuyler Center for Analysis and Advocacy. Hosted by Dede Hill, Director of Policy at the Schuyler Center, she is joined by Maria Whyte, Deputy County Executive of Erie County and Shanita Bowen, Director of Operations for ECE on the Move. |
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Thank You to our Recent Donors! |
Bev and Mike Faro • Candles 4 Kindness • Carmel Merrill • Jen Cathy • David and Nancy Liebert Dr. Jacob Adams • Hon. Joan Kohout • Dr. Joe Simson • Marie Merenda • Meredith Dragon Michael Moss • Paul Trembley and Dr. Jennifer West • Phyllis Tierney • Ray Samson Richard Riedman • Sarah Mittiga Farash Foundation Children are young for a short time. You can make a difference by contributing today. |
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