OUR BLOG

This month Kelly M. is being spotlighted for her strong will and dedication to advocacy. Kelly has two children who have received Early Intervention (EI) and Special Education services. However, her experience has been far but favorable, which has contributed to her dedicating her time and effort to advocate for better EI and special education services not just for her children but for other children as well.

New York children had many policy wins last year. So what’s next? A lot! In 2022, The Children’s Agenda, along with coalition partners and advocates like you, will work to – - Put New York on the path toward universal, quality, affordable child care - Increase access and equity in the Early Intervention and Preschool Special Education systems - Eliminate school suspensions in grades K – 3 in favor of developmentally appropriate therapeutic and ...

The challenge of just getting to school, both nationally and locally, has dominated headlines as children returned to the classroom this month.  But busing is not the only challenge students face in returning to a normal school day experience.

New York was selected as one of five states by a national funder consortium with the Alliance for Early Success to receive a $1.2 million grant over the next 3 years called “Child Care NEXT” to support the state's efforts to transform child care.

Monroe County has dedicated September as Early Intervention (EI) Awareness Month. The County will be collaborating with community organizations, providers, and parents to plan a series of events, starting with the kickoff on September 4.

The Children’s Agenda has long supported the establishment of a Child Well-Being Dashboard, and we believe this COVID-19 recovery moment is an ideal time to create such a tool. This dashboard would also support the county’s efforts to streamline and reinvent its delivery of Human Services.

As Emma Lazarus, the poet who’s other writing (“The New Colossus”) adorns our Statue of Liberty wrote, “Until we are all free, we are none of us free.”

Together, we made progress for kids in the state legislature! Four bills we prioritized and advocated for via visits with legislators and their staff, sharing data, testifying at hearings, and spending hours on Zoom calls strategizing with our advocacy partners were approved by the NYS Senate and Assembly! There’s one more step before they become law – the Governor must sign them.