The Children’s Agenda presents its 20th annual review of the proposed Monroe County budget to highlight the County’s planned investments in children and recommend changes we believe will help create a thriving community for families and children.

The Children’s Agenda commends the City for investing more in youth-serving staff. We additionally have six recommendations to further meet the social, emotional and developmental needs of youth. 

The Children’s Agenda offers this summary of provisions for children that were included in the New York state budget enacted in April 2022.

The Children’s Agenda offers this review of the proposed 2022 County budget and its impact on children and youth at a time of uncertainty. We join with community leaders and residents in calling for an inclusive and equitable recovery that does not simply fill gaps created by the pandemic, or even the decades of child poverty and racism in Monroe County. Instead, our recovery efforts must shift resources to create a new roadmap for the future. We look forward to 2022 with hope. Crises create opportunities, and we see many opportunities for Monroe County’s children in the year ahead and beyond.

The Children’s Agenda offers this review of the proposed 2022 County budget and its impact on children and youth at a time of uncertainty. We join with community leaders and residents in calling for an inclusive and equitable recovery that does not simply fill gaps created by the pandemic, or even the decades of child poverty and racism in Monroe County. Instead, our recovery efforts must shift resources to create a new roadmap for the future. We look forward to 2022 with hope. Crises create opportunities, and we see many opportunities for Monroe County’s children in the year ahead and beyond.

The City of Rochester’s Proposed Budget for 2021-22 directs expenditures to support our community’s recovery from 16 months of health, economic, and social crises. While pandemic restrictions are slowly being lifted and many Rochester residents are returning to some sense of normalcy, the healing from losses experienced during the COVID-19 pandemic has just begun. Children are the center of our concern.

The City of Rochester’s Proposed Budget for 2021-22 directs expenditures to support our community’s recovery from 16 months of health, economic, and social crises. While pandemic restrictions are slowly being lifted and many Rochester residents are returning to some sense of normalcy, the healing from losses experienced during the COVID-19 pandemic has just begun. Children are the center of our concern.

The recommendations in this report were developed in partnership with students, parents, and community agencies such as the Parent Leadership Advisory Council (PLAC), Special Education Parent Advisory Council (SEPAC), Bilingual Education Council (BEC), Teens With Attitude, Teen Empowerment, Citizen Action of NY, Alliance for Quality Education, Roc/ACTS, the Community Task Force on School Climate, IBERO American Action League, and many more, as well as those who attended our numerous budget teach-ins and community forums.

On March 11, 2021, President Biden signed the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA), a $1.9 billion stimulus plan designed to accelerate our nation’s recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic. It contains a number of measures to provide direct relief to families, e.g. $1,400 stimulus checks to households, extended unemployment benefits and emergency housing assistance, and $5 billion for federal food aid. The pandemic recovery is addressed with $160 billion for vaccine distribution, supplies, emergency response, testing and the public health workforce.

A significant portion of ARPA funds are directed to children and families through provisions that include changes to federal tax credits and increased resources for child care, PreK-12 education, and closing the digital divide.