Overview
The Children’s Agenda has reviewed the City of Rochester’s proposed 2024-2025 budget to make recommendations on the best use of City funds to support children locally. We applaud the efforts of the Mayor and City Council to uplift children in a myriad of ways, and many more dollars impact children in this budget than we will mention here. At the same time, based on our understanding of children’s needs, including our polling of parents and input from our VIP (Very Invested Parents) parent leaders, we want to sharpen the City’s focus so there is potential for the greatest impact in four key areas.
1. This year there will be unique opportunities to tackle child poverty.
2. Libraries form a bedrock of communal spaces in our community for children to learn and play and should always be a matter of pride and investment.
3. Youth development and mental health remain a serious concern. Funding for social-emotional learning at four R-Centers is a great first step, and we hope the City will join the Rochester City School District in taking a restorative approach to relationship building citywide.
4. Free up City funds to invest more in effective approaches to prevent youth violence.