C4C Applauds Mayor’s Implementation Plan For After-School Expansion
Campaign for Children Applauds Mayor de Blasio’s Implementation Plan For After-School Expansion
Emphasizes A Dedicated Funding Stream Necessary To Make Expansion A Reality
New York, NY – Campaign for Children, a coalition of more than 150 advocacy and provider organizations, released the following statement in response to Mayor de Blasio’s after-school implementation plan announced today:
“The Campaign for Children applauds Mayor de Blasio’s after-school implementation plan for prioritizing programs that improve attendance, school culture, and students’ positive developmental and academic outcomes during the critical middle school years.
Studies have found over a quarter of New York City children are left alone and unsupervised after school, and middle schoolers are much more likely than younger children to be in this category. That means teenagers spend after-school hours— the peak window for juvenile crime & violence during which they are at increased risk of being involved in or the victims of — without adult supervision. High quality after-school programs offer safe, structured and educational alternative.
Providing all middle school students an enriching and recreational after-school experience during these critical years of social and emotional development reinforces and strengthens young people’s ability to make the right decisions that will lead to success in high school and later in life.
However, this expansion requires a dedicated funding stream to become a reality. We urge our leaders in Albany to support New York City’s funding plan.”
ABOUT CAMPAIGN FOR CHILDREN:
Campaign for Children is a partnership between the Emergency Coalition to Save Children Care and the New York City Youth Alliance, which first came together in 2011 to stave off severe budget cuts proposed for child care and after-school programs. Together, the 150 members of the coalition include many of the advocates, civic leaders and early childhood education and after-school providers in New York City.
The Campaign’s successful advocacy saved child care and after-school programs for more than 47,000 children by securing more than $120 million of one-year City Council discretionary funds for the past two years, which then were successfully baselined. While the Campaign, the providers, and notably the children and the families remain incredibly grateful that these programs were saved through extensive advocacy efforts, the critical systems upon which children and families rely cannot remain dependent on annual advocacy efforts to survive.
Every child in New York City deserves access to safe, high-quality, and affordable and dependable early childhood education and after-school programs. New York City’s newly elected Mayor, as well as the Comptroller, Public Advocate and City Council members, must have a plan to create high-quality, sustainable, fully-funded early education and after-school systems for New York’s children and families. Enacting this plan must be a top priority for the new Administration. The Campaign for Children seeks to be a partner in this endeavor, but also to hold the Administration accountable for its implementation.
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