Campaign for Children Supports Mayor’s Decision to Shift NYPD Funds to Youth Services – Now Is The Time to Save Summer Programs
NEW YORK – June 10, 2020 – Campaign for Children is encouraged by Mayor de Blasio’s commitment to shift funding from the NYPD to support youth programming and social services.
The Mayor must immediately follow through and reverse the most problematic proposal from his Executive Budget – the $175 million cut to summer youth programs, including the total elimination of summer services at COMPASS, SONYC, Beacons, Cornerstones, and the Summer Youth Employment Program, which would deprive nearly 100,000 school age children of programming and 75,000 teens of employment.
Time is of the essence as summer programs should be starting in weeks. Providers are ready with plans and protocols in place to follow public health guidelines. Parents are scrambling to secure summer child care as the economy reopens. And youth desperately need continued academic, recreational, arts and social and emotional supports offered through summer youth programming.
Restoration of funds for summer youth programming, including fully remote or hybrid camp models, would be a critical step to ensure that New York City’s young people do not lose another season of learning and healthy development. This will also help provide critical support for economic recovery and reopening in communities that have been most affected by COVID-19. Campaign for Children urges the Mayor to act now, as time is running out.
