On March 21, CCC testified in front of the New York City Council Committee on Education to highlight the needs of New York City children and the impact Mayor de Blasio’s proposed 2020 budget could have on them.

Among other proposals, Alice Bufkin, CCC’s Director of Policy for Child and Adolescent Health, urged the committee to ensure the city’s budget includes funding to help the 115,000 homeless students in New York. She called on the committee to ensure the city includes $13.9 million for the Bridge the Gap program, which places social workers and other targeted services in schools with a high population of students experiencing homelessness. Funding for the program was not included in the Mayor de Blasio’s preliminary budget.

Alice testified that funding for Bridge the Gap should not only be included in the adopted city budget but should be expanded to include more social workers at targeted schools.