Healthy

Address the child and adolescent behavioral health crisis

• Invest $195 million to reform rates for Article 31 and Article 32-822 clinic services, Children’s Home and Community Based Services (HCBS), and Child and Family Treatment and Support Services (CFTSS) to attract and retain an adequate workforce and create urgently-needed service capacity for outpatient care
• Require commercial insurance plans and Child Health Plus to provide coverage for children’s mental health and SUD services consistent with service coverage required under the New York Medicaid program for children

Improve access to health support for young children, including young children with disabilities

• Fund a 5% rate increase for in-person Early Intervention services (in addition to the 2024-25 5% rate increase), funded through an increase in the Covered Lives Assessment
• Fund a comprehensive review of New York’s Early Intervention program, including program models and financing of the program
• Create a loan forgiveness program for Early Intervention professionals who provide in-person Early Intervention services in Medically Underserved and/or Health Care Provider Shortage

Housed

• Fund a statewide Housing Access Voucher Program to support low-income New Yorkers at risk of homelessness or eviction

Educated

Early Care and Education

• Create a permanent state child care fund to increase child care worker compensation, and develop a plan for subsequent years to establish a minimum pay scale and career ladder based upon agreed upon criteria.
• Increase the enhanced rates for children with special needs to 130% of the market rate (up from 115%) and take steps to make it easier for child care programs to receive the enhanced
• Ensure All New Yorkers can access child care, starting with guaranteeing child care assistance (CCAP) to eligible low-income New Yorkers ($400 million):
  • Make child care a state-funded entitlement for families making less than 250% of the federal poverty threshold, and increase state funding for CCAP to account for growth in the program
  • End New York’s rule that denies CCAP to families if parents/caregivers earn less, on average, than minimum wage
  • End New York’s rule of tying CCAP to parents/caregivers exact hours of work
• Adopt the Board of Regents’ recommendation for a statutory mechanism that updates preschool special education tuition rates annually by the Consumer Price Index (CPI) until a new rate setting methodology is adopted by the Governor and legislature after the study

Advance Equity in Schools and School Funding

• Reform the formula for Foundation Aid to ensure it does the following: Replaces the outdated “successful school district model” that has formed the base of the formula; Adds a per-pupil weight for students in temporary housing and students in the foster care system; more accurately represents the needs of low-income students; increases weights for students with disabilities and English Language Learners so they reflect true cost to provide services; includes funding for 3- and 4-year old students in pre-Kindergarten; includes funding for students with disabilities through the school year in which they turn 22 years old; updates the Regional Cost Index to better reflect rising costs of salaries and services; and ensures the formula accounts for and funds the State’s new class size requirements for NYC
• Enhance access to Community Schools, including by dedicating $100 million to support the creation and expansion of 500+ community schools

Safe

Strengthen families and prevent systems involvement by investing in youth and community resources, and enhancing supports for families

• Invest $50 million in the creation of a Youth Justice Innovation Fund to expedite funding to community-based organizations working directly with young people and young adults under the age of 26 in supporting prevention, alternatives to incarceration/detention, and reentry
• Expedite the distribution of Raise the Age funds to counties – prioritizing programs supporting prevention, rehabilitation, and supports for youth – and ensure NYC can access RTA

Economically Secure

Lift Incomes through Tax Policy Reform

• Build on the Governor’s proposal to increase the Empire State Child Credit (ESCC) amount by taking the following steps: 1) Increasing the amount to $1,500, 2) Ensuring the ESCCC reaches all children under age 17, and 3) Ensuring that any enhancement is permanent and indexed to inflation

Combat Food and Income Insecurity

• Increase the SNAP minimum benefit to $100 per
• Create a state-funded nutrition program for those ineligible for the federal SNAP program
• Fully fund statewide Healthy School Meals program for all New York State students, regardless of income
• Fully fund statewide hunger relief programs, Nourish NY and Hunger Prevention Nutrition Assistance Program (HPNAP) at $75 million
• Increase the value of the Family Assistance/Safety Net Assistance Program (FA-SNA) by 100% and index benefits to This cash assistance program helps families pay for food, housing, utilities, and other basic needs