FY 2022 City Preliminary Budget Testimony: General Welfare


Testimony & Public Comments

March 17, 2021

As we turn to COVID-19 recovery, we must have an eye towards the long-term needs of children and families way beyond the City’s next fiscal year. As a result of the pandemic, economic collapse, and persistent race-based injustice, New York City households with children have been deeply impacted by loss of life, loss of income, increased food and housing insecurity, social isolation and learning loss, and heightened health and behavioral health needs; these risk factors have disproportionately impacted Black and brown communities. Undoubtedly, eviction prevention, food supports, child care, afterschool and summer programming, and child welfare preventive services have been a lifeline for families with children and critical in responding to basic and deepened needs during this historic moment. The frontline health and human service programs that deliver these critical supports must be protected and invested in now more than ever. Moreover, given the cumulative trauma faced by children and youth and their families, the City must build on existing efforts underway to expand upstream prevention to maintain housing stability, child safety, and family well-being.

 

On March 17th, 2021, CCC Associate Executive Director for Policy and Advocacy Raysa S. Rodriguez testified before the New York City Council’s General Welfare Committee about the Preliminary Budget for FY 2022 and urged City Council members to work with the administration to leverage the infusion of federal relief aid to ensure a full recovery for all New Yorkers with focused attention given to the family and communities that have been hardest hit.

Explore Related Content