EVERY CHILD HEALTHY

Address the child and adolescent behavioral health crisis

• Invest $200 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.
• Carve OMH and OASAS behavioral health services out of Medicaid managed care to enhance access to care and save the state $400 million that could be reinvested into services.

Mitigate harm from federal cuts to Medicaid and the Essential Plan

• Provide affordable coverage options for 450,000 New Yorkers losing coverage as the State transitions from the Essential Plan back to the Basic Health Program.
• Invest in community-based consumer assistance and streamline administrative processes to reduce coverage disruption due to new work reporting requirements, six-month recertifications, and other burdensome federal requirements.

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

• Reimagine Early Intervention (EI) by investing in a comprehensive assessment of the EI system to determine how to make the program more accessible, equitable, and impactful (A283A Paulin/S1222A Rivera).
• Implement the 5% EI rate increase promised in the FY2025 State budget.
• Strengthen the EI workforce with a loan forgiveness program for graduates who plan to become EI professionals (A1974 Paulin/S8290 Ryan).

Combat food insecurity

• Invest $244 million to create a state-funded food benefit program for income-eligible New Yorkers currently excluded from SNAP based on their immigration status, including:
  • 41,000 lawfully present immigrants no longer eligible for SNAP due to immigration status exclusions under HR1
  • 65,000 households with children who are currently ineligible for SNAP due to their immigration status.
• Invest in chip technology for EBT benefit cards to prevent SNAP theft and create a fund to replace stolen SNAP benefits retroactively from December 2024 and until EBT upgrade is complete.
• Fund Nourish NY at $75 million and Hunger Prevention Nutrition Assistance Program (HPNAP) at $75 million to help New York’s emergency food systems meet increasing food supports demand.
• Increase the SNAP minimum benefit to $100 per month.
• Invest $30 million in WIC to support anticipated program participation increases.

EVERY CHILD HOUSED

• Build on the Housing Access Voucher Program (HAVP) pilot in last year’s budget by investing $250 million to create a permanent, statewide program to support low-income New Yorkers at risk of homelessness or eviction.

EVERY CHILD EDUCATED

Early Care and Education

• End child care assistance (CCAP) enrollment closures and waitlists by providing adequate, sustained funding for CCAP vouchers ($1.8 billion for NYC and $500 million for rest of state).
• Create a permanent state child care fund to increase child care worker compensation ($1.2 billion).
• Invest $150 million to develop and implement two models of universal child care bridge projects across New York: community eligibility and capped-fee projects.
• Establish an annual rate-setting mechanism for Preschool Special Education evaluations and services that ensures rates increase at the same rate as public school funding at a minimum, preventing program closures and maintaining access to timely mandated supports.

Advance equity in schools and school funding

• Add a per-pupil weight for students who are homeless or in foster care and update the formula’s Regional Cost Index to better reflect the higher costs in New York City (S.8125/A.9049 and S.8139/A.9048).
• Enhance access to Community Schools by dedicating $100 million to support the creation and expansion of 500+  Community Schools statewide.

EVERY CHILD SAFE

Support families and prevent systems involvement by investing in youth and communities, and by enhancing family services

• 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 care.
• 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 funds.
• Invest $30 million for the Child and Family Wellbeing Fund, designed to fund community-led projects that support families, reduce their risk of child welfare involvement, and prioritize family preservation, reunification, and healing.
• Invest $10 million for the Foster Youth College Success Initiative (FYCSI) to support young people with foster care experience who are navigating college.

Build on changes to the Empire State Child Credit (ESCC) made in the FY26 Enacted Budget by permanently

• Indexing the ESCC to inflation, allowing families to receive the full value of the credit over time;
• Increasing the credit amount to $1,500 per child per year for children 0-18, as recommended by the Child Poverty Reduction Advisory Council (CPRAC).

Protect immigrant families and communities facing threats from federal immigration enforcement

• Pass New York for All (A3506/S2235) to prohibit the use of state and local resources to advance the federal administration’s deportation agenda.
• Pass the Access to Representation Act (ARA) S.141/A.270) to establish the right to legal representation for immigrants at risk of deportation.