Governor Commits to Expanding Access to Childcare, Addressing NY’s Child Mental Health Crisis and Aiming to End Family Homelessness Across New York State

Advocates Urge Legislators to Prioritize Investments in Infant Toddler Care, Extended Day and Year-Round Pre-K

NEW YORK, NY – In response to Governor Hochul’s first State of the State address, Citizens’Committee for Children (CCC) Executive Director Jennifer March issued the following statement:

We congratulate Governor Hochul on her first State of the State and thank her for her leadership and prioritization of the needs of families across New York. In today’s address, Governor Hochul outlines a comprehensive approach to support New York’s pandemic recovery, with an emphasis on efforts to lift incomes, support parents and caretakers in returning to and sustaining work, address educational inequities, keep families housed, and address sobering health and behavioral health needs.

CCC is encouraged by the commitment to: expand access to childcare by increasing subsidy eligibility and investing in wages for the long-underpaid workforce; new investments to build and preserve 100,000 low-income housing units and 10,000 supportive housing units; and fully funding the foundation aid phase-in to provide schools and districts with billions of dollars they have been owed.

CCC applauds the Governor’s commitment to addressing health and behavioral health needs, including efforts to ensure telehealth reimbursement parity, integrate mental health services within pediatric primary care settings, align CHIP benefits with Medicaid, and make much-needed investments in the mental health care workforce. Prioritizing mental health grants and school climate pilot programs will also help schools address the behavioral health impacts of the pandemic on young people. We also applaud the Governor’s proposals to eliminate the monthly premium for Child Health Plus and extend postpartum Medicaid coverage.

We look forward to greater detail on these priorities in the upcoming State Executive Budget and to working with the Governor and State Legislature to go farther by prioritizing robust investments in infant toddler care and extended day and year Pre-K programming, raising community clinic rates to expand access to sorely needed behavioral health care, ensuring all immigrant New Yorkers receive the health coverage and economic supports they need, and making critical investments in child welfare prevention and statewide rent subsidies to stabilize and strengthen families, among other key policy areas.

CCC’s recent analysis of the Household Pulse Survey illustrates that bold actions are needed now more than ever to ensure that New York’s families – who have experienced the deepest impact of the pandemic and economic recession – are put front and center in recovery efforts.
We are hopeful that working collaboratively with our state leaders, service providers and advocacy partners, we can advance the essential building blocks needed to achieve an equitable recovery for all New Yorkers.
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About CCC
Citizens’ Committee for Children of New York (CCC) educates and mobilizes New Yorkers to
make the city a better place for children. CCC’s advocacy combines public policy research and
data analysis with citizen action. CCC casts light on the issues, educates the public, engages
allies and identifies and promotes practical solutions to ensure that every New York City child is
healthy, housed, educated and safe. For more information about CCC, visit www.cccnewyork.org.