For Immediate Release: January 16, 2020

CCC Executive Director Jennifer March released the following statement today in response to the Mayor’s Announcement regarding the Preliminary Budget for Fiscal Year 2021:

“Citizens’ Committee for Children of New York (CCC) understands the City’s desire to be fiscally prudent given the budget uncertainties stemming from Albany, and we are prepared to work closely with the City administration to ensure that our State and City budgets protect the health and human service infrastructure upon which children and families rely. We also know that early and consistent investments in children are the surest way to achieve better long-term outcomes in well-being for all New Yorkers and greater long-term savings for our city and our state. In fact, CCC’s community-based participatory research has revealed many unmet needs that deserve attention, with parents and youth demanding greater access to affordable housing, homelessness prevention, behavioral health services, as well as safe streets, parks and playgrounds within every community. Furthermore, while we agree with the Mayor that investments in early childhood education and salary parity for teachers have already resulted in vast benefits for New York’s children, our community-based research suggests an urgent need to build on these investments to address the unmet need for afterschool and summer programming and the profound shortage of affordable care for infants and toddlers. We look forward to working with the City administration and the City Council to advance these priorities in the City’s budget and commit to working together to ensure that the State budget is not balanced on the backs of New York City’s children.”