NEW YORK – Today, CCC Executive Director Jennifer March issued the following statement on the New York City Council’s response to the CFY 2024 Preliminary Budget:

“CCC applauds the City Council for laying out a bold vision for children and families in its response to the FY 2024 Preliminary Budget.

As our city continues to recover in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic, countless families are still struggling to put food on the table, secure and keep permanent housing, and get the behavioral health resources, child care, and youth services they need. We commend the Council for prioritizing the delivery of essential city services by opposing agency cuts, addressing existing vacancies, and supporting additional investments to ensure access to vital safety net benefits. Protecting and filling staff positions in city agencies are critical steps to facilitate access to a range of vital benefits, including cash aid, housing supports, nutrition programs, and many others. We also appreciate the prioritization of efforts to support families facing homelessness, including by baselining CityFHEPS, funding shelter-based community coordinators, and enhancing funding for Runaway and Homeless Youth.

The Council’s response seeks to address many of the challenges faced by New York City parents in accessing publicly funded early care and education services, as highlighted in our recent parent survey. These proposals include investing an additional $15 million for a pilot program to convert 1,000 school-day, school-year 3K seats into full-day, year-round seats, and by providing an additional $46-million to enable community-based providers to increase compensation for their staff. We stand with the Council in calling on the Adams administration to strengthen its outreach and marketing efforts to ensure more New York City families know about the infant-toddler, 3K and Pre-K program options available to them, and to decentralize the enrollment process so that community-based providers can enroll families directly on-site.

We also greatly appreciate the Council’s commitment to respond to the heightened behavioral health needs of our city’s young people, including through $5 million to baseline the school-based Mental Health Continuum, $28 million to expand access to school-based mental health clinics, and a $59 million investment in restorative justice coordinators and training. We are equally pleased to see attention paid to expansion of funding for universal afterschool programming, the Work, Learn Grow program, Community Schools, the City’s library systems, and the Community Food Connections program, among others.

We look forward to working with the City Council and the Adams’ administration throughout budget negotiations to ensure that the City enacts a budget that prioritizes the needs of children, youth and families and supports a full recovery for all NYC communities.”