In response to Governor Cuomo’s State of the State address, Citizens’ Committee for Children released the following statement from Executive Director Jennifer March:

“Citizens’ Committee for Children (CCC) was proud to stand with other Raise the Age advocates at Governor Cuomo’s State of the State address to help recognize the successes that government and advocates can accomplish together. We were also pleased to learn about the Governor’s plans to strengthen and expand services for children and their families through a number of new initiatives and investments including:

• $100 million to support a continuum of services to implement raising the age of criminal responsibility;
• $15 million to expand pre-kindergarten programs for 3 and 4-year olds;
• $10 million to expand after-school programs including $2 million targeted at homeless children;
• $250,000 for grants to community schools to increase mental health services;
• Advancing recommendations of the First 1,000 Days task force to improve outcomes for young children;
• Taking numerous steps to expand access to school meals.

We also applaud the Governor for his leadership on some critical legislative reforms that he is proposing including bail, discovery and speedy trial reform; the dream act; and the child victims act. We look forward to learning more details in the upcoming executive budget and to working with the Governor and the State legislature to ensure that, despite financial and policy threats from Washington, New York continues to lead the nation in protecting and supporting children and their families.”

Citizens’ Committee for Children is an independent multi‐issue child advocacy organization whose mission is to ensure every New York City Child is healthy, housed, educated and safe. For more information on CCC, visit cccnewyork.org and follow us on Facebook and Twitter.