Yesterday, Mayor de Blasio released his $77.7 billion Preliminary Budget for City Fiscal Year 2016, which begins July 1, 2015.

The Preliminary Budget reflects a strong commitment from Mayor de Blasio and his administration to make investments that result in improved opportunities and outcomes for New York City’s children and families. Importantly, the Preliminary Budget proposes ongoing support for prekindergarten for all 4-year olds and middle school after-school programs, and investments in rental assistance, homelessness prevention, child welfare reforms, and expanded community health services, among others.

Building on these priorities, we look forward to an Executive Budget that goes farther and makes the investments needed to: improve access to high quality early childhood education and after-school services, bring school breakfast to all classrooms and universal lunch programs to all schools, support primary preventive services that strengthen families and prevent abuse and neglect, and expand access to children’s health and mental health services in schools and communities.

There is also a critical need for action in the Executive Budget to ensure that individuals providing essential services to New Yorkers in need are compensated at a level that permits them to live, work and raise a family in New York City.

The Mayor made clear at the budget briefing that the Preliminary Budget is just a first step towards developing the Fiscal Year 2016 budget and that there is a great deal more to look at and evaluate as we move towards the Executive Budget in April. This is good news because there are a number of areas that must be addressed in Fiscal Year 2016 in order to improve outcomes for New York’s children and families.

The importance of these investments was made clear in CCC’s new Community Risk Ranking, released last week, which shows a stark disparity in child well-being across New York City. Taking into account data on economic security, health, housing, education, and youth and family issues, the report ranks the city’s 59 community districts from lowest to highest concentration of risk to child well-being, and shows radically different realities among children living sometimes just blocks apart.

Please read our detailed summary of the Preliminary Budget proposals, as well as our priorities for the Executive Budget, and stay tuned for more information on how you can support our efforts.