Mayor Eric Adams launched a new child care assistance program for undocumented families who cannot access federal child care by January 2023. The city hopes to support more than 600 children in the next six months.
“Every child deserves an opportunity to succeed, no matter where they come from, and as a city of immigrants, we know that the American dream begins here in New York City,” he said. Adams said in a statement. and it’s a tough new country, and compounding those issues with the lack of childcare means parents and families can’t achieve the dream they’ve worked so hard to achieve.”
Adams said Promise NYC reduces stress for undocumented parents who support children.
During the important two-day meetings held by the City Council to review the handling of the current immigration crisis on December 19 and 20, city officials and groups presented community and how to do well with “New York’s new neighbors.” The Promise NYC child care program’s tenure will certainly help newly arrived asylum seekers find stable housing and work, but it’s a change many have been waiting for.
“Prior to this announcement, undocumented children did not have access to child care, which meant they were shut out of some of the city’s early childhood education programs,” said the Policy Director for Counselors. for Children of New York Randi Levine. “Before the influx of asylum seekers.”
Undocumented children and others are excluded from current programs because of restrictions on federal immigration laws, including the Welfare Reform Act of 1996, Levine said.
According to a Brookings report, the 1996 law was designed to “help poor families, fight health problems by supporting work and marriage, the stopping births out of wedlock, and encouraging the establishment and strengthening of two-parent families.” This was evident in Republican efforts to combat the growing number of “children growing up in poor, single-parent families” in the ’90s.
At the time, single and teenage births were on the rise, and many thought the law would force families to leave the welfare state to become workers and marry. build older two-core homes, according to Brookings. Eligibility for these federally funded benefits is limited to US citizens, permanent residents and other eligible immigrants.
“While some state and federal child care programs may not be available to many immigrant families and undocumented children, New York City will leave no child behind. The recent launch of Promise NYC will allow our city to continue to advance the promise of betterment for New Yorkers, regardless of their immigration status,” said the Commission on Manuel Castro’s immigration affairs. “As the city works to support newly arrived asylum seekers, Promise NYC will benefit their efforts to find meaningful ways to improve their lives. new home.”
Councilwoman Shahana Hanif, chairwoman of the immigration committee, said the city has already committed $10 million to raising child care costs for New Yorkers. “Promise NYC is an outstanding investment in our immigrant community and its transformative potential,” said Hanif. “Providing free child care to our city’s working-class immigrant families is building the social infrastructure of caring and compassion.”
The agency for child services contracts with four community organizations to serve communities and immigrant families: Center for Family Life in Brooklyn, Northern Manhattan Improvement Corporation in the Bronx and Manhattan, La Colmena in Staten Island, and the Chinese American Planning Council in Queens.
When contacted for comment, the organizations said they had not been able to contact the families, and none were available to talk about their child care experiences.
Ariama C. Long is a Reporter of America corps member and writes about politics for the Amsterdam News. Your donation to match our RFA fund will help him write stories like this; Please consider making a tax-deductible gift of any amount today by visiting: https://bit.ly/amnews1
