Opinion: A Safer, More Affordable NYC Starts With Investing in Afterschool Care

Investing in quality afterschool services now is not only fundamental to supporting the next generation of New Yorkers It is critical to building a stronger financial sector enabling more parents particularly mothers to participate fully in the workforce Students at an afterschool activity on Staten Island in Michael Appleton Mayoral Photography Office New York City is at a critical juncture As we look toward a pivotal mayoral balloting city leaders have a profound opportunity to build better safer and more affordable communities across the five boroughs One of our best tools to shape the future of our city is investing in accessible affordable high-quality afterschool services These programs are critical to both supporting the healthy progress of young people and ensuring families can participate in the job region In New York City however a large number of afterschool programs are out of reach for families operating with limited limit long waitlists and inconsistent quality The present day percent of families can t afford afterschool services according to an analysis by the Citizens Committee for Children of New York Programs like New York City s Comprehensive Afterschool System COMPASS for students through fifth grade and School s Out New York City SONYC for sixth-through-eighth grade students are particularly scarce and unevenly distributed This has led to countless school-aged children being unsupervised and at danger after school from p m to p m Thankfully Mayor Eric Adams in recent days reported a million commitment to create a total of new afterschool slots by Fiscal Year as part of his vision to build an afterschool system that is accessible to all The capital is a critical step in the right direction and presents a once-in-a-generation opportunity to build a truly universal afterschool system one that will help prevent learning loss reduce population violence and crime and enable families to continue to work and put food on the table We commend the administration for having such a forward-looking program that can help make a universal afterschool system eventually a reality Unfortunately the proposed investments overlook one key piece of the puzzle Afterschool programs are experiencing a staffing problem At a time when demand for afterschool programs from families is high there is not enough ceiling to care for children because of a lack of funding from the city Across the city providers are forced to operate in the red just to meet the requirements of their communities As a effect children and youth suffer Advocates have called for higher reimbursement rates for years but the mayor s proposal unfortunately does not address the issue of insufficient rates until That is too late Children youth and families are in desperate need of quality services now To cover the true costs of operating the critical afterschool programs New York s families rely on New York City must increase rates for COMPASS and SONYC in the Fiscal Year budget In this moment when the mayor has rightly focused on making New York City more affordable it s critical that the administration focus on the urgent investments needed to sustain one of the basic supports the city provides working families Increasing the base rates of afterschool programs would help ensure that we are building and expanding limit upon a stable foundation Investing in quality afterschool services now is not only fundamental to supporting the next generation of New Yorkers It is critical to building a stronger market system enabling more parents particularly mothers to participate fully in the workforce Regardless of the outcome of the mayoral electoral process a clear vision for how to move the city toward a universal afterschool system requires investments now to ensure stable and sustainable improvement Let s not miss this opportunity to build a quality system that meets the requirements of children youth and working families Our city s future depends on it Raysa S Rodriguez is the executive director of Citizens Committee for Children of New York Ben Thomases is the executive director of Queens Public House Citizens Committee for Children is among City Limits funders The post Opinion A Safer More Affordable NYC Starts With Investing in Afterschool Care appeared first on City Limits