What do the Mayor's Cuts to Child Care and After-School Programs Mean for Prospect Heights?

Prospect Heights and the surrounding communities are full of families that rely on help from New York City to care for their children and to make sure they have a place to go after school. One of the most important ways we help families in need in this city is through child care programs and Department of Youth and Community Development’s Out-of-School Time program.

But in recent years, these programs have faced repeated cuts by the Mayor’s office. Now, nearly 10,000 fewer children are in city-subsidized child care, and over 30,000 fewer children are able to attend these after-school programs – a drop of 40 percent.

As if these numbers weren’t startling enough, now the Mayor’s office is proposing to make even more draconian cuts that could mean 47,000 children could lose access to these services.

What would this mean for Prospect Heights and the surrounding communities? Well, in Prospect Heights alone, there are two after school programs that serve local children. And there are many more in neighborhoods nearby.  So these cuts would have a direct, potentially devastating impact on families in Prospect Heights and surrounding neighborhoods.    

Especially in these tough economic times, families in our communities, and across the city, need all the help they can get caring for their children. While budgets are certainly tight, it makes no sense to punish our neediest parents – and their children – by taking away access to child care and after-school programs.

The last thing anyone should want is parents unable to work because they can’t afford child care, or for kids to grow up in the streets because they don’t have any place to go after school. It’s ironic that the Mayor, who styles himself a major proponent of education, would slash these programs so dramatically. Many members of the New York City Council have opposed the Mayor’s cuts, particularly our own Councilmember Letitia James. Hopefully their efforts will offset these devastating cuts.

Prospect Heights Democrats for Reform strongly opposes these cuts and urges the Mayor to reconsider his position and reaffirm his commitment to providing for New York City’s children.