Elmont, NY– Alongside a growing coalition of elected officials, advocates, and childcare providers throughout the state, Assemblymember Michaelle Solages, who is also the Deputy Majority Leader and Chair of the BPHA Legislative Caucus urged Governor Kathy Hochul to include funding in the 2022-23 Executive State Budget that would: (1) Provide additional support to chronically underfunded existing children and families related programs; (2) Establish a new flexible funding stream to support innovative approaches to child wellbeing and position New York as a national leader; and (3) fund universal childcare in New York.

Assemblymember Solages noted recent increased rates of childhood trauma brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic – including increases in parental/caregiver deaths, compromised health, and deepened economic security – as primary concerns for the urgency behind why she is advocating for this new plan.

Developed in partnership with Assemblymember Solages and Assembly Children and Families Committee Chair Andrew Hevesi, NYS Senate Children and Families Committee Chair Jabari Brisport, and a core group of advocates and nonprofit organizations throughout New York state, this plan would address regulatory concerns such as reauthorizing the 65% reimbursement from the state to counties for children and family preventative services, create a new fund that would focus on bolstering community-based services, and revamp the state’s childcare sector while making critical investments to keep providers operating for the foreseeable future.