February 12, 2012 · www.gothamgazette.com

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Children
Internet resources for what you need to know about NYC Children
Five Favorite Sites For Beginners

The Topic
"Children" refers to the range of social services and service providers available to New Yorkers under the age of 18. Near Synonyms: Family Services, Child Welfare.
The Context
Children comprise a quarter of NYC's population and their lives intersect with City government at multiple junctures. They are the poorest New Yorkers. Despite a surging economy, 42% live below the poverty line. The services supplied to them by the City are varied. The Board of Education, the Administration for Children's Services, the School Construction Authority, the Parks Department, the Housing Authority and the Department of Juvenile Justice are only some of the agencies that administer over $12 billion worth of services to the City's children annually.
The Reporter
Wendy Davis, a journalist in New York, used to practice law in Bronx Family Court.
The Archives
See past monthly updates for Children.

By Wendy Davis

Kids And The Economy

When Farah Domond first got a job at Wendy's three years ago, she had two toddlers at home and was pregnant with a third child. She had no one to watch them during the day, so she enrolled her children in a daycare center. There was one problem, however. The center cost $150 a week -- and she only earned $300 a week.

"That's a hard chunk to take out of your paycheck every week," said Domond, 27, who now works as a medical assistant by day and attends school at night.

After struggling to make ends meet for two years, Domond learned of a day care program subsidized by the city that would only cost her five dollars a week. She waited months for a slot to open up in her Brooklyn neighborhood, until she was eventually able to enroll her two older children, now ages four and five, in the center. Her youngest child, now two, is still waiting for a spot.

For now, Domond's brother watches her two-year-old but, she said, it's holding him back from finding a job himself.

It's no secret that parents can't go to work unless someone else can take care of the children. But in New York City, childcare is so costly that it can easily eat into parents' salaries, especially if, like Domond, they are at the lower end of the wage spectrum.

In recognition of this economic reality, the government subsidizes some of the cost of childcare for parents earning less than about $38,000 a year. A parent who qualifies for subsidized childcare pays a fee based on a sliding scale that is no more than 10 percent of income. But the subsidies are only for children in daycare settings approved by the government -- and advocates say there is a chronic shortage of available spaces in those programs.

"It's an incredible crisis," says Peter Colavito, chief of staff to City Council member Bill DeBlasio, a crisis that affects not just the kids but the economy. "This is what lets working parents, especially single mothers, go to work."

Currently, there are some 114,000 children in approved programs in the city, but there are an additional 36,000 waiting for a slot to become open, according to Candice Anderson of the Citizens' Committee for Children. Although the length of the wait varies by neighborhood, it can be as long as three years, Anderson says.

In the meantime, many parents turn to relatives or neighbors -- which can be a good solution, but can be dangerous if, for example, there are too many children in the home or the caretakers turn out to be irresponsible.

Domond herself says that her brother's assistance has been invaluable, but that the government-sponsored daycare programs have helped her older children. "My kids -- they are so smart," she said, boasting that they learned the alphabet, numbers and colors in daycare. Her daughter used to be shy, but has "opened up like a flower" since attending the program.

"It saved me," said Domond of the program. "I've gone back to school. Without the [program] it would have been next to impossible."

Before Sept. 11, the city had taken the first steps towards expanding the number of approved childcare spaces by adding providers. The city was going to start with an additional 3,000 slots, with an additional 7,000 slots slated down the line, for a total cost of $80 million.

But, to offset the $4.8 billion budget shortfall, Mayor Michael Bloomberg has proposed cutting the $80 million from the city's budget that would have funded the expansion. Unless City Council restores the funds, the expansion will be delayed until 2007.

DeBlasio's office said the City Council is considering restoring approximately $60 million, but that no decision has been made.

Five Sites For Beginners:


Other Recommendations:

  • The Annie E. Casey Foundation - The definitive site for information on the condition of children in the U.S. They've got it set up so you can create charts comparing NYC kids to others across several indicators.
  • Child Welfare League of America - An information-rich site tracking national trends in child welfare. Check out the League's National Data and Analysis System for ready-made or custom-made charts and tables comparing foster care policies and populations state-by-state.
  • Children's Bureau - All federal appropriations for child welfare go through this division of the Department of Health and Human Services. Go here to see federal policy guidelines and appropriations records.
  • Children's Health Fund - Dr. Irwin Redlener's groundbreaking work on the health status of New York's homeless children is on display here.
  • The Door, A Center of Alternatives, Inc. - A dynamic site for adolescents from The Door, the only free medical, cultural, and educational center devoted exclusively to the young people of New York City.
  • National Center for Children in Poverty - A treasury of new and important research on children in poverty.
  • National Coalition for Child Protection Reform - A site devoted to informed criticism of the nation's child welfare policies. See white papers on a range of issues affecting the lives of children in foster care.

Visit the Topic Archives!