New York's Schools Need Youth Justice! Pass Solutions not Suspensions NOW

Solutions Not Suspensions (A5691/S1040) -- would establish that suspensions are the last resort to student misbehavior in schools, never the first. Instead, it promotes methods that are designed to hold students accountable while helping them learn from their mistakes. In New York, students lose hundreds of thousands of days in the classroom each year because of suspensions, often for normal youthful behavior. These punishments disproportionately impact Black and Latinx students, people with disabilities, and LGBTQ youth. Importantly, this bill would allow New York to take a big step away from the biased policies of the past. More information. 

New Funding Paradigm Need for NFP Public Emergency Informational/Non-"Safety Net" Functionings

Our organization is finding repeatedly that emergency public sector and private allocations in recent years that define their target grantees as primarily being "safety net services" do not necessarily take into account evolving realities that in times like the pandemic, information and health and community education programs and referral services can be just as valuable and life-saving for vulnerable community members as more traditional "safety net services" like nutrition and shelter programs are typically thought of, but those former kinds of efforts are rarely included in emergency funding programs. This would not be the case for government programs where the public information function is always, always, always a part of funded emergency programming, - so why is it the case in the non-profit grantor world? 

Take the Environmental Bond Act Survey Today to Support Equitable and Sustainable Land Acquisition

Urge NYS legislators to use their financial capital to pass the Environmental Bond Act, to acquire and protect Westchester County open space! By taking the EBA survey you can help to preserve land and clean water that is important to you and important to the environment. You may take the survey as many times as you wish, electing to support projects all over the County, like Save Pocantico Lake. Take action today to protect open space and clean water! 

Moms Need Momnibus Now!

The United States has the highest maternal mortality rate of any high-income country and significant disparities in outcomes – and the crisis is only worsening. The maternal mortality rate in 2021 was 89 percent higher than the rate in 2018. The Black Maternal Health Momnibus Act will address this crisis through historic investments that comprehensively address every driver of maternal mortality, morbidity, and disparities in the United States.

Call or email your legislator & express your support for this issue. Learn more and share this information with appropriate stakeholders. 

Urge President Biden and Congress to Pass a Permanent Legislative Solution for Dreamers

Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) currently provides temporary relief from deportation (deferred action)and work authorization for eligible immigrant youth from deportation.

The Community Resource Center is deeply disheartened by the string of decisions that hold the DACA program unconstitutional. CRC emphasize that legislation is needed to ensure a real path to citizenship for Dreamers. DACA was always meant to be a temporary solution until Congress could pass meaningful and substantive legislation to address this issue and create a path to citizenship for Dreamers. The fact that Congress has utterly failed to address this issue while hundreds of thousands of young immigrants’ livelihoods and families rely on DACA for survival in this country is the real travesty highlighted by Judge Hanen’s decision.

There are more than 500,000 DACA recipients in the US. Out of those, more than 23,000 reside in New York state. Dreamers have grown up and have lived in the US for most of their lives. They have attended and graduated high school and are currently in college pursuing a career or higher education. Dreamers help the US economy grow. Since DACA was launched in 2012, Dreamers have contributed $108 billion to the US economy and $33 billion in combined taxes, according to the FWD.us. Over the next 10 years, DACA recipients are projected to contribute an estimated $433.4 billion to the GDP, $60 billion in fiscal impact, and $12.3 billion in Social Security and Medicare taxes. Despite their low priority status, they continue to exemplify good citizenship in the United States.

Child  Care Council of Westchester: Child Care and Head Start Need Increases Not Cuts
House Labor HHS Appropriations Subcommittee - Action Required by: 8/31/23

Inability to find or pay for child care keeps parents out of the workforce, especially women. It's often the biggest bill in the household, yet the child care workforce is among the most poorly paid of any profession. Despite proof during the pandemic of the essential nature of child care access, cuts are proposed for Head Start/Early Head Start and at best, level-funding for child care. On average, the U.S. economy loses $122 billion annually due to lost wages because workers can't get the child care they need. For our children, our workforce, our economy and our future, increase funding for early childhood education programs. More Information.