Q&A
Addressing oversaturation and program flexibility in neighborhoods
2:57:51
ยท
89 sec
Council Member Rita Joseph and Gregory Brender discuss strategies to address oversaturation of early childhood programs in certain neighborhoods and the need for flexibility in program offerings.
- Brender suggests allowing providers to propose changes in age groups and modalities
- They discuss the 'school day plus' model as an example of flexible programming
- The importance of adapting to community needs and demographic changes is emphasized
Rita Joseph
2:57:51
And we talked about over saturation in certain neighborhoods, how can we address that?
Gregory Brender
2:57:56
So providers really know what's happening in their neighborhoods and I think giving them the flexibility.
2:58:04
So allowing them opportunities to propose aging changes in age and modality.
2:58:11
I think the school day plus model that's that's been piloted the
Rita Joseph
2:58:15
last Through the council?
Gregory Brender
2:58:16
Through the council, yes, is a great example because what we've seen is some neighborhoods, they don't necessarily have the demographics to support the extended day, extended year programs because of the income requirements attached to it, but their parents are primarily working parents and I think we're seeing this particularly in in some neighborhoods where you have a lot of people who say commute into Manhattan but you're further out in Brooklyn, Queens, The Bronx or Staten Island and you know, they need a longer day simply because they're working parents.
2:58:52
And so allowing providers this flexibility, allowing them to shape their programs based on how they're discovering community need and recognizing that yes community needs changes but we need to continue to stabilize the small businesses and nonprofit organizations that are providing early childhood even as you may see demographic changes as neighborhoods experience temporary or even permanent influxes and outfluxes.