PUBLIC TESTIMONY
Testimony by Aaron Sanders, Deputy Director of Government Relations at Grand Street Settlement
0:15:56
ยท
3 min
Aaron Sanders from Grand Street Settlement testifies about the pending closure of Bushwick Child and Family Center, urging the NYC Department of Education to extend their lease or find an alternative space in Bushwick. He emphasizes the importance of early childhood education and the potential negative impacts of the center's closure on families and staff.
- The center is fully enrolled with 69 out of 70 seats filled, serving as a community pillar since 2012.
- Closure would affect 70 families who rely on affordable childcare, potentially impacting their employment or forcing them to pay high tuition costs.
- 20 dedicated staff members may lose their careers if the childcare facility closes.
Aaron Sanders
0:15:56
Thank you chair Joseph and members of the New York City Council Committee on Education for commuting this important hearing and for the opportunity to provide testimony regarding the pending site closure of Bushwick Child and Family Center operated by Grand Street settlement.
0:16:11
We also wanna thank our local council member Sandy Nurse for her tireless support of families in the district who rely on affordable childcare.
0:16:18
Council member Jennifer Gutierrez for her support as a champion for universal childcare, Brooklyn borough president Antonio Reynoso, state senator Salazar, assembly member De Villa, and congress member Velasquez.
0:16:31
And finally, we wanna thank DOE deputy chancellor Simone Hawkins for collaborating with Grand Street to help us reach a solution best that would best serve the families in Bushwick.
0:16:41
In this hearing, we're calling on the Adams administration and the New York City Department of Education to extend our lease at the Bushwick Child and Family Center located at 319 Stanhope Street or find an alternative space in Bushwick to ensure uninterrupted services for our preschoolers.
0:16:55
Grand Street Settlement is a hundred and nine year old multi service settlement house that operates a network of center based child care and educational programs across Manhattan and Brooklyn.
0:17:05
Our programs serve working families and their children, many of whom live in NYCHA housing and face multiple obstacles to education, health, and economic prosperity.
0:17:15
Grand Street focuses on early childhood education because it is an early life investment that improves children's opportunity to achieve optimal health, education, and social development.
0:17:25
And it equips parents and support them with lifelong learning as they continue to guide their children's success through school and beyond.
0:17:35
Grand Street excels at meeting rigorous quality standards for hundreds of New York children and families, but we're at risk of losing a much needed childcare facility.
0:17:43
The administration's decision to close Bushwick Child and Family Center along with Nostras Ninos, Friends of Crown Heights, and Fort Greene Council, adversely impacts early childhood education and historically underserved communities like Bushwick and Williamsburg.
0:17:56
We recently hosted Governor Kathy Hochul and she noted the positive impacts our center has had on children's and families in Bushwick.
0:18:04
Since its inception in 2012, the Bushwick Child and Family Center has been a respected community pillar.
0:18:09
The site is fully enrolled with 69 out of 70 children in seats currently, and one student is stuck in the DOE's enrollment portal.
0:18:17
These plan closures will have devastating ramifications for working families in Brooklyn who rely on affordable child care options.
0:18:24
Essentially, 70 children and their families in our programs will have to scramble to find new child care.
0:18:30
Some will be unable to find affordable child care options, potentially impacting their employment or forcing them to pay thousands of dollars in childcare.
0:18:39
The city's median tuition expense for childcare is $24,000 a year.
0:18:44
This is an untenable alternative for families as nearly 20% of all Brooklyn residents live at the poverty line according to United States Census data.
0:18:53
According to a recent report from Robinhood, families in which a parent faced childcare related work barriers were five times 1.5 times more likely than other families to experience material hardship a year later.
0:19:05
The data underscores the need for subsidized childcare options in community like Bushwick and Williamsburg, but the research also suggests that we should develop additional childcare centers rather than dissolve brick and mortar sites that have been historical safe havens for our families.
0:19:21
Site closures will also have a devastating impact on community members.
0:19:24
If child site if our child care facilities close, 20 of our dedicated staff members may lose their careers.
0:19:31
These are dedicated early childhood educators who provide robust care for children.
0:19:36
In closing, we encourage the Adams administration to work with us to find a solution that maintains the vital child care services that we provide for our families in Bushwick.
0:19:47
On behalf of 70 families and Grand Street, thank you for the opportunity to testify.