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Q&A
City Council outreach and communication regarding the voucher crisis
4:02:36
ยท
51 sec
Council Member Restler questions Commissioner Dannhauser about the timing and extent of outreach to the City Council regarding the childcare voucher crisis. The discussion reveals a lack of early communication with the Council.
- ACS's first outreach to City Council on the voucher crisis was very recent, within the last two weeks
- Restler expresses frustration at the late timing of communication given the scale of the potential crisis
- Highlights the disconnect between the administration and the City Council on this critical issue
Lincoln Restler
4:02:36
Okay.
4:02:36
So now let's shift to what we have done to make a difference for the state budget.
4:02:40
I'll share my analysis plainly and then I'm going to ask a bunch of questions.
4:02:45
Well, you know what?
4:02:46
Why don't we start with the questions and then I'll give a speech at the end about how pissed I am that 50,000 to 60,000 families are about to lose their childcare vouchers.
4:02:55
ACS has been in communication with OCFS, I appreciate.
4:02:57
That's your job to coordinate with the state entity that has oversight of you all and I'm sure you've been regularly communicating with them.
4:03:04
They provide resources and oversight of everything you do.
4:03:06
When was the first outreach that ACS made to the City Council on this topic?
Jess Dannhauser
4:03:11
I believe it was very recently.
Lincoln Restler
4:03:12
Within the last week, two weeks?
4:03:14
Yes.
4:03:15
So we have a looming childcare voucher crisis that's going to kick 62,000 of our children off of their childcare and the first communication with the city council was in the last two weeks.
Jess Dannhauser
4:03:24
We're working hard to avoid that scenario.
Lincoln Restler
4:03:27
Kinda.