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PUBLIC TESTIMONY
Testimony by Angie Vega, Assistant Director of Children's Health Fund
3:29:27
ยท
4 min
Angie Vega, Assistant Director of Children's Health Fund, testified about the importance of continued and increased funding for programs supporting schools and parents, particularly their Healthy and Ready to Learn initiative. She emphasized the growing food insecurity in New York City and its impact on children's health, development, and academic performance.
- The Healthy and Ready to Learn program, developed in 2014, helps schools identify and address health barriers to learning rooted in social, racial, and economic inequities.
- The program has evolved to include connecting families to local food banks and other community resources to address food insecurity.
- Children's Health Fund leverages their flagship school PS 49 in The Bronx to inform materials and training for educators, administrators, and parents citywide through their online Resource and Training Center.
Angie Vega
3:29:27
Thank you.
3:29:34
Good afternoon members of the committee and thank you for the opportunity to speak with you.
3:29:38
My name is Angie Vega and I am the assistant director of the children's health fund, the healthy and ready to learn initiative.
3:29:45
Today I will speak about the importance of the continue and increased funding for programming that critically supports schools and parents ensuring that students are well positioned to thrive in schools like our New York City Council funded program, Healthy and Ready to Learn.
3:30:01
According to the New York City office of the Mayor's Food by the Numbers annual report, over one point two million New Yorkers are experiencing food insecurity.
3:30:11
Moreover, forty point two percent of adults lived in a household at risk of food insecurity in 2023 continuing a rising trend.
3:30:22
Across the five New York City boroughs, the percent of children experiencing food insecurity ranges from as low as fourteen point two percent in Staten Island to as high as thirty three point two percent in The Bronx.
3:30:35
In all country, in all counties, black and Hispanic Latino individuals make up the majority of those who have limited access to quality food.
3:30:46
Child food insecurity is linked to a number of adverse outcomes, development interruptions, school behaviors and academic problems, physical alignment including reduced immune system function, worse body weight outcomes and asthma and mental health condition particularly anxiety and depression.
3:31:06
Children facing hunger may struggle in school and beyond.
3:31:10
They are more likely to repeat a grade in elementary school, experience developmental impairs in areas like language and motor skills and have more social and behavioral problems and this is why the New York City Council continued support of the Children's Health Fund Healthy and Ready to Learn program is extremely important.
3:31:28
Healthy and Ready to Learn was developed by the children health fund in 2014 as part of our mission of supporting kids so that they can thrive.
3:31:36
It was developed recognizing the importance of education and helping kids to reach their potential and that they be the healthy themselves to take advantage of educational opportunities.
3:31:46
The program is designed to help schools identify and address health barriers to learning rooted in social, racial, and economical inequities that impact student learning.
3:31:57
When we have their health needs met, they're better they're able to be better learners and succeed in school ultimately translating into a likelihood of a productive and happy life.
3:32:08
Healthy and Ready to Learn started with a strong focus on screening and responding to what we call health barriers to learn such as addressing medical issues like asthma, dental, vision problems, and mental health well-being.
3:32:21
While we continue to address these health barriers to learning, we are focused more on the worrisome needs of food insecurity and childhood trauma.
3:32:29
HRL therefore has evolved to include connecting families to local food banks and other community resources to ensure that family families food security needs are addressed so that their children could thrive and reach their full potential.
3:32:43
Through our current model, we leverage finding our flagship school PS forty nine in The Bronx and in Councilwoman Diana Ayala's district to inform materials and training that conducted with educators, administrators, and parents citywide and through our resource and training center which was launched in 2017 as an online platform that enables children health funds to scale our impact to reach students throughout New York City.
3:33:10
Our online respiratory is is equity and diverse focus and houses a board of library that includes infographics, facie, interactive learning images, slide decks and internal resources, external resources links.
3:33:25
Here is a snapshot of our resource and training center and HRL's impact.
3:33:30
Jenny, do you
Diana Ayala
3:33:31
have a lot left?
3:33:32
If you could you could also submit the full testimony for the record.
3:33:37
Okay.
3:33:38
We just wanted to
Angie Vega
3:33:39
give you a snapshot of the impact but we want to thank you for allowing us to testify today and to continue to have your support so that we can continue to support schools citywide and hopefully we can expand into more schools and provide services to them.
Diana Ayala
3:33:54
Thank you.
3:33:54
Make sure that you submit that to us.
3:33:57
Make sure to submit that
Angie Vega
3:33:58
to us.
3:33:58
Okay.
3:33:59
Okay.
3:33:59
Thank you so much.