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Q&A
Efforts to reduce child poverty in New York
1:31:50
·
90 sec
Council Member Brewer inquires about initiatives to reduce child poverty. Commissioner Dannhauser discusses various efforts at the state and local levels, while acknowledging the ongoing challenges.
- The governor has made investments in tax credits to reduce child poverty
- Local efforts include ensuring housing stability and distributing cash assistance
- School-based support programs offer help without requiring a full prevention case
- Commissioner Dannhauser expresses concern about rising child poverty rates
- The need for investments at all levels of government is emphasized
Gale A. Brewer
1:31:50
Yes.
1:31:51
And then just, I guess in Albany, you talked about that budget.
1:31:55
But the whole notion, we're all trying to figure out ways of cutting poverty, child poverty.
1:31:59
So is that something that the administration as a whole is thinking about in terms of some of these initiatives?
Jess Dannhauser
1:32:05
It's it's essential.
1:32:07
And I know that the governor's made some very laudable investments in tax credits anything that we can do to reduce poverty amongst children is helpful for a lot of reasons, one of which is a reduced reliance on the child welfare system.
Gale A. Brewer
1:32:23
Well we agree, we're just trying to make sure it happens.
1:32:25
So you think that some of these steps are either locally or in the state are helping to do that?
Jess Dannhauser
1:32:31
I think there's been a lot of work at HRA and our providers to make sure that folks have housing stability, which is key, that cash assistance is getting out.
1:32:42
We're doing a lot of work to see if our child we don't want people to have to come to the child welfare system for that basic help, but we do when people do, we want to have the help for them.
1:32:52
Our school based support programs have a new dimension to them where you don't have to sign up for a prevention case if you just need a little bit of support and they can navigate you to the kind of help that you need.
1:33:04
I mean I think we should all be concerned that the child poverty rate in our state and nationally is going up.
Gale A. Brewer
1:33:10
Way up.
Jess Dannhauser
1:33:11
And so I don't want to pretend as if we have that solved.
1:33:16
It's gonna take investments at every single level of government.
Gale A. Brewer
1:33:19
Thank you.