Our Issue Areas
Raising NY is focused on advancing policies that support families of infants and toddlers during these first critical years of life. The issue areas we focus on are:
Child Care
Health and Development
80 percent of brain growth happens in the first three years of a baby’s life. But more than one in four mothers do not receive early prenatal care. One-third of young children are at serious risk for delays in development, yet New York ranks 49th in the country for screening rates.
Child Poverty Reduction
Nearly one in five New York children live in poverty, and that rate approaches one in three among children of color and in some under-resourced communities. The chronic stress of poverty can have devastating effects on growing families and impacts the brain development of young children.
Building a System
There is often a disconnect between the multiple agencies across different levels of government that serve young children and families, which means parents can be forced to navigate confusing systems and providers can be stuck in silos.
