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
Babies are born learning. High-quality child care gives children from all backgrounds the opportunity for social, emotional, and intellectual development so they are ready for school. But the cost of child care in New York is too high for most families. And more than 3 in 5 New Yorkers live in communities with few or no child care options.
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.
Economic Stability
Being financially stable can help reduce the devastating effects of chronic stress on growing families. Right now, many parents of young children do not have access to state programs — including the Empire State Tax Credit and enough financial aid to afford college — aimed at putting New Yorkers on the path to more economic stability.
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.
Pandemic Response
The pandemic has been incredibly disruptive for New York families with infants and toddlers. Between 2020 and 2021, Raising NY polled parents, child care professionals, and business leaders to better understand the impact of the pandemic among communities of color and families from low-income backgrounds.