Guest op-eds, City Limits bloggers and reaction from readers
‘Four out of five families who enroll in prevention programs complete them. And, once they complete services, these families are five times less likely to experience another report of abuse and/or neglect in the near term. Prevention services have also helped to safely reduce our utilization of foster care. Currently, there are less than 8,000 children in foster care, down from over twice that much a decade ago.’
Issues of public health, infrastructure and the environment are inseparable from one another. The Bronx has long been victimized by infrastructure projects that benefit the rich at the expense of marginalized communities, and the Cross Bronx Expressway is the quintessential example.’
‘Investing in mentorship is not just a moral imperative. It is a wise business decision. Bringing in young people disrupts group think, provides a diversity of opinions, develops our future workforce, and yields economic benefits.’
‘The bills that make up the SOS Act, introduced by Council Members Francisco Moya and Diana Ayala, would raise the standards for workers like me to ensure that privately-run shelters are providing decent wages, benefits and training opportunities to security workers.’
‘The next mayor will inherit this crisis but has a tremendous opportunity with incoming federal funds and a wealth of experienced and committed providers, developers, and advocacy and philanthropic organizations to work with, to transform the city’s housing and homelessness policies and meet the needs of our struggling families.’
‘We can address poverty and public health concerns by providing people the housing, social services and care they actually need—and by divesting from policing and incarceration.’
‘Without more information regarding the communities that experience hate crimes and those that are accused of committing them, we cannot take meaningful steps to improve the mechanisms that we currently rely on to keep vulnerable New Yorkers safe.’
‘I’m beyond thrilled some inkling of normalcy may return to this gorgeous mosaic of a city by summer. But city and state officials are going to have to step up their game on how to best address vaccine coronavirus hesitancy or otherwise, we may be setting ourselves up for problems down the road.’
‘The Biden Administration is making $3 billion available to port facilities throughout the country that support the wind industry. New York City is a prime candidate to receive federal investment as we are already preparing a 72-acre site at the South Brooklyn Marine Terminal for such activity.’
‘To gain a deeper understanding of how we can recover and rebuild, the Health Department recently launched a new series. The vision is to spark conversation by bringing together communities across the city, thought leaders, and partners in the fields of science, medicine, public health, racial justice, and social justice.’
‘At every level of our education system, and at every school in New York City, educators and school workers must be guaranteed a fair wage and decent working conditions.’