2020 State of the State Reactions

Our network represent thousands of families from across the state whose children have been involved in many systems including mental health, substance abuse, special education, juvenile justice, and foster care.

Below are some of our campaign reactions to the Governor’s 2020 State of the State address:

CHAMPS-NY:
“We applaud Governor Cuomo for his commitment to serving children and teens in foster care statewide by instituting a kinship ‘firewall’ to ensure youth in care are placed with a family member or family friend whenever possible. This ‘firewall’ will guarantee counties exhaust all possibilities of kin-based care before placing a child elsewhere, which is proven to improve outcomes for young people in foster care. We urge the Governor and Legislature to keep this momentum going by expanding the Family First Transition Fund to $4.5 million each year for the next two years to aid counties’ efforts in support of kinship and ensure all youth in foster care have the opportunity to reach their full potential,” said Paige Pierce, CEO for Families Together in NYS and Kate Breslin, President & CEO of the Schuyler Center for Analysis and Advocacy on behalf of CHAMPS-NY.

Children’s Behavioral Health Campaign:

The following statement can be attributed to Jennifer March, Executive Director of Citizens’ Committee for Children of New York and Kristin Morse, Executive Director at the Center for New York City Affairs at the New School on behalf of the Children’s Behavioral Health Campaign:

“New York State is experiencing a child and adolescent mental health crisis: roughly half of all children diagnosed with a mental health need never receive services and adolescent suicide rates are climbing. Yet, Governor Cuomo made no substantive mention during the State Of The State regarding how the State plans to address the thousands of families in dire need of timely, accessible, high quality child mental health and substance use treatment services. As we look ahead to the release of the FY 2021 Executive Budget, we implore the State to protect children and families. Children didn’t create the Medicaid deficit and the State should not attempt to resolve the deficit at their expense. The Campaign therefore calls for a moratorium on cuts to children’s behavioral health care, the fulfillment of the State’s promise to increase access to services through Medicaid redesign, and the restoration of cuts made to Children and Family Treatment and Support Services (CFTSS).”

Raise the Age:

“In his 2020 State of the State address, NY Governor Cuomo recognized how Raise The Age law helped secure better outcomes for young people across the state. With the law’s full implementation last October, we expect it will help significantly more young people and their families next year.”

State of the State Summary: Click here