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Politics & Government

Report Confirms What Clinton Hill Parents Already Know: Cuts to Childcare Hurt Neediest Most

Campaign for Children releases study on effect of proposed cuts to daycare and afterschool programs.

A report released this week by the Campaign for Children says that Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s will hit communities suffering from high rates of childhood obesity, rampant unemployment, low school achievement and high rates of poverty the hardest—despite promises to the contrary.

The report comes as Clinton Hill parents and guardians continue to scramble to secure seats for children displaced by the on Fulton Street.

According to the study, cuts to the Out-of School Time afterschool system will adversely affect underserved areas of the city, including neighborhoods with the highest rates of childhood obesity: (Bushwick, Williamsburg and Greenpoint), neighborhoods with the lowest school achievement (Sunset Park, Bushwick and Brownsville) and neighborhoods with the highest rates of poverty and unemployment (Brownsville and South Crown Heights).

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Mayor Bloomberg created the OST system in 2005, serving 85,000 children at its height in 2009.

With this year’s proposed budget cuts, the OST system will be reduced by half, says the Campaign for Children. According to the report, 191 programs are set to close, and only 25,000 children will have access to programs next year.

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“Where there are hard-working parents struggling to make ends meet, and children without any other safe place to go, we simply cannot take away these essential programs,” said Stephanie Gendell, a childcare advocate working with Campaign For Children.

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