With the NYC Promise program, City Mayor Eric Adams announced $10 million in support for the care of children of immigrant families, especially those who have arrived in New York seeking asylum in recent months.
The aim is to help this population as due to their immigration status they are ineligible for federal benefits that include childcare.
According to the mayor’s office, this is the first time this assistance has been offered.
“This basically provides free or even low-cost child care to families with children ages 6 to 13,” said Andrea Ortiz of the New York Immigrant Coalition.
The new program opens the door to assistance for thousands of undocumented families.
“And all kinds of programs that make it easier for a family to find a job, right, because if you have to drop off your kid at 8 in the morning, but you also have to pick them up at 2 in the afternoon, that doesn’t mean you can have a full day work, so these extended day schedules are very important,” added Ortiz.
During the announcement of the program, the mayor commented:
“Overcoming obstacles in a new city and a new country is difficult, and associating these problems with a lack of child care can keep parents and families from realizing the dream they have so desperately set for. With the launch of Promise NYC , we are relieving the stress of those worries.
“I say it’s very good that the mayor is helping,” said Balbina Briones, a Washington Heights resident. “Because in our countries you know that we suffer a lot of poverty, crime.”
The city will work hand-in-hand with four community organizations close to immigrant communities in New York’s five boroughs.
The program will be officially launched in January next year and it is estimated that at least 600 children will be supported during the first half of 2023.
In addition, according to reports from the New York Post, the mayor has asked the federal government for one billion dollars to assist the more than 30,000 immigrants who have arrived in the Big Apple this year.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency (or FEMA) confirmed Wednesday that it had received the city’s application for funding and is reviewing it.
