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Earlier this month, UNH hosted our annual Albany Lobby Days, bringing 55 staff members from 31 settlement houses together for two days of lobbying for settlement house priorities including funding for the Settlement House Program, funds for afterschool programs, and COLAs for the settlement house workforce. UNH organized 61 meetings with elected officials, coordinated a rally with our legislative champions in support of settlement house funding, and organized a dinner for attendees featuring several elected officials. Visit here to view the materials. Thank you to all settlement house staff who joined us! |
The Rundown |
Urging the Mayor for Increased Afterschool FundingAs covered by the NY Daily News, 62 organizations signed on to a letter spearheaded by UNH urging Mayor Adams to increase funding to New York City afterschool programs. A more than decade-long disinvestment in afterschool programming has pushed the system to a breaking point. With contracts expiring, the Department of Youth and Community Development (DYCD) will ask providers of COMPASS and SONYC programs to sign a contract extension without additional funding. If providers do not sign, they risk losing their afterschool programs, but if they do sign, it sets them up for two more years of insufficient funding. UNH, along with other youth advocates, are lobbying the administration and City Council for an investment into these critical afterschool programs now. |
Working With Our Settlement Houses to Get Out The 2025 VoteWith key local elections coming up in 2025, UNH will make sure people are registered, educated, and motivated to vote. Applications are live for UNH’s 2025 Settlement Houses Nonpartisan Get Out the Vote project, designed to support settlement houses to increase voter turnout by embedding civic engagement in their programs. This project is part of UNH’s annual GOTV initiative to make Our Voices Count. Selected settlement houses will receive a grant from UNH that ranges from $3,000 to $5,000, access to the Voter Activation Network (VAN) database, and training and technical assistance from UNH staff. Applications are due by February 28th. Contact Lena Cohen for more information and how to apply. |
Testifying Before the Human Services Joint Budget HearingUNH prepared and submitted testimony to the Senate and Assembly’s joint hearing on Human Services for the Executive Budget. Our testimony covers a broad range of topics important to the settlement house movement, providing background information and recommended funding levels. You can read the full testimony here. UNH’s priorities for the budget include:
Currently, the NYS legislature is holding hearings to identify budget priorities, see the calendar here. UNH will continue to meet with legislators and appointed officials to lift up settlement house budget priorities. The legislature has until April 1st to negotiate with the Governor and adopt next year’s budget for the start of the new fiscal year. The legislature will release their one-house budgets indicating their priorities before that date. |
Upcoming Advocacy OpportunitiesHere are some upcoming advocacy opportunities that you may be interested in: The Working Families Tax Credit Lobby Day (NYIC) - February 24 Anti-Hunger Advocacy Day (Feeding NYS) - February 25 Settlement House Program Day of Action (UNH) - March 5 Human Services Advocacy Day (Human Services Council) - March 10 |
What We Are Reading |
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Nora Moran, Director of Policy & Advocacy at UNH, spoke with Chalkbeat about the impact of President Trump’s freeze on federal grants, saying "everyone is just going to be questioning, every day, is this the day this program is turned off.” New York City decided to end leases for five early childhood programs. According to Gothamist, three of those centers are owed millions in funding. Gothamist provided additional coverage here, reporting that the administration is now paying those centers back, but are still committed to closing them. Further reporting from Gothamist says that the sites will now remain open for another year, with extensions until June of 2026 A Comptroller audit has found that the city has gotten progressively worse in paying for nonprofit contracts, covered by the City here. |
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