We call attention to the problems facing settlement houses by collecting, analyzing, and sharing data from our members.
Our reports, policy briefs, and testimonies inform City and State decision makers on local trends and bring actionable solutions to the table.
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Repairing New York City’s Early Childhood Education Contracting SystemNew York City has made historic investments in Early Childhood Education programs, but it has not adequately expanded its infrastructure. Contracting delays and payment backlogs cause CBO providers, including settlement houses, undue hardship. UNH surveyed settlement house ECE providers, and conducted in-depth interviews with five of them drawing on their expertise to understand the bottlenecks and challenges they face. Repairing New York City’s Early Childhood Education Contracting System highlights these issues with contract management and payment for ECE services, and proposed solutions to repair this complex and broken system. |
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SNAP4All New York: Creating a State Food Benefit for Excluded New YorkersFood is a basic human right, and all New Yorkers deserve equal access to vital food assistance, regardless of their immigration status. Today, one in five immigrant New Yorkers is living in poverty. Given the growing and urgent hunger needs in New York, the SNAP4All campaign was launched. SNAP4All New York: Creating a State Food Benefit for Excluded New Yorkers lays out the SNAP4All campaign’s proposal - that we should use state funds to provide a food benefit to all income-eligible households currently ineligible for SNAP solely due to their immigration status. |
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2-Care For All: A Blueprint for Implementing Universal Child Care for New York City's 2-Year-OldsNew Yorkers, policymakers, and settlement houses all agree that universal child care for children ages 0-5 should be our ultimate goal. UNH, along with New Yorkers United for Child Care, created a roadmap to make high-quality, free, universal child care available to every 2-year-old in New York City. “2-Care for All: A Blueprint for Implementing Universal Child Care for NYC’s 2-Year-Olds” offers a clear, step-by-step path to achieving this transformative goal within four years. The 2-Care for All blueprint builds on the city’s success with universal pre-K and 3-K, representing the next major step toward free, universal, birth-to-five child care. |
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Intervening at the Edge: Lessons from Helping HandsRead UNH’s latest report, Intervening at the Edge: Lessons from Helping Hands. The Helping Hands program, generously funded by Gerstner Philanthropies, provides emergency cash assistance grants to individuals and families in crisis to keep them stably housed. UNH has served as a Helping Hands leveraged partner—passing emergency cash assistance funding through to our settlement house members—since 2019. The report examines the impact of this program over the last five years, drawing on interviews from settlement house staff who administer grants, data collected from 24 settlement houses that have participated, and an analysis of broader economic trends. |
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Mapping the Gap: Expanding Afterschool Access in New York CityA universal afterschool system is within reach. With a strong foundation already in place, growing public support, and a network of experienced providers, New York City must strategically take steps toward the long-term goal of ensuring that all children have access to high-quality, no-cost afterschool programming. Mapping the Gap: Expanding Afterschool Access in New York City documents the scope of city- and state-funded afterschool programs serving elementary and middle school students through contracts with community-based organizations (CBOs). This research fills critical knowledge gaps with a comprehensive view of where afterschool is currently located, how access varies, and what is needed to achieve universal afterschool access. |
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Let’s Eat: The Need to Invest in Congregate Meals for Older New YorkersMany older New Yorkers rely on congregate meal programs at older adult centers for hot, healthy meals that meet their nutritional needs. Using data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the Census Bureau, and a focus group of 15 settlement houses with congregate meal programs, Let’s Eat: The Need to Invest in Congregate Meals for Older New Yorkers highlights growing food and economic insecurity among older adults, as well as rising food costs that affect the ability of settlement houses and other CBOs to meet the greater demand for congregate meals at older adult centers. |
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A Worthy Investment: NYC Council’s Adult Literacy ProgramsNo-cost community-based adult literacy programs such as English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL), adult basic education (ABE), and high school equivalency (HSE) preparation programs are essential to improving the economic and mental well-being of New Yorkers. These programs enable individuals to gain the knowledge and skills necessary to secure higher-paying jobs that can sustain their families, support their children’s education, and advocate for themselves and their families. In FY25, the City Council more than doubled discretionary funding for adult literacy programming by $10 million, from $6.5 million to $16.5 million. A Worthy Investment: NYC Council’s Adult Literacy Programs highlights the life-changing impact of this funding on the economic and social wellbeing of New Yorkers, as well as underscores the urgency of maintaining the full $16.5 million in discretionary funding for the City Council’s Adult Literacy Initiative and Adult Literacy Pilot Project. |
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A Critical Investment: Why New York Needs a Permanent Child Care Workforce Compensation FundResearch shows that children, their parents and the U.S. economy as a whole are better off when they are able to access high-quality child care and early education. Yet, early childhood education (ECE) is one of the most underpaid sectors in the U.S., resulting in a fragile system that cannot always deliver consistent care to families. A Critical Investment: Why New York Needs a Permanent Child Care Workforce Compensation Fund highlights the impact of low salaries on CBO early childhood education providers in New York, and provides examples of other states that have made investments in raising pay for their ECE workforce. |
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One Size Does Not Fit All: Assessing the Efficacy of the Summer Rising Program in Meeting the Needs of New York City FamiliesFour years ago during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, New York City made major adjustments to summer programs for school-aged youth, mandating that all summer camp participants also enroll in summer school. Despite loud calls from UNH and our partners to evaluate the impact of this change, no data was ever released. In response, in summer 2024, we conducted a mixed-methods study of Summer Rising. Our analysis included a survey of 700 parents of Summer Rising participants and settlement house Summer Rising staff, a focus group with settlement house staff, and focus groups with 52 middle school students participating in the program at UNH settlement house member sites. One Size Does Not Fit All highlights key findings from this study and offers recommendations to improve summer programming so that it meets the diverse needs of New York City’s families. |
Voices from the Field: Understanding the Impacts of NYC's 60-day Shelter Limit for Asylum-Seeking Families on their Participation in Settlement House Early Childhood Education ProgramsThis brief summarizes key findings on provider experiences working with asylum-seeking families with children under the age of five, including: an overview of the need for child care among newly arrived families, the challenges facing newly arrived families with young children who are enrolled or seeking enrollment in settlement-house run early childhood education programs; and the impact of the 60-day shelter limit rule on their participation and retention in these programs. The brief also highlights the destabilizing impact of the 60-day shelter limit on providers themselves. |
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NORCs: An Antidote to Social IsolationLoneliness and social isolation have emerged as public health concerns–particularly for older adult populations–contributing to numerous health conditions including dementia and cognitive decline. We released a new report, NORCs: An Antidote to Social Isolation, which analyzes the surge in the older adult population in New York State, their needs, and the challenges they face, and highlights the essential role that supportive service programs in Naturally Occurring Retirement Communities (NORCs) (“NORC programs”) play in combating social isolation, enabling older New Yorkers to safely remain in their communities. |
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Progress Lost: Hardships Persist for New York Families After the End of the Expanded Child Tax CreditTo better understand the existing needs facing New York’s families today, and the importance of the community-based organizations that support them, researchers set out to speak with families and document their experiences. This report, a follow-up to the Settlement House American Rescue Plan Impact Study, summarizes findings from a second wave of SHARP surveys of more than 1,000 families during winter 2022-23 and offers a report from the field about New York parents’ experiences providing for their families since the expiration of the expanded federal Child Tax Credit and distills these experiences into concrete policy recommendations to strengthen economic security for families. |
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Settlement Houses Supporting the Newest New Yorkers: Voices from the FieldIn September 2023, United Neighborhood Houses surveyed its settlement house members to better understand the most pressing challenges facing the asylum-seeking families they are serving, the impact of the increase in asylum seekers on their programs and operations, and the support they need from government to serve these populations more effectively. This brief summarizes the key findings from this survey, along with information collected from peer groups of settlement house staff. Furthermore, the brief provides recommendations for how all levels of government can work with settlement houses on both immediate and long-term solutions to address the needs of asylum seekers in New York. |
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Assessing the True Cost of Implementing High-Quality Afterschool Programming in New York City Afterschool programming is a key aspect o the positive youth development movement. Effective afterschool programs build youth self-confidence and interpersonal skills, while reinforcing school-day instruction. United Neighborhood Houses worked with its settlement house members, as well as the Neighborhood Family Services Roundtable, to build a model budget that outlines the true cost of operating a quality program, during the school year and the summer months. |
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Improving Access to the Expanded Child Tax Credit Among Low-Income & Immigrant New York Families Study with Educational AllianceFollowing the initial Wave 1 quantitative survey, a number of respondents also participated in extended follow-up interviews in English, Spanish and Chinese, between February and August 2022. This brief summarizes findings from these interviews that underscore the findings in the first report, including the positive impacts of the CTC payments for those who received this benefit; the ongoing hardships and financial instability faced by low-income and immigrant families; and the barriers that these families faced with accessing the expanded CTC. |
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Settlement House Strong: How the Settlement House Program Builds NY's CommunitiesThe New York State Settlement House Program (SHP) provides innovative, flexible funding for a comprehensive array of community-based services that strengthen neighborhoods and families across the State. The Settlement House Program improves the economic security and well-being of New Yorkers in a variety of ways-access to healthy food, assistance with enrollment into public benefit and housing subsidy programs, youth development, college counseling, bilingual case management, and ESOL (English to Speakers of Other Languages) classes for immigrant families.
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Settlement House American Rescue Plan Impact Study Wave 1 ReportTo better understand the ways in which settlement house families were able to use the expanded Child Tax Credit and to assess the ongoing unmet needs they experience, Educational Alliance, in partnership with United Neighborhood Houses and the National Center for Children in Poverty (NCCP), conducted a survey of 1,078 families participating in New York settlement houses. This project, the Settlement House American Rescue Plan (SHARP) Impact Study, investigates family experiences in New York State's settlement house network related to access and use of the CTC. |
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Settlement Houses on the Frontlines of Alleviating Food InsecurityThis brief provides an overview of persistent food insecurity in New York City and within the UNH settlement house network using data from a 2021 survey of 1,078 families within that network and from the Census Bureau's Household Pulse Survey while highlighting the ways that settlement houses stepped up to address the need for healthy food in their communities during the pandemic, the impact of record-high inflation and inconsistent funding on the ability of settlement houses to improve food access in their communities. |
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The Need to Strengthen the Economic Security of the Settlement House Workforce: Voices from the FieldThis brief provides an overview of government underinvestment in the human services workforce that has led to poverty-level wages and lack of salary parity with other sectors; the financial precarity experience by this workforce; as well as challenges with staff recruitment and retention due to low wages and work-related burnout and frustration. In addition to highlighting findings from recent research studies, this brief includes insights provided by peer groups of settlement house staff convened by UNH; five-year 2015-2019 American Community Survey data from the US Census Bureau; and data from UNH's member salary surveys. |
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Settlement Houses Get Out the Vote ReportIn 2021, UNH worked with 15 settlement houses in our network to increase voter turnout among historically low turnout populations in critically important local elections through creative, non-partisan tactics such as pledge-to-vote cards, virtual phone banking, peer-to-peer texting, and community events. To evaluate the impact of these efforts, UNH utilized voter outreach technology and data analysis to determine the efficacy of GOTV outreach efforts on voter turnout compared to the citywide turnout in municipal elections. This report provides a detailed overview of the methods and results that UNH used in its 2021 Get Out The Vote project with 15 settlement houses to determine that individuals are more likely to vote when contacted by a settlement house. |
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Investing in Home Delivered Meals for Older Adults in New York CityThis brief provides an overview of food insecurity among older adults during the pandemic and the City’s response to addressing this problem, the chronic underfunding of DFTA’s HDM program exacerbated by rising inflation; and a list of recommendations to enhance and improve the program so that no homebound older adult who needs a meal is denied one. |
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Profiles in Practice: Older Adults Leading ChangeUNH, in partnership with settlement houses, has facilitated the creation of 24 teams of older people working out of a variety of senior centers, NORCs, and community centers across New York City. Each team works with their sponsoring settlement house to choose an issue specific to their community and interests. These cohorts work together with UNH over a two-year period to identify and implement effective and impactful ways to best address the issue. This Profiles in Practice brings to light the positive impact self-directed teams have at three levels: the individual, the organization, and the community. We believe this is a model that is applicable to a number of different social service and community settings. |
For older reports, contact J.T. Falcone