July 6, 2021 

On Wednesday, June 30th, 2021, New York City passed a $98.7 billion budget for Fiscal Year 2022 with significant increased investments to our Asian Pacific American (APA) communities and the organizations who serve them.

The Coalition for Asian American Children and Families (CACF) applauds Mayor de Blasio and New York City Council for standing up to support our most marginalized community members who have been deeply devastated by the exacerbated impacts of the pandemic and the abhorrent rise in anti-Asian violence.

We are especially grateful for the creation of a new and pioneering $4 Million citywide initiative entitled: AAPI Community Support, which was developed through CACF's 15% and Growing Campaign. This initiative will directly uplift Asian-led and Asian-serving organizations who provide programming for Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders, including direct services, mental health support, youth programs, racial literacy, and other culturally competent services. We are glad that this initiative recognizes the importance of our community based organizations, who provide culturally competent and linguistically accessible services that are best equipped to meet the needs of our diverse and growing population.

CACF is also appreciative that this budget has provided an enhancement of Access Health NYC to $4 million to over 40 organizations. These programs are integral to our immigrant communities, as they provide vital culturally responsive and accurate information, outreach, and resources to address the inequitable gap in health care and coverage that is available to vulnerable New Yorkers.

We are also pleased to see an enhancement of $3.7 Million to the Communities of Color Nonprofit Stabilization Fund, which will empower nearly 200 community-based organizations across New York City to strengthen their capacity to serve our City’s most vulnerable community members. 

CACF applauds the following citywide initiative enhancements for recognizing the importance of providing equitable resources to New Yorkers in need.

●       $19 Million to the Emergency Food/Food Pantries Initiative

●       $4.5 Million to the Digital Inclusion and Literacy Initiative

●       $2.3 Million to the Mental Health Services for Vulnerable Populations Initiative

Despite these important investments, CACF recognizes there is still more work to be done to ensure a truly equitable recovery for all APA New Yorkers.

We hope that these increased funds will be inclusive to support our most vulnerable APA New Yorkers during this dire and critical time for our community. We also urge the City Council to designate these funds to more Asian-led and -serving organizations, particularly smaller organizations who have been historically excluded from the budget and who serve our emerging populations. Investments to our APA community based organizations will ultimately support vital culturally competent and language accessible services that are best equipped to meet the needs of our diverse and growing communities.

CACF also urges the City to provide more targeted funding in education that will benefit APA children and families. Along with 100% Fair Student Funding, strengthened special education services, ensuring a social worker or school-based mental health clinic in every school, and other investments announced in the Mayor’s Executive Budget proposal, the Adopted Budget will include $18 million for a class size reduction program, $9 million to make community schools whole, $5 million to add ten new community schools, and $27 million for a citywide literacy curriculum to help K-2 students read at grade level. While these additional allocations include some important investments in education, they fall short in fully meeting the needs of our students and families who struggle the most.

Moreover, although the New York City Department of Education (DOE) will receive a $7 billion influx from federal COVID-19 relief funding, the Adopted Budget lacks clarity on how a great deal of these dollars will be spent, risking the perpetuation of inequities already heightened by the pandemic. To address these concerns and make significant strides toward equity for APA students and families, CACF continues to call on the City to provide targeted funding to our English Language Learners and immigrant families, a culturally responsive-sustaining education, and the proper rollout of data disaggregation at the DOE.

CACF stands committed to continuing our advocacy around creating public systems that will best reach and support APA children and families in need. And in the coming weeks, CACF will be releasing a more in-depth analysis of FY 2022 Council discretionary spending to better assess the allocations that support the APA community.

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