On Thursday morning, April 26th, Senator Simcha Felder was joined by Assembly member Joseph Lentol and leadership from the Office of Child and Family Services (OCFS) in hosting nearly 100 school administrators to introduce and elucidate two new reimbursement opportunities for after-school programs to help parents in need of extended day care.

“Ensuring that families have access to much needed child-care services is paramount. Our families need all the help they can get and I applaud my colleague Senator Felder for leading the way. Thanks are also due to the Office of Child and Family Services for recognizing the importance of supporting Brooklyn families,” said Assemblyman Joseph R. Lentol.

“As soon as the funding was cut we immediately began working to find a way to ensure that these vital services could remain intact as a lifeline to families in need,” said Senator Felder. “Despite the financial burden, these schools deserve praise for unhesitatingly continuing to provide these indispensable services to meet their students’ needs. Although the challenges were great, and the prospects seemed grim, today, I am proud of the great strides we made. When the ultimate goal is helping children, anything less than success is unacceptable.”

Senator Felder and Assemblyman Lentol responded quickly to the deep need and the outcry from parents that resulted from New York City budget cuts. Working closely with Deputy Commissioner, Janice Molnar and her capable staff including Meredith Bastiani, Manager of Child Care Subsidy and Jillian Faison, Legislative Coordinator, over the last 9 months resulted in a new state mandated program that will restore 12 million dollars in funding to Brooklyn schools.

“This announcement came at a crucial time while schools and Yeshivas are preparing for the coming year and are finding an increase in large families needing this assistance and our budgets are already spread so thin,” said Rabbi Melamed of Bais Tziporah who attended the event.

“Every investment we make in our children is money well spent and sure to reap rewards for many years to come,” stated Senator Felder.

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)