As New York City struggles to assimilate a deluge of migrants, key education and child care programs that help make recent arrivals less reliant on city services are at risk of being pulled out from under them.
A half-dozen high school programs that offer intensive English classes are not expected to have the resources they need to help teenage immigrants learn the new language, according to a new analysis released Tuesday by Advocates for Children of New York.
And hundreds of undocumented immigrants could lose access to subsidized child care by the end of the month with the expiration of a program open to all parents regardless of immigration status that freed them up to work, find housing and apply for asylum.
“It is befuddling that they are threatening to cut the resource that allows our newest New Yorkers, especially those who are women, to go to work,” said Councilwoman Shahana Hanif (D-Brooklyn) at a hearing last week on the initiative, called Promise NYC.
“This program is an economic driver that will make asylum seekers more self-sufficient and less reliant on costly city-funded shelter beds,” said Hanif, who chairs the Council’s immigration committee as well as its progressive caucus.
Many of the families who’ve recently arrived in New York have struggled to access the city services and legal help — such as applying for asylum and work permits — that could help get them out of city care. Close to 18,000 new students in temporary housing arrangements have enrolled in local public schools this school year — estimated to be mostly Latin American migrants.
As more young people who did not speak English immigrated to NYC, the city rolled out new programs last fall at six existing alternative high schools in the outer boroughs, where many migrants live.
But each principal was allocated only $50,000 for the initiative — less than the cost of hiring just one Spanish-speaking staffer, the advocates found. They are looking for an additional $3 million…
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