Come join us at the steps of City Hall on June 5th, 2013 and get public health programs and services restored! At stake are millions of dollars in School-based health, Child Health Clinics, Infant Mortality Reduction Services, NYC's public hospital system HHC, mental health programs, asthma and immunization services, HIV/AIDS and STD clinics.
We need all your support!
PBC Talking Points for Fiscal Year 2013
PBC Partner Testimonies
June 7, 2012.
The People's Budget Coalition for Public Health organized a rally for June 4th outside of 250 Broadway. However, due to the rain- we decided to do another rally on June 6th on the steps of City Hall to protest the cuts to public health services and programs in the Mayor's budget. Here are the photos from the impromptu rally on June 4th and the rescheduled rally on June 6th. Both were great- a lot of community groups, unions, activists and concerned citizens came out to support and join the fight to restore funding!
See all the photos from this week's actions below:
The People's Budget Coalition for Public Health is an alliance of community and labor organizations united around preserving our city's public health programs and services. We work together to put the message that funding for health services is critical and must be at the top of the priority list for the Mayor and for all of our City Council members. The Mayor delivered his Fiscal Year 2013 Preliminary Executive Budget and eliminated funding for the following important health services. We need all the help to get this funding restored!
We need City Council to restore $5 million to keep community primary care for children, the Child Health Clinics in operation. Child Health Clinics have been providing primary care and immunizations for all children for over a century. There were 48 Child Health Clinics in 1988. Today, there are only 19, as 5 were closed last year (3 in Brooklyn) because of the cuts to HHC's budget. We cannot afford to let this vital resource be ended entirely as a source of local primary care for children, including for children with asthma.
HHC is the healthcare lifeline and safety-net for 1.3 million New Yorkers and serves nearly half a million uninsured patients. HHC already has a budget deficit of $1.2 billion and has had to close 5 Child Health Clinics, dental clinics, lay-off workers, privatize and contract-out their services. Our public hospital system cannot afford to take any more cuts especially since it is NYC's premier hospital provider for uninsured and Medicaid patients. It is crucial that funding and support for HHC is continued.
More than 47,000 children under 5 in NYC have a mental health disorder and about 60,000 children 5-17 have a mental health disorder. It is important and cost-effective to address mental health needs early because it prevents more serious and costly interventions later, such as special education and psychiatric hospitalizations. Studies show that the earlier a child's mental health needs are met, the better a child does socially, academically and ultimately, as an adult. This initiative funds 8 community-based outpatient mental health clinics to provide mental health treatment for children, age 5 or under. These programs offer consultation, treatment, training and supervision for children, their families, pediatricians, preschool teachers and child welfare workers. Past cuts to this initiative have already closed one program last year.
Mental health programs at all ages help avoid the "hidden" costs associated with untreated mental health such as increased family disruption, school truancy, increased crime, abuse, neglect and violence. A portion of these HHC monies fund 3 developmental disability clinics. HHC needs these resources to continue providing mental health, mental retardation and substance abuse services for the most vulnerable individuals and their families.
This initiative targets community districts with high infant mortality rates and improves outcomes in reducing infant mortality and racial/ethnic disparities. The Infant Mortality Reduction Initiative has been funded by City Council every year and the Mayor persists in not base-lining these dollars. Last year, $3 million was cut from the Preliminary Budget but only $2.5 million was restored. Each year, funding for this initiative decreases by half a million dollars. We need the full restoration to ensure that pregnant mothers carry to term in good health so that infants are born healthy.
The East Harlem Asthma Center of Excellence has been providing services to families since 2008 and is a 6 component program. They have trained over 1,000 children and families and 150 school staff members, day care centers and community organizations on how to manage asthma. They have also provided case management services to over 500 children and families, with 49% of families reporting a reduction in ED visits and 33% reduction in hospitalizations after one year. EHACE has environmental specialists and has worked with NYCCHA and 20 local organizations to clean-up environmental triggers to asthma. While asthma hospitalization rates for children and adults have decreased in the past decade, rates in East Harlem are still higher than in Manhattan and NYC overall. Therefore it is important to still continue steady funding and support for this program and community.
PBC Organization Members
Arab-American Family Support Center, Brooklyn Perinatal Network, The Bronx Health Link, The Children's Defense Fund- New York, Citizen's Committee for Children, Coalition for Asian American Children and Families, Commission on the Public's Health System, District Council 37, Doctor's Council SEIU, Federation of County Networks, Inc, Fort Greene SNAP, Gay Men's Health Crisis, Manhattan Borough President's Disability Task Force, New York Immigration Coalition, New York State Nurses Association, Spanish Speaking Elderly Council- RAICES, Village Care
Here are photos from PBC's Breakfast Forum on November 9th!
PBC's NYC Councilmember Contact Directory, as of November 2011.
At the successful breakfast forum (thank you everyone for participating), we also put out PBC's Accomplishments for 2010 and 2011 and circulated a sign-on letter to submit to Mayor Bloomberg and members of the City Council. Below is the letter. If you want to submit it, either in English or Spanish, you can find the documents attached, (English, Spanish)
New York City Budget FY' 12
Schedule C Restorations to Public Health
Testimony- CPHS: State Budget impact on City Budget
Testimony- Coalition for Asian American Children and Families
Testimony- Citizen's Committee for Children: Mental Health
Testimony- NYSNA
Testimony- Bronx Health Link: Infant Mortality Reduction Intiative
Testimony- Tuberculosis Clinics
Testimony- School Based Health Centers
Testimony- Individual: Matt Shotkin