Excerpt
from Yiddish article in Der Yid's February 21, 2020 edition
Mr. Lincoln Restler of the mayor's office was present as
he was instrumental in bringing about the new SCCF vouchers for the public. While more than a few thousand new SCCF vouchers
were provided in recent months, hundreds of additional vouchers will be issued
in the coming weeks.
Assemblyman Lentol was thanked for his tireless efforts
to protect the yeshiva education system which lead to the SED postponing the
proposed regulations.
Brooklyn, NY – On Sunday, February 9, tens of
administrators of yeshivas and childcare providers from all over Williamsburg
participated in the Hakaras Hatov UJO luncheon. The event was designed to thank
Assemblyman Joe Lentol for his major assistance to ensure millions of dollars
in new funding for childcare, including hundreds of new vouchers, which will be
released in the coming weeks to the Williamsburg community.
After Mayor Bloomberg canceled the childcare voucher
program in 2013, Councilman Levin worked to restart the new program. The
Special Child Care Funding (SCCF) vouchers are the result of the councilman's
endeavors together with the mayor's office, which issued vouchers for children
on the waiting list. This year, Councilman Levin was able to work with the
mayor's office to increase the funding to $47.1 million for the vouchers, which
means that more than 6,000 vouchers have been made available for children's
benefit. This year, 2,600 new children will be added to the program.
This past December, a few thousand parents on the waiting
list were offered the new vouchers via letters that were sent out, specifying
that the offer was only good while funding was available. Hundreds who replied
were expecting to receive the vouchers but were disappointed when funds ran
out. In response, the UJO worked towards assisting the parents. Councilman
Levin, and Lincon Restler in the mayor's office, worked together with the
Administration for Child Services (ACS) to provide vouchers for the parents who
had been left out. Additionally, Assemblyman Lentol worked diligently to
provide the vouchers.
After weeks of work, ACS agreed to fund the additional
vouchers as well based on the number of children expected to age out in the
coming months. Last month, Governor Cuomo announced that he would be giving
another $5 million to the city for child care funding. As a result, Assemblyman
Lentol worked together with the mayor's office to ensure that the funding would
be used towards the vouchers for an estimated 900 additional vouchers.
The official luncheon on February 9 was to thank
Assemblyman Lentol for his herculean efforts in achieving the extra 900
vouchers. Lincoln Restler also participated in the event and was thanked as
well. Additionally, Rabbi David Niederman, UJO executive director, and
president thanked Councilman Levin for his involvement, as well as Speaker
Corey Johnson, Councilman Chaim Deutsch, and Councilman Kalman Yeger for their
efforts as well in getting the SCCF program funded. Rabbi Niederman also
thanked Governor Cuomo for providing the additional $5 million for childcare,
which enabled the additional 900 vouchers to be covered.
