Monthly Archives: June 2021

At 8 years old, Kayla Weissbuch received a scholarship to attend summer camp, and her life was forever changed by the experience. Now, Kayla can be found running her very own sleep-away camp, Camp Brave Trails, alongside her partner, Jessica. The leadership-focused camp welcomes LGBTQ+ youth ages 12 through 18 for five week-long sessions in California every summer (plus one week at a Maryland location) and gives Kayla and Jessica an opportunity to introduce the magic of camp to teens while also providing a safe space.

"When you walk [through] the camp gates to see a forest drenched in rainbows and our staff cheering to welcome you, you instantly feel a sense of belonging unlike anywhere else in the world. That's only the beginning of what is often described as our campers' 'favorite time of the year,'" reads Brave Trails's opening statement on its website. And as someone who was very fortunate to have had the transformative childhood experience of sleep-away camp, it gives me freaking chills.

I spoke to Kayla and Jessica about their shared involvement in starting Brave Trails, why this endeavor means so much to them, and how they use their summer sessions to teach leadership skills and empower teens to be change-makers.

"For a lot of our kids, they walk around their school environments and communities at home trying to defend themselves, trying to advocate for themselves, trying to fit unfortunately so much of the world is not accommodating to LGBTQ+ youth, or silences them," Kayla told POPSUGAR. "It's been really fun to create a space where they don't have to be an advocate for themselves, they don't have to have that shield or that guard up."

Kayla and Jessica describe Brave Trails as the quintessential summer-camp experience, but with an LGBTQ+ "twist." Campers are organized in cabins by age, not gender, and aren't expected to adhere to any type of gendered dress codes. All identities and pronouns are respected, and consent is a huge part of their camp culture everyone must ask before touching another person or their belongings. Additionally, the Weissbuchs wanted to avoid Brave Trails feeling like therapy, so they instead crafted it to be "a therapeutic space to allow folks to explore who they are and their identity, and try on different names."

"It's nonclinical, honestly. A lot of our kids are coming from LGBTQ centers and LGBTQ therapy or school therapists. And those are amazing places and have done so much to support youth, but it's also about remembering that they're still kids. They need childhood experiences," Kayla said. Jessica, who is a licensed marriage and family therapist, added: "[Our campers] have different needs sometimes. Unfortunately the levels of anxiety and depression in queer youth is four times as high as nonqueer youth, and we had that in mind as we were building the program."

Kayla and Jessica Weissbuch

As the founders and codirectors of Camp Brave Trails, one of the most important things Kayla and Jessica wanted to do away with was the idea of tradition for the sake of tradition, as some like gendered housing can be harmful and limiting. To achieve this, the duo are constantly open to the idea of change and include their campers and staff in the ongoing design of camp.

"If something's not working and they come to us, we're not just like, 'Well, that's the way it's done,' we're like: 'Yeah, OK, let's talk about it. Why doesn't it work? What can we do to change it?' We take action," Jessica shared. Kayla added, "Our campers designed so many of our rules, it's awesome."

They also give their campers the ultimate choice of how their days will look. Even though camp activities are planned to an extent, campers are given various options for what to do each day. "Campers sign up for all of their activities because we want them to have autonomy," Kayla said. "There's so much that queer youth do not have autonomy over, so that is one thing our campers really love."

That said, should a camper not be feeling up to a certain activity they originally picked, the staff are poised to provide even more flexibility, especially after 16 months of the pandemic.

"We're going to have grace for everybody's experiences," Kayla said. "Everybody is going to be coming at us from a different place having experienced different levels of trauma over the last year. [We'll] adjust to what the kids need. If they need to hock programming for a session and go have a dance party, let's do that. If they need to have a night in with their cabin instead of doing an evening program, let's do that. We're all prepared to take it one step at a time and just hear the needs of our people."

Another way the Weissbuchs are in tune with their campers' needs is in terms of financial aid, especially as Kayla was first able to attend camp herself on a scholarship. "The common narrative of camp is white, upper-middle class, so we're really trying to change that narrative and provide a space for anybody that can come. We never want money to be the reason why a camper can't come, so we provide anywhere between 20 and 70 thousand dollars of scholarships every summer," Jessica said of the fundraising she and Kayla do in their local community to help send kids to Brave Trails.

In addition to its traditional camp activity offerings, like swimming, arts and crafts, and sports, Camp Brave Trails further sets itself apart with a twofold leadership program that teaches kids the skills needed to create change. "There are two major programs that we have at camp that are 100 percent leadership-focused. Everything we do has a leadership twist to it, but these two programs are the meat and potatoes," Jessica explained.

One half of Brave Trails's leadership offerings are workshops hosted by folks from the local community. Four or five run per day in a variety of topics, such as how to create an LGBTQ+ club at school, public speaking, and queer sex education, as well as identity and mental health workshops that help campers ground themselves and other members of their communities.

The second program, Passion to Action, is described by Jessica as an "intentional storytelling space." Passion to Action helps campers realize what their passion is and how to craft a personal story about that passion with the intention of creating action in their community. For example, how to tell their school board why it's important they have a recycling program at their school.

"One of the intentional reasons we made it specifically a leadership camp was to show queer youth that they have so much natural resiliency and so many natural leadership skills that they may not recognize in themselves," Kayla said, adding that they do their best to point out that leadership can come in many forms and has no one definition. "We kind of just give them the tools and let them run with it. . . . We like to tell our campers that camp is not a utopia, it's the launching pad. Get all your gear together, get all your knowledge, and we can turn it into something."

In addition to hosting teens throughout the summer, one of the other programs Jessica and Kayla created is Brave Trails's family camp, which is held on a weekend in March. The pair joked that the idea was born out of selfishness, as when they were in the process of adopting their now nearly 3-year-old child, Ari, they saw an opportunity to create something really wonderful for other queer families like their own.

"[The idea for family camp] came about when we were starting our family. There's almost nothing out there for queer families," Kayla shared. "It can be extremely isolating. And especially as kids grow, it's so healthy to be able to see other families like theirs . . . just being together and celebrating letting the kids be kids but with this undertone of celebration for each unique family."

"And not having to explain your family," Jessica added. "It's been really cool to see the community just grow. All of our families are not only at camp together, but then they have parties and vacation together now and are just in community."

Although family camp has been on pause since the onset of the pandemic, Brave Trails is opening its doors for reduced-capacity summer camp in July. All four sessions are completely booked and the waitlist currently has upwards of 700 kids on it.

Kayla shared that while some camps she's in contact with are hearing feedback that campers are upset certain aspects of camp will be different this summer, many of the Brave Trails parents are just excited their kids will be around other queer youth after spending so much time apart from their friends. For some campers, Kayla explained, the only friends they have are at camp every year. "It'll be fun to be with our campers in a space of gratitude of just being together."

Follow this link:

Meet the Founders of Brave Trails, a Leadership-Focused LGBTQ+ Summer Camp For Teens - POPSUGAR

VERSAILLES, Ky. (WTVQ) The Health Resources and Services Administration has awarded Frontier Nursing University two grants totaling $4,140,000.

The HRSA Behavioral Health Workforce Education and Training grant totals $1,920,000 and the Nursing Workforce Diversity grant totals $2,220,000. HRSA, which is an agency of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, will award the funding for both grants in annual installments during the next four years.

We are so thrilled and thankful to have been awarded these grants by the Health Resources and Services Administration, FNU President Dr. Susan Stone said. These funds will enable us to expand on the important work we are already doing to address two glaring needs in our nations healthcare system: a shortage of psychiatric-mental health nurse providers and a lack of diversity among healthcare providers. We have been dedicated and intentional in our efforts to prepare our students to fill these needs, and the HRSA grants are verification of our leadership in these areas of focus and of our potential to make substantially more progress in the years ahead.

The Behavioral Health Workforce Education and Training (BHWET) grant project will be led by Dr. Jess Calohan, DNP, PMHNP-BC, Chair of FNUs Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner Department.

The project period extends from July 1, 2021, to June 30, 2025, with the award for the first year totaling $480,000.

The goal of the project is to increase the number of psychiatric-mental health nurse practitioners who are diverse in race, ethnicity, and other underrepresented populations serving in rural and medically underserved communities through collaboration with clinical Experiential Training Site partners.

The grant project will support curriculum development related to child/adolescent care, interprofessional team-based trauma-informed care, and additional telehealth simulations. This grant will provide $290,000 annually in scholarships for Psychiatric-Mental Health Nurse Practitioner students.

The Nursing Workforce Diversity (NWD) grant will be led by FNU Chief Diversity and Inclusion Officer Dr. Geraldine Young, DNP, APRN, FNP-BC, CDCES, FAANP.

The project period extends from July 1, 2021, to June 30, 2025, with the award for the first year totaling $555,000.

The overarching goal of the NWD program is to increase the number and diversity of certified nurse-midwives across the United States who serve in rural and underserved areas in an effort to prevent and reduce maternal mortality.

Central to this is the need to increase nurse-midwifery education and training opportunities for students from disadvantaged backgrounds and see them through to success. The grant provides $166,500 annually for scholarships for nurse-midwifery students of color.

FNUs objectives of the project are to increase its percentage of students of color (SOC) enrolled in the certified nurse-midwifery program to 30% by 2025, to retain at least 85% of nurse-midwifery SOC, and to graduate a total of 75 nurse-midwifery SOC every year during the grant period (2021-2025).

Additionally, FNU aims to increase the percentage of its faculty of color to 20% by 2025 and to retain at least 85% of faculty of color during the grant period.

Research has shown that healthcare outcomes improve when culturally concordant care is provided, Dr. Stone said. These grant projects align with our own strategic plan goals to increase the diversity of our student body, our faculty, and our staff, with the understanding that doing so will improve the health care system in the U.S.

FNU offers graduate Nurse-Midwifery and Nurse-Practitioner distance education programs that can be pursued full- or part-time with the students home community serving as the classroom.

Degrees and options offered include Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP), Master of Science in Nursing (MSN), or Post-Graduate Certificates. To learn more about FNU and the programs and degrees offered, please visit Frontier.edu.

Continue reading here:

Frontier Nursing gets $4.1 million to expand diversity in key fields - ABC 36 News - WTVQ

Clique aqui para Portugus

For the first time in Brazilian history, favela grassroots movements, mothers of victims of State violence, and civil society organizations were heard by the countrys highest court, the Brazilian Supreme Court (STF), as amicus curiae (friends of the court)institutions or persons not a party to a case, whose purpose is to offer additional and relevant information to be considered before the court makes a final rulingat a public hearing held in April to report abuses committed by police officers in Rios favelas.

The hearing was called in the context of the Claim of Non-Compliance with a Fundamental Precept (ADPF 635), the STFs decision restricting police operations in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic. The hearings aim was to collect information supporting the elaboration of a plan to reduce police lethality in Rio de Janeiro, in order to fulfill an Inter-American Court of Human Rights ruling. The event was held between April 16 and 19 through videoconferencing and broadcast on the YouTube page of TV Justia.

Allegations of torture, intimidation, abuse, and murder made by favela residents to the STF were not mere testimonies. In the two public hearing sessions, known as the ADPF das Favelas, each speech was an act of resistance. Above all, an act of survivalin present body as well as in memoryof favela residents faced by the States necropolitics: a policy of death inflicted daily by Rio de Janeiros Military Police (PMERJ) during decades of violence.

I dont know of any favela that has a weapons and a drugs factory. If you find guns here, its because they are brought in from the outside. Why do my people have to be marginalized and pay this price? When one mother weeps, they all weep. I live in a favela that is constantly visited by police. I have lost count of the number of mothers who have lost their children due to police violence. It is not easy to wake up with hooded people at our door. All we wish is to survive, because plain living has been denied to us, said Eliene Maria Vieira, of the Mothers of Manguinhos movement at the hearing.

I want my favela to live, declared Eliene to the two STF judges presiding over the public hearing: Edson Fachin and Gilmar Mendes.

In all, 66 organizations participated as amicus curiae at the hearing. Among the parties were Rios Public Defenders Office, the Military Police, community associations, and favela grassroots movements.

How would you feel losing a two-year-old son and having to carry that emotional weight for the rest of your life? asked Jos Luiz Faria da Silva, of the Fala Akari Collective, and father of Maicon, killed by police 25 years ago. I respect the Constitution, I have served my country and voted all my life, but my sons rights were not respected. Whoevers shooting, its not the victims. My soul is choked by my sons loss, repeated this father who still seeks justice after 25 years.

I am the mother of a son murdered by the police in favela da Mar. He was killed on his way to school, in his uniform, by a shot fired from a helicopter. There was no timely medical assistance, we were not entitled to an ambulance. That same police operation killed five other young men inside a house. The citizens of the favelas are systematically targeted, said Bruna da Silva, mother of Marcus Vinicius, 14, who was shot by gunfire coming from an armored Military Police vehicle.

My son was murdered at the age of 17, victim of the failed state of Rio de Janeiro. Our dead must be given a voice. How are the authorities exercising their external control of police operations? We are seen as bodies to be killed, people to be discarded. We want our right to live to be respected. I wonder, sirs, what your reaction would be if you had your children dead in your arms due to a police error? asked Isilmar de Jesus, of the Network of Mothers and Family Members from Baixada Fluminense.

Claudia Oliveira Guimares, another mother of a victim of State violence, pointed out that shouting for justice was not an option, but rather a condition for survival. The role of the police is to protect, not to kill. When my son died, I thought I would die too. And I am dead, except that he is buried, and I am still here. Why doesnt this happen in the South Zone, only in the favelas? We need help, we are crying out for justice, for a police force that will respect us.

In June of last year, STF Judge Edson Fachin signed a judicial order to ban police raids in favelas and in Rios peripheral areas during the pandemic. In his ADPF 635 decision, Fachin reflected these raids can often cause more harm to a population residing in poor living conditions and already debilitated by coronavirus contagion risks than benefits in terms of the increased security of residents.

The precautionary measures trial began in April 2020, and on August 17, 2020, the STF issued the final order, in ADPF 635, which specified what was prohibited: the use of armored helicopters (the aerial caveires, or big skulls as police armored vehicles are generally called) as a platform for shooting during favelas police operations; raids in schools and hospitals; and the use of these areas as operational bases in favelas for the civil and military polices.

With the ADPF 635 in place, police raids in Rio were suspended during the Covid-19 pandemic, except in absolutely exceptional circumstances, requiring duly written justification by competent authorities, with immediate communication to the State of Rio de Janeiro Public Prosecutors Office. Judge Edson Fachins decision was endorsed in August 2020 by the plenary of the STF, thus taking immediate effect.

The ADPF of the Favelas, as the STF ruling came to be known, is the result of a petition filed by the Brazilian Socialist Party (PSB) and drafted collectively with the State of Rio de Janeiro Public Defenders Office, and organizations such as: Educafro, Global Justice, Redes da Mar, Conectas Human Rights, The Unified Black Movement, Institute of Religious Studies (Iser), the Right to Memory and Racial Justice Initiative, Straight Talk Collective, Fala Akari Collective, Network of Communities and Movements Against Violence, Mothers of Manguinhosall entities listed as amicus curiae in the briefand also the Observatrio de Favelas, Group of Studies on the New Illegalities (Geni), Mar Vive, Marielle Franco Institute, National Human Rights Council and the Center for Study on Safety and Citizenship (CESeC).

The injunction granted in June 2020 was the most significant action for the defense of life and against lethal violence in the recent history of the state of Rio de Janeiro. At the hearing, researchers showed the STF that, last year, the ban had caused a historic drop in the number of deaths by State agent interventions. This was the first decrease since 2013.

We, institutions and social movements involved in ADPF 635, celebrate the STF decision recognizing favelas as part of the city, and acknowledging that the policy of slaughter adopted by Governor Wilson Witzel not only violates fundamental rights, but is also racist. We will continue to monitor and demand compliance with the ruling. They agreed to kill us, but we agree not to die! states the manifesto of the organizations that filed the suit.

ADPF 635s ruling produced immediate effects in reducing violence. With the ADPF, shootouts fell by 22%, and the number of massacres decreased by 30%. What was proved is that police action does not lessen crimes. Even without police presence, robberies did not increase. If the polices mission is to protect, how can the situation improve with police inaction? Rios lack of control is also a reflection of the stray bullet fear, said journalist Cecilia Oliveira, director of the Fogo Cruzado Institute, another participant of the public hearing.

While the ruling was being fully enforced in Rio from June to September 2020, 288 lives were saved, according to the Federal Fluminense Universitys Group of Studies on the New Illegalities (Geni). However, in recent months, the injunction started to being ignored by state authorities.

According to Judge Gilmar Mendes Those who use force, cannot use this force at any time and in a disproportionate manner. The judges statement was expressed at the opening of the STF public hearing for ADPF 635, on April 16, the hearings first day. However, on that same day, Kaio Guilherme, 8, was the victim of a stray bullet in the Vila Aliana favela, in the West Zone.

Kaio died on Saturday, April 24. The boy was the 100th child shot in Greater Rio in nearly five years, according to a mapping carried out by the Fogo Cruzado Institute, which monitors gun violence in Rio de Janeiro. Every 17 days a child is shot in Rio, said journalist Ceclia Oliveira, coordinator of Fogo Cruzado.

The war on drugs is the justification used [by the State] for the confrontation in favelas. This war is an excuse to hide the massacre taking place in Rios favelas. Deaths caused by the police are routinely framed as homicides arising from police action, to protect officers in the name of self-defense. The State participates in these murders, said Sandra de Carvalho, Global Justice coordinator.

The ADPF of the Favelas is contingent on the pandemic situation, so technically, police raids should be suspended. However, the ADPF does provide for police operations in exceptional circumstances. The State has used this loophole to justify its incursions in the favelas.

According to Ivan Blaz, communications coordinator for PMERJ, exceptional actions are emergencies, i.e., cases of domestic violence; robberies perpetrated by gangs; torture or death inside communities. Preventive police operations happen when we receive information about criminals getting together. However, Prosecutor Tiago Veras Gomes stated that the Public Prosecutors Office has verified that the Military Police has difficulty in communicating its actions to the Public Prosecutors Office. According to Gomes, there is a misunderstanding of the definition of exceptional/extraordinary.

Jacqueline Muniz, Fluminense Federal University (UFF) professor of Public Security, posits that with the notion of exceptionality for police operations to occur and with the trivialization of exception; with lack of coordination and articulation between various police raidsin fact , with each police unit conducting its own raidthe State seeks to maximize the sense of insecurity in order to justify an ostentatious police instead of a manifest, effective police, as well as to justify the spectacle police in lieu of the routine police. The result of this equation are operations with high lethality rates and an attitude within the police that freedom from formal practices is allowed, all of this influencing the increase of private militias.

The measures established by the ADPF did not handcuff the police; they only reminded them that they should be a real police, not a foreign mercenary army within their own territory of action, she pointed out.

Exceptionality cannot be used as justification for human rights violations. Police authorities continue to say: We cannot make an omelet without breaking eggs, and I add: As long as the eggs are not your children,' said political scientist Luiz Eduardo Soares.

Renata Trajano, a member of the Straight Talk Collective, stressed police lethality and abuses in Rio are a recurrent theme. Our life is disposable. I am tired. We celebrated the injunction, but soon after, in the middle of the pandemic, a police raid took place in May [of last year] killing 13 people. Then another police operation got confused with our truck containing basic foodstuffs baskets. Youve never been woken up with your door being kicked in, with gunfire. Here, in my house, theres only one safe place to hide from the shooting, and many houses dont have any.

Renata concludes: We die several times; we have to prove we are not criminals. We are all threatened every day. We survive, we resist. Its like the Old West here, a lawless land. The judiciary makes a decision, the State doesnt obey it, and we are stuck in the middle. Rio is a state in which no one understands each other, the different branches of government do not comprehend each other. The State does not respect the judiciary. I know my rights and my duties, and I obey them. So, I just want my rights to also be respected. Surviving here is very difficult.

After three days of debate at the STF, two police raids took place simultaneously in two of Rios largest favela complexes: Alemo and Mar, in spite of the STFs order prohibiting such raids during the pandemic. There was intense gunfire, helicopters, and armored PMERJ vehicles operating in both North Zone favela complexes. Region residents report violence and abuse by agents during the raid, sharing complaints of police officers breaking into and invading homes.

Between April 26 and 27, Rio recorded nine dead and 15 injured in 48 hours due to shootouts in various communities, according to the organization Voz das Comunidades. Residents of Morro do Juramento, Complexo do Lins, Mangueira, Prazeres and Providncia experienced moments of tension.

On April 29, crime rates released by the Public Security Institute (ISP) for the state of Rio de Janeiro, pointed to two opposing directions as far as homicides were concerned, as reported by newspaper O Globo. While records of intentional homicide, between January and March, were at their lowest level since 1991 (year that marks the beginning of the time series for violence in the state), deaths in police confrontations registered their worst first quarter numbers since 1998, when the indicator was first recorded.

Figures released by the ISP on April 29 revealed that, in the first three months of the current year, in Rio de Janeiro alone, 920 homicide victims were recorded, showing a 13% decrease compared to the same period in 2020. The month of March on its own registered the lowest number of victims since 1991: 313 cases, a 16% reduction when compared to March 2020. However, deaths in police confrontations rose 4% in the first quarter, compared to the first quarter of 2020.

Photo: Tatiane Mendes

The violence and noncompliance with Brazils highest courts decision by Rios security forces did not end in April. On May 6, the Civil Police, supported by its Special Resources Coordination (CORE), set off a raid in the Jacarezinho favela, located in the North Zone, which resulted in the largest massacre ever to be carried out by police officers in the history of the states capital. 29 citizens were killed, including one police officer and 28 civilians, all residents of the Jacarezinho favela.

From 2007 to March 2021, 186 deaths occurred during 290 favela raids, amounting to a rate of 6.4 deaths per 10 police operations. Jacarezinho has the largest black population in the states capital. The deadliest operation due to police intervention in Rios favelas in history, culminating in the Jacarezinho Massacre was not previously reported to the Public Prosecutors Office, as required by the ruling; rather, the communication occurred only when the raid was already underway inside the community, according to a statement sent to the press by the Civil Police.

Excerpt from:

From Mourning to the Supreme Court: Favela Voices Demand Reduction of Police Lethality in Public Hearing - RioOnWatch

Read our voting guide covering all candidates here.

The transcript has been lightly edited for clarity.

Christina Veiga (0:00)

Okay, thanks again for doing this. Today is going to be on Pre-K, childcare, and youth services like after school programming and summer programming. So I want to kick off with sort of the big picture, which is that theres a lot of federal attention right now being paid to, especially early childhood education. And with that is coming a lot of resources. And so I would love to hear from you how you would prioritize using more federal funds to build and strengthen what we currently have here in New York City.

Ray McGuire (0:35)

So how would I use federal funds to strengthen what we currently have? I applaud President Bidens American rescue plan for expanding the Child and Dependent Care tax credit, so that all the families with incomes below $125,000, which is a number of families in New York City, save up to half the cost of their eligible childcare expenses. And for providing what I think is close to $1 billion, $1.1 billion in direct grants for childcare. As part of my plan, my education plan and cradle to career strategy. I will guarantee every parent access to quality early childcare, and education for infants and toddlers, in the program designed to address all aspects of early childhood, which is going to help every kid enter school on a level playing field and ready to succeed. And Im going to target federal funding to the childcare deserts. These are providers on the verge of closing in areas with the greatest demand.

Christina Veiga (1:30)

The city is making strides to make to make Pre-K more available, but infant and toddler care is still expensive and hard to come by. So with your Affordable Childcare for All plan, who would qualify for that? What ages would you serve? Where would these children be served? Right now we have a combination of, you know, community organizations, and also public schools. So can you give us a little more detail about how you would build out this system? And who would benefit from it?

Ray McGuire (2:01)

Sure. So um, how do I make it available for all those? How do I make it affordable, accessible. One access, we got to provide operating funds and capacity building the existing programs, as well as you know, an urgent grant program to help to train providers and launch new programs, in what are clearly childcare deserts. And then we need to make sure that we have quality of instruction, best in class training, or retraining where necessary to all childcare providers. Id work with CUNY and all the other early childhood education experts. Well develop a standard curriculum and certification for all providers based on best practices. Like we have one great one at CUNY. CUNY QUALITYstarsNY program. And then we got to ensure that that they are affordable childcare slots for every family that needs them. Out of pocket costs for families will be based on income for families at lower levels, including those receiving, so will receive fully subsidized childcare. And to cover the cost. Were going to leverage existing funding streams such as early headstart and the federal programs, which we outlined from the outset.

Christina Veiga (3:12)

Do you envision this in terms of the family side how they would access these programs? Would it be like a voucher program? Or how would it work?

Ray McGuire (3:19)

Yeah, I think a voucher program would work well, we need to make certain that that we treat these vouchers differently to how the citys treated many other vouchers is that you got to actually pay on time to the providers to whom the vouchers are given, can actually continue to operate. So yes, I would cut the bureaucracy, extend the vouchers, make sure that they are paid on time, and make sure you can get the best quality childcare, especially in the childcare deserts.

Christina Veiga (3:46)

And when youre talking about Affordable Childcare for All, what age group are we talking about here.

Ray McGuire (3:51)

I want to start early. I want to go my cradle-to-career education strategy has, at its core: I want to start early. Pre-K is good, but as you know, by the time we get to Pre-K, many of our children are already behind. So I want to start the early childcare program at zero, some zero to three, zero to four, to give them the kind of care thats necessary to make sure we have the appropriate reward for those caregivers as well. So I want to start early.

Christina Veiga (4:22)

So thats what you hope to do. Our current system, we have a voucher system where theres currently a backlog for families who want to benefit from this program. And meanwhile, providers say that they have slots in their centers that are going empty. So whats your diagnosis of where the problem is there, and how would you solve it?

Ray McGuire (4:41)

You know, part of this is to make sure that we advertise that the programs exist. That we have ambassadors, if you will, who can go into the communities and to the faith based organizations and to the community centers. We need to revive the community centers, but part of this is letting community you know that the services exists that there is, in fact, affordable childcare. And so part of this is advertising and getting into the community organizations and funding them, making sure that theyre well run. And once weve done that, and given the option for childcare, my confidence is that we will bridge that gap of those people who need it, who dont know about it, and get those people dont know about it into the opportunity.

Christina Veiga (5:28)

I want to turn to the workforce, the early childhood education workforce, which is predominantly women and many women of color. They are among the lowest paid workers in the city. And while the city has made progress on salary parity in some areas, there are still things like longevity pay, and also teachers in Special Education Pre-K centers have not seen much movement in terms of salary, salary equity. So what is your plan for addressing salary parity during your administration? And do you have a timeline in which youd like to see that accomplished?

Ray McGuire (6:01)

So what is my plan to address salary parity, it is immediate. My plan is to make sure that is immediate. Given whats taking place in the school system. Today, we need our child care givers. So my initiatives are support childcare workers in the city, many of whom are small business owners, and were amongst the most impacted by the pandemic. Salary parity is key to supporting them, all childcare providers are going to have a seat at the table. When these initiatives are introduced, ensure they earn fair wages and benefits, investing in childcare for all is going to increase for local providers so they can continue to grow, and create more accessible jobs in our communities. I have a track record of making certain that where we need to make sure that we are equitable, pay equity, we need to do that. And given that this is these are the most precious times for our children, we need to make sure that we have salary equity. So Ive said Pre-K is good, before Pre-K, and making certain that those child care givers are appropriately compensated.

Christina Veiga (7:03)

So I want to turn to youth services now, after school and center programming are really important for working families. But providers say that every year theyre caught in a budget dance where they have to advocate for this funding to be reallocated. And so Im wondering, are there specific programs in these areas that you would like to see funded on a more long term basis? And if so, Which ones?

Ray McGuire (7:27)

Yes. So after school and summer programs are essential, you know, th way I got here, I got here through education. I had a summer job that allowed me to, to one, have that summer job so I could learn about the possibilities, also allowed me to, it was a paid summer internship. My sense, my view, and my education plan addresses this directly, is that: we need to invest in after school and summer programming, which is critical for students to stay engaged, weve lost far too many. During the free time they can learn skills in areas that may not be taught in school. I will increase funding and training to the local not-for-profits, so they have the capacity to provide a multitude of afterschool and summer options for the students. They can include programs in theater, in coding, in nutrition, and all the other academic subjects. We need to invest now in our children as we move from an industrial world to a technology world. And for the older students. Im going to leverage my relationship both big and small in New York City employers to launch what I call my Comeback Summer Job Program. Im going to build an existing Youth Summer Employment Program, which is one of the first things that this administration said it was going to cut. Im going to build on that, guarantee summer job to every New York City public high school student who watch one. Summer jobs, they help our young people develop skills and relationships. And they allow them get the first job out of high school, have valuable internships during college. Theyre fundamental to this city. So whatever it takes public private partnerships of which I would be very supportive to get our kids paid summer internships, so they understand the possibilities of the future, are also part of my cradle to career, core education, where I restructure education here. So its not random Pre-K to 12. But its transformed to be intentional about how our kids grow and develop and have opportunities.

Christina Veiga (9:13)

Something else thats really important for working families is to have child care beyond a typical school day or the school year, year round care and extended hours. Providers say that there are not enough of these slots. Do you think that access to extended day and extended school year slots should be universal?

Ray McGuire (9:31)

I do. I think that we should increase given where we are in education when our childs childrens lives are determined by their zip code. And if I look at the Nations Report Card and the state report card, where third to eighth grade students, Black and brown 80% below proficient. Yes, I need I want to extend the school year. I want to extend the school day to take care of that three-to-five or three-to-eight hour where a lot of mischief occurs. Make sure that we have invested in our children during those times in the community centers. Focus on making certain we get the resources that the community center so that we can add summer jobs, clearly summer jobs, and maybe even the year round, as I think about my overall approach to education, so the answer is, yes. We should have it across the city. And we should have it available to all New Yorkers.

Christina Veiga (10:19)

Does that include childcare and Pre-K?

Ray McGuire (10:21)

Yes, it does include childcare and Pre-K. Yes, I want to transform this right. It cant be the case today that this is sustainable, because we have the systemic inequities that exist in education. Our children are not being educated in the way that they should be. We paid $26,000 a year to educate a child on average, in New York City. We pay $446,000 a year to keep an inmate at Rikers Island. We need to invest now, or pay later. Id rather invest today.

Christina Veiga (10:49)

So I want to zoom out to the school year to come. The next mayor will will take office about midway through the next school year. But Id love to hear from you: what you think the city needs to be doing now to build trust with families, so that they actually return to in-person learning. Weve seen steep drop-offs and enrollment in Pre-K this year. And weve seen many families of color decided not to return to building so how can the city turn that tide for the next school year?

Ray McGuire (11:17)

So the first thing we need to do is, to plan for it better than what we planned for this school year. And that means we need to have those people who provide the tablets available. We need to build the broadband out immediately. So that to the extent that that we do, and Im saying this to the last alternative. I think kids need to be in school. I think our teachers need to be in school, which means that we need to get vaccination out. We need to have a better a better way of communicating the vaccination, because many of many people, our community are skeptical of vaccination. So we need to make sure that they understand that the fact that that the vaccine is, you know, is efficacious. That the vaccine is not going to harm, we need to do much better job at that. We need to get the vaccine into the healthcare and transportation desert, so that all those who are eligible for the vaccine, and how weve reduced the age requirements can get a vaccine. We need to educate on the safety and efficacy of the vaccine. We need to get our kids back in school. So I would plan for our kids getting back in school immediately, which is how Im going to address the COVID vaccine, get them back into school, get the teachers back in school. And then as a insurance, lets make sure that all of our children have tablets, and or laptops that work, and that we have broadband that is successful. I sat on the board in New York Public Library, where we made sure that we could, where available, get Wi-Fi hotspots into the branches so that kids can go to homework. Our children need to have access to Wi-Fi. It should be a basic right for anybody, but especially our children here,

Christina Veiga (12:47)

Theres a lot of attention paid to segregation in the K-12 space in New York City Schools. But Pre-K is actually more segregated than kindergarten classrooms here. But its often left out of the conversation. And so Im wondering, is integration at the Pre-K level, something thats important to you? And if so, do you have any ideas for how to address that?

Ray McGuire (13:06)

So the answer is, I am looking forward to having quality education in every zip code. It is not possible to integrate so that we can achieve that through integration. So where we can integrate, Id be for integration. So I want to be clear: only way I got here is education. So I want the highest quality education. in whatever form it comes to the form of integration that comes in the form of district schools, comes in the form of magnet schools, comes in the form of parochial schools, and it comes in the form of charter schools. Parents have a choice, which makes certain we get the highest quality education, so the parents can choose that which is best for their children. And so that means, yes, integration if thats going to achieve that. But how far are you going to integrate, and how far youre going to integrate a child in a completely different borough? So that becomes that much more challenging given the all the other challenges that our parents or caregivers have. To take them from one borough, her or him from one borough to the next borough, as a toddler, Pre-K. Its not so practical that we can do that. But we can do is make sure that we get the best toddler Pre-K programs in our districts, in our zip codes, which is that which Im going to advocate for at the highest level with the loudest voice.

Christina Veiga (14:24)

Im going to turn it over to you quickly in case theres anything that we havent addressed in terms of the early education, space, and Youth Services.

Ray McGuire (14:41)

So listen, education is what got me here. We need to make sure to ensure that every child in New York City gets an education, so that they have the opportunity to go on and be productive citizens in this community. Today, were not doing that. And today, we need to transform the way we approach education, from the random Pre-K to 12, to something thats much more intentional, which is my plan for cradle to career, which you can see at Rayformayor.com, focus solely on whats in the best interests of New York Citys children. We have a triangle, which are the parents, the caregivers, and the child. That parents, caregivers and the teacher, or the parents, teachers all together, and the child. And so we need to focus on that triangle today. We need to bring it together in ways that up to this point, weve not done so well. My focus is on again on educating our children.

Go here to read the rest:

Watch: NYC mayoral candidate Ray McGuire on early education, youth programs - Chalkbeat New York