As Mayor Bill de Blasio readies to give his State of the City address tomorrow, one of the county’s oldest advocacy groups for children issued a new report highlighting a “tale of two children” in Brooklyn.
The report, “Community Risk Ranking” from Citizens’ Committee for Children, ranks the city’s 59 community districts from lowest to highest concentration of risk to the well-being of children. The criteria was based on economic security, housing stability, educational development, healthcare, and family environment,
Among the findings were that Brooklyn kids who live just blocks apart have radically different outcomes, and the borough’s communities rank both the lowest and the highest across the city in terms of risks to child well-being. Highlights include:
– Of the 18 highest-risk communities in the city, five are in Brooklyn (Crown Heights North, Bushwick, Bed-Stuy, East New York, and Brownsville)
– Park Slope is in the top 10 lowest-risk communities (#8); Sheepshead Bay, Bay Ridge, Fort Greene/Brooklyn Heights, and Bensonhurst also rated among the lowest-risk
– Borough Park is the lowest-risk community when it comes to child health, with the lowest infant mortality rate and lowest number of children without health insurance
These report comes as the Mayor shapes his funding priorities in the his preliminary budget, and suggests more resources must be diverted to high-risk Brooklyn communities.
“Although the City has taken significant initial steps to combat inequality and improve opportunities for all New Yorkers, especially children, our Community Risk Ranking reveals that initiatives currently underway must go deeper and broader in the coming years to bridge this divide. We must increase our investments in programs and services that help children and families thrive and pay particular attention to the impact of such investments on the highest-risk communities where the barriers to child well-being are most profound,” said Jennifer March, Executive Director, Citizens’ Committee for Children.
