When Alejandra Perez filled out the applications to send her kids, ages 5 and 10, to Summer Rising, New York City’s free summer care program, she had every reason to believe they would be given spots. After all, as attendees of a city-subsidized after-school program, her children were supposed to have “priority” in the application approval process.
But in mid-May, she received an email that her children did not get in, leaving her with less than a month to find free or affordable childcare. Every program she called was already full for the summer, leaving her hoping for “an act of God” to open up a spot for her children.
Bewildered, Perez asked someone at the afterschool program why her kids hadn’t gotten in. They told her they didn’t know, but they were also deeply confused; apparently none of the kids in their program had gotten spots in Summer Rising, despite their “priority” status.
They aren’t the only ones. A total of 45,000 kids across New York City were denied spots in the program this summer, leaving tens of thousands of parents like Perez searching for new summer childcare that they may not be able to find or afford elsewhere.
Take a look:
Summer Rising Program Rejected 45,000 Applicants, Launching Scramble for Child Care
Roughly 45,000 children have been shut out of New York City’s free, popular summer program, education department officials said this week.
The program, which runs between six to seven weeks for most students, provides academics during the morning and enrichment activities in the afternoon for children in grades K-8 across the five boroughs from July to August.
Like last year, a total of 110,000 seats were available this year, with a portion held open for students mandated to attend summer school. During a City Council hearing this week, the education department’s Chief Operating Officer Emma Vadehra said there are 94,000 seats available for 139,000 applicants.
Read more: Summer Rising Program Rejected 45,000 Applicants, Launching Scramble for Child Care (The City)
Image via The City
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