NYS PLACE-BASED POLICY COALITION

From Local Innovation to Statewide Impact

In 2025, place based leaders from across New York State convened to create the NYS Place-Based Policy Coalition.

We are a cross-regional alliance improving outcomes from cradle to career through:

Geographic Diversity: Urban, rural, and suburban partnerships
Proven Approach: Community-led, data-informed, equity-centered

Nonprofit Childhood Education in Rochester, NY │ROC the Future Alliance

Our Vision

New York leading the nation in creating socioeconomic mobility for our children through data-driven decisions that center children, place-based strategies to achieve concrete local outcomes, and fully funded support services.

Our Theory of Change

Community partnerships lead the way while the state provides aligned funding, data, and policy support.

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Policy + Funding Alignment

Connecting community outcomes to state resources — ensuring what works on the ground is resourced, recognized, and scaled across New York

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Data-Driven Strategy

Using shared, community-informed outcomes across the cradle-to-career continuum — building a culture of transparency, learning, and continuous improvement

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Place-Based Infrastructure

Trusted backbone organizations — rooted in community, leading cross-sector collaboration, and driving equitable systems change from the inside out

Member Partnerships

Institutional Partners

Our Priority Areas & Policy Asks

Ensure every family in New York has access to high-quality, affordable child care.

Our recommendation: Advance Universal Child Care to relieve the childcare cost burden for New York families and ensure equitable access to early childhood education.

Impact: Increase the percentage of children with access to licensed care, preparing more children across the state for K-readiness and establishing a strong start for early childhood literacy and numeracy foundations, while supporting more families to be able to meet other essential costs and freeing up more parents and caregivers for participation in the workforce.

Ensure timely access to early intervention services for all New York infants and toddlers.

Our recommendation: Increase reimbursement rates and create a State Early Intervention Workforce Fund to expand services and retain providers. Streamline and improve screening processes to reduce wait times for referral to intervention services.

Impact: Reduce long-term special education needs by improving early identification and intervention and ensure more children meet cradle to career milestones and remain on path to upward mobility.

Increase access to college and career-ready pathways for all high school students, particularly for those in under-resourced communities.

Our recommendation: Invest in dual-enrollment programs and implement/expand Statewide Early College and Career Pathway Fund.

Impact: Increase college enrollment and career readiness by making pathways more accessible and affordable for underserved youth.

Expand quality out-of-school time support so that all high school-aged students’ academic success, mental health, and workforce readiness is drastically improved.

Our recommendation: Fund State OST Expansion Grants targeted at high-need districts, with a focus on college-prep, credit recovery, and internships.

Impact: Increase high school graduation rates and college/career readiness, particularly in underserved communities.

Strengthen statewide teacher and early education pipelines by diversifying and stabilizing the workforce.

Our recommendation: Increase teacher pay, particularly in high-need districts, and expand funding for Teacher Residency Programs and Grow-Your-Own Initiatives.

Impact: Build a more diverse, effective and well-paid teaching workforce across the state and reduce teacher turnover, especially in shortage areas.

LOCAL EFFORTS

ROC the Future Alliance Policy Change Workgroup

Our local Policy Change Workgroup prioritizes necessary changes and mobilizes action to shift policies, funding, practices, and power structures, to achieve improved cradle-to-career outcomes.