What the NYCLU says the state legislature should do in early 2019

Today is the last day to submit comments on the proposed “public charge” rule. If approved, it would make it harder for immigrants to obtain visas or permanent residency if they have applied for or received certain social benefits. Here’s everything you need to know about the proposal. Comments can be submitted here.

United Way of New York City has a new executive. Teresa Evans will be the new senior director and head of human capital, according to a Dec. 7 press release. She will oversee recruitment, compensation, and policy development, among other roles. She previously served as the director and human resources business partner at Freedom Mortgage and also serves on the board at Eagle Academy Foundation.

The Silver School of Social Work at New York University received a $262,000 grant. The money comes from the New York Community Trust and will fund a leadership development training program at the school and efforts to replicate it at a public graduate school to be determined, according to a Nov. 15 press release.

“Additionally, the grant helps to establish at NYU Silver a new Social Work Leadership Development Institute,” the press release reads. “The institute will serve as the home for research and dissemination of promising practices in ‘Adaptive Leadership,’ defined as helping organizations and communities learn to adapt with resiliency to rapidly changing circumstances. The institute will be a regional hub for leadership education programs for social workers and other human services professionals throughout, and beyond, the New York area.”

Read more about the effort here.

Two nonprofits have secured contracts to provide child care services on behalf of the New York City Administration for Children’s Services. Williamsbridge NAACP Early Childhood Education Center got a $1.15 million contract, according to the City Record. New York Foundling Hospital got a $1.05 million contract. The agency has also secured approval for a $275,000 contract with West Side Montessori School, which will provide a community partnership program.

Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez is hosting two events to help people erase their low-level marijuana convictions. Several nonprofits are involved in the event, including The Legal Aid Society and Brooklyn Defender Services, according to a Dec. 6 press release. Participants need to bring a form of ID and any paperwork concerning their legal issues. One session will occur on Tuesday, Dec. 11 from 5:30 until 7:30 p.m., at the office of Assemblyman Tremaine Wright, located at 1360 Fulton Street, Room 417 in Brooklyn. Another session is scheduled for Saturday, Dec. 15, from 10 a.m. until noon at SUNY Downstate Medical Center, located at 450 Clarkson Ave. in Brooklyn. Additional events are planned for 2019.

A new report from the New York Civil Liberties Union outlines what the New York State Legislature should do in its first 100 days. Democrats have control of both the Assembly and the Senate and the NYCLU says lawmakers should waste no time in passing a progressive agenda early next year. Here are a few recommendations, taken verbatim from a Dec. 7 press release.

• Protect our democracy by updating antiquated voting laws and enacting early voting, no excuse absentee balloting, and electronic poll book.
• Safeguard reproductive rights and personal autonomy by passing the Reproductive Health Act, removing abortion from New York’s criminal code, and giving people who are dying the right to a peaceful death
• Achieve equal justice under the law by passing reform legislation on bail, discovery, and speedy trial, adopting mechanisms to hold police accountable and legalizing marijuana.
• Fight hate by passing the Gender Expression Non-Discrimination Act prohibiting discrimination against trans and gender non-conforming people, allowing immigrants to obtain driver's licenses, and finally affording farmworkers basic rights on the job.
• Stand up for children by restoring New York’s anti-discrimination protections to public schools and banning the use of invasive, inaccurate, unregulated, and biased facial recognition technology in public schools.