Richard Harbus/for New York Daily News
Beacon after school program at Phipps Academy is one of the childcare programs citywide facing cuts in Bloomberg budget.
More than 47,000 children will be cut off from childcare services across the city if Mayor Bloombergs proposed budget for 2013 is approved, according to a report to be unveiled Wednesday.
Over the past three years, the number of children from low-income families receiving childcare subsidies in the Bronx has decreased by 20, from serving 13,641 kids in 2009 to 11,032 kids this year,
according to the report compiled by the Campaign for Children,
Councilwoman Annabel Palma (D-Bronx), advocates and families will visit the Childrens Aid Societys Bronx Family Center in Claremont Village Wednesday to discuss the negative impact.
While Mayor Bloomberg continues to claim that education is one of his administrations highest priorities, the reality is...he has proposed deep cuts to both early childhood education and afterschool programs, said Palma, chair of the councils Committee on General Welfare.
The report highlights different initiatives like the Out of School Time afterschool program, which is facing a 43 reduction, and the Beacon afterschool program, whose presence will soon be diminished in all five boroughs.
The Daily News reported this month that seven Beacon sites across the city will close in July.
Phipps Community Development at Intermediate School 192 in Schuylerville alone serves about 1,300 families each year.
Cathleen Collins, a spokeswoman for the Department of Youth and Community Development, said those cuts were not a decision taken lightly.
However, given limited options to meet the $ 2.1 million financial gap, it was determined that seven Beacons would close, she said in a statement.
LaChelle Walker, administrative director of the Bronx Family Center, said a freeze on enrolling tots last summer left parents helpless. Since the center is funded by the Administration for Childrens Services, parents need to work in order to even qualify for childcare.
Families were desperate for childcare, (and) we had to turn them away, Walker said. It put a lot of families in jeopardy.
For single parent Augustina Constance, she simply cannot afford a babysitt er.
This program has helped my kids be prepared to start school and help me keep my job and support my family, she said.
clestch@nydailynews.com
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