On Tuesday, March 25, AAFE joined a coalition of Asian Pacific American community-based organizations (Coalition for Asian American Children and Families, Charles B. Wang Community Health Center, Minkwon Center for Community Action, Korean Community Services, and Chinese-American Planning Council) in Albany for State Advocacy Day. APA community leaders met with multiple state elected officials and called for more precise and culturally capable policies to better serve New York’s Asian American population which is comprised of many diverse groups with multifaceted needs.
As a coalition, APA groups called for:
- Data disaggregation for studies on issues and policies that affect Asian Americans to ensure accurate assessments of different ethnic groups
- More responsive procedures by the NYS Division of Housing & Community Renewal (DHCR) to protect the rights of tenants living in rent-regulated apartments and to prevent unlawful evictions by predatory landlords
- Governor Cuomo to keep his promise of restoring SNAP losses to families in need by allocating more money to Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) and to simplify the application process so that Low English Proficiency (LEP) families and home-bound senior citizens are not disadvantaged by SNAP’s complex application process
- More funding for awareness and coverage on Hepatitis B and mental health issues, both of which affect Asian Americans at disproportionately higher rates
- Implementation of universal pre-K, affordable childcare programs, and necessary additional funding for the Summer Youth Employment Program
- The inclusion of DREAM Act in this year’s budget
