 So to open us up this afternoon, I just want to express a quick note of gratitude from ACS to the NYPD and to the Harlem Hospital who's been caring for our staff who was shot this morning on the way to work. The mayor and his graciousness met with him this afternoon. We're happy to report that he's in good spirits, surrounded by family and friends. Please keep him in your prayers for us. Thank you all for being here today. This is an exciting moment. First I want to thank Mayor Adams for his steadfast commitment to supporting youth. When I was at Grand Wyndham, a non-profit provider like the New York Family who's with us today, the mayor helped really galvanize Fair Futures. And then when he was elected, he put the nail right where he needed to be by putting another $10 million so that young people could have a coach until they're 26 and not no longer, for the first city in the country, no longer to have a cliff coming out of foster care. Can't thank you enough, sir. I want to thank City College and City College President Dr. Vincent Pedro for hosting us today. Vince has been a friend as well. In addition, and with Congressman Espaillat who has graciously joined us as well, City College has been hosting ACS young people here all summer in their infrastructure program. And Vince understood that young people at ACS are some of the most capable, and so they started this program working with young people at ACS through the support of Ray Singleton and many others at ACS. Most importantly, the most important guests are our young people today. So I'm introducing Asanatu Afriju who attends the College of Staten Island. Joani Sing who intends Hunter College, Maroah who attends Brooklyn College, Christina Fabre who's complaining about the weather because she's in Miami at St. Thomas University, and City College's very own Sanjita Afruz. She's not only getting her bachelor's but she's going for her master's as well right here. So I'm so proud of these young people. Oftentimes society unfairly stigmatizes youth in foster care. They're seen as vulnerable. We know they are extraordinarily capable. They are a future city and we believe in them. They just need access to the types of supports and support systems that their peers have access to. I'm proud that New York has been investing in innovative initiatives and building out a stronger support system to help make sure more and more doors of opportunity are open for young people. And today's announcement builds on that work. I'm thrilled to announce a new program, a rebooted program called College Choice. Essentially, this new program means that a young person in foster care can attend the College of their choice without having to worry about the financial nightmare. That's right. No matter the school, east coast, west coast, public, private, two years, four years, ACS will cover the expenses. In addition, as part of the College Choice program, young people will be provided a $60 stipend and access to tutoring via our provider partner in New York Family. These resources are critical. We know that young people have dropped out because they didn't have money in their pocket to do the basics. So it is not just the room and board, not just the tuition. That $60 and extra support of tutoring makes it all come together. This program builds upon the Fostering College Success Initiative, our former program that provide a year-round housing, tuition assistance, smaller stipends, and academic support. Many of the young people standing with us have been able to attend college because of that program, and you'll hear from one of them at the moment. Simply put, today's announcement takes that program one big step further. Beginning this year, for the 2022-2023 school year, students in foster care now have the choice to get these support no matter what college they choose to attend, hence the name, College Choice. This year, already 230 students are benefiting from College Choice. Here are the highlights. For full-time college students in foster care, ACS will cover up to $15,000 towards tuition and mandatory fees that are not covered by a student's financial aid award. None of our students are going out of pocket this year. ACS will cover year-round housing costs, sometimes in dorms, sometimes apartments, or off-campus housing. ACS will offer $60 per day stipend to cover food and other expenses. The stipend will also continue six months after graduation, and if young people leave foster care, we're no longer abandoning them. They will continue in the program. In addition to the current Fair Futures program, which provides dedicated coaches to youth in foster care, students in College Choice can receive tutoring, career counseling, and other support for the New York family. I'm confident in the New York City is making the right choice with College Choice, and I look forward to hearing about the successes of our students in this program. Now, it is my pleasure to introduce the man who made it happen, Mayor Eric Adams. Thank you. Good job. Good job. And this was just really one of the areas where I was focused on throughout not only the campaign, but throughout the years in public safety work, I realized that how we have abandoned young people that are in foster care. And I was focused, and my North Star was to see a program like this challenging enough to age out at 21. I still call my mother until I was 51 and ask for advice. But to have this support system, I was happy to learn about Fair Futures when I was Borough President and stated that when I become Mayor, we were going to fortify Fair Futures. The thought that these young people are able to have support until they're 26 and to continue to receive that support in College of this program is an amazing program that is coming out of ACS. The mindset of not waiting until a tragedy happens, but the concept of ACS under this commissioner is to prevent tragedies from taking place in the first place. And education is the way. If you don't educate, you will incarcerate and you will devastate the lives of people who are abandoned along the way. These scholars behind us are going to go with the vision of not only becoming productive citizens, but they're going to take their life experiences to help others who are on the wayside and have been forgotten about. In order to help those who are going through a lot, we must have leaders who have gone through a lot. And they personified that in a very real way. The dollars that we are allocating to pay tuition, to give money in their pockets to pay for the necessary necessities they need while going to college, and then not just having a cliff once they've reached the end of their college life. We have a bridge to allow them to transition and to make it some of the important decisions that are needed. This is how we are approaching everything that we do under this administration. We cannot just drop you off and say you are no longer our responsibility. You are our responsibility. And to you are at the place where you are comfortable enough to not only help yourself, but help those who also are in need. And so I'm really pleased with this program. I'm pleased that we put the dollars in it to make sure that we can fund it properly. And this is what I promised when I was on the campaign trail. And this is what we deliver it. This is a major milestone for our administration. And we're going to continue to do those things that are going to lean into creating an environment where we can raise healthy children and families in this city. We got their backs because we're going to need them to have our backs. And all young people are not the leaders of tomorrow. They're the leaders of today. We just have to give them the opportunity to lead. And today is a starting point with our foster care scholars as they get in the support that they deserve. Thank you very much. Thank you. Thank you so much, Mr. Mayor. It's now my honor to also introduce Chancellor Felix Matos Rodriguez. Chancellor has been an enormous supporter of our young people. We cannot say enough how important CUNY is to young people in foster care as an opportunity for economic mobility. Over half of the young people in this program are CUNY students. We are so fortunate to have such an institution in our city led by such a great leader. Chancellor. Thank you so much. Yes, thank you. Thank you. Good afternoon and so delighted to be here. Mr. Mayor, thank you so much again for supporting our youth and our students. Our CUNY mayor, right? Two CUNY degrees to back up two times to back up his work. Commissioners, they like to be here. So have a great partner. Congressman Espaillat, another CUNY graduate from Queens College, right? And thank you President Boudreau for hosting us here today. This is so exciting. This is the second time in the administration of Mayor Adams that I have the pressure of making an announcement with him that it's associated with foster care. And you go back and you look into other administrations and other elected officials and you might find a thing or think about foster care. But this is a mayor, this is a commissioner who are really committed to this population. We stood at Kingsborough Community College with VREP, a program that was about giving career educational choices and tools to students in foster care, right? And now we're doubling down, right? Because this is a mayor who believes in second chances. He understands the value of second chances. And we want to provide that for all our students in foster care. This program is the best. It's a Cadillac with all the bells and whistles that any program can have. And I mean that. Look around. Look around the country. Look around the country. At Tesla. Okay. At Tesla. It's like the self-driving thing, but and it's also a sign. I'm so proud that CUNY is part of this program and this conversation because it is also a sign about how this team here learns from programs that happened in the past. We were fortunate, the mayor and the commissioner mentioned the program that we had before that was housing foster care students in our dorms. We learn from that experience. We learn from what work. We listen. And these two gentlemen here listen to the feedback of the kids in foster care about how the program could be different and better. And what you're seeing today is the result of that work. Knowing that we want to give them choice, I'm obviously a little biased about where they can go, right? You know, choices, choices good and the majority do come to CUNY and actually more than half of the students in foster care throughout the city come to CUNY, right? So they vote with their feet, but choice is good. But they also have all the additional support that we know they need to succeed in terms of additional dollars, additional counseling, all the things that they need to be able to succeed. Because the students in foster care, and this is a very special population to me, and I had the honor of serving as commissioner of social services for the Congress of Puerto Rico. So I know, I know the potential, I know the assets, I know the greed, I know the aspirations they have, all they need is an additional level of support so we can continue to be proud of them. And this is stories, right, of second chances. Stories that there was not safety in that home. We took them on, we embraced them, and now we want to see them succeed. So I'm so delighted to be part of this initiative. I hope it continues to grow, and I want to thank the mayor for continuing to invest in our youth in our city and in CUNY. Thank you so much. So I have to take a moment. The Chancellor mentioned listening to young people. There's a young woman over here, Shaniqua Roberts, who's a dear friend who pushed us hard around this program. And it wouldn't be what it is without you today. So thank you. Next we'll hear from City College President Dr. Vincent Boudreau. As I mentioned earlier, City College has been an absolute stalwart in support of young people in foster care, not only on the college path, but as a Chancellor talked about on the career and vocational path, which so many of them looking to pursue jobs in new infrastructure, not the jobs of yesterday, but the jobs of tomorrow. So please introduce you Dr. Vincent Boudreau. Thank you, Commissioner, Mr. Mayor, Chancellor, Congressman Espiot. This is when you heard from the Chancellor that we have learned over the years about how the work we had done originally to house students from ACS in our dormitories could be improved. And the thing we learned time and again is the more deeply, the more thoroughly they could be embedded in the campus, in the culture of the campus, given opportunities in the campus, the better they would do. And I will say to you, we have not reached the point. We may, via this program, we have not reached the point where investment in these students has failed to return a greater and greater yield. So this is as good a destination for city and state and federal support. These young people, this program, as any you can think of. We talked at CUNY all the time. We talked at City College. We talked across the system about our nation-leading achievements in social mobility. And I want to say about that is you don't get that. You don't get the social mobility that we achieve without paying attention to people who are underserved, overlooked in other corners of our society. And so bringing young people from ACS onto this campus, onto other CUNY campuses, onto other campuses around the world is how we institutionalize a methodology for getting that talent developed and for making sure that social mobility is not, as some economists have said in American society, a statistical anomaly. This is the place where social mobility leaves at City College and CUNY campuses and other campuses like that around the world. And finally, this is not just about propelling program participants to the middle class and beyond. We are super proud of that. But the other thing that's important is if young people who have been subject to unfair immigration rules and unjust housing practices and all the obstacles that bedevil the path to prosperity and security in their lives, if they take those experiences into jobs as social and political leaders, we will have a different conversation. We'll have a different conversation about justice, about equity, and about opportunity. We have here elected officials who have made the hallmark of their administration providing services to the underserved, putting them at the top of the list. And this program is as important an endeavor in that agenda as any that they've done. And so we are thrilled to be part of it and just watch what happens to these students. You won't have to wait long. Thank you. Speaking of great congressional leadership, we're thrilled to be joined today by Congressman Adriana Espiont. Washington as I can, whether it's the Rangel Institute or the Mexican Institute or the Dominican Studies Institute at the Central, bring back Dallas. And Mayor, yesterday I was at Harvard. I came back from Boston yesterday. I was invited by the law school because today they published an essay on their law journal for one of my pieces of legislation. Imagine that. When I came to CUNY as Celia Cruz, the great salsa singer used to say, my English was not very good looking. And there I am in Harvard. And there I am in Harvard speaking my Shakespearean English. And none of that could have happened without CUNY. CUNY. City College of the ruling class. And City College and Queen's College. Don't forget Queen's. And of course, Mayor, this investment that you're making is consistent with the Mayor's philosophy when he ran for office to lift up the least among us. Those that people forgot about and maybe felt they didn't have a shot, they didn't have a voice. This particular program is helping those young people. I know one of them because I met her the other day when we had the Secretary of Labor here for the Rangel Institute on Transportation and Infrastructure. And so I know that they will be successful. But it takes that commitment, Mayor, and your commitment to that New York, which often is forgotten in the boardrooms, in the ivory towers or even places like Harvard. It's important that we invest in those young people, from those communities. This city cannot move forward, cannot progress unless they do. It's impossible. It's impossible. So thank you, Mayor, for your leadership, Chancellor. You're doing a tremendous job. I look forward to continue to work with you. And of course, City College continues to be the harbor of working class in New York. Thank you. Thank you, Congressman. I wanted to introduce Sanjita, but she said no. So we're getting close. We're getting close. So we have two special guests. First, I want to introduce Dr. Robert Malera. He's the Chair of the Psychology Department here at CCNY's Cullen Powell School for Civic and Global Leadership. Dr. Malera will introduce our next and most important speaker. Good afternoon. It's my absolute pleasure to welcome Sanjita Fruz to the podium. Sanjita has been a solid, steady, relentless advocate for foster youth. But I'm her professor, so I know her for her success as a college student. And she is remarkable as a college student. Do you know at the end of the semester, she will have a bachelor's degree in psychology. She will have a master's degree in psychology. She will have a K-SAC-T certification in substance abuse counseling. I can think of no better representative for the potential of foster youth than Sanjita Fruz. Sanjita, give her a warm welcome, everyone. Thank you so much, Dr. Malera. Thank you, everyone, for coming here. So my name is Sanjita Fruz, a proud city college student pursuing a dual bachelor's and master's degree in psychology with a K-SAC track, like Dr. Malera said. I'm honored to be here with you today to share my story. I'm standing here because of possibility, not luck. And because I was fortunate to have a support system that initially started from a program called the Dorm Project. I want to talk to you about what happens when you put your hope, time, and resources behind someone like me. When I say like me, I mean a young person of color with big dreams and very limited opportunities. As a young adult, it's difficult to really know who to trust and exactly how to age out of the system successfully. But I knew that I could rely on higher education to get me closer to that success. Youth and care naturally prioritize developing independent life skills and becoming financially stable. It's heartbreaking because in foster care, you alone don't really have the space to imagine all the possibilities of what you can be. And stability seems like a hardship that we can't always reach, especially when we are always in survival mode. As a result, feeling like we're unable to pursue college, for those in foster care who seek both stability and higher education, it seems like an impossible task. But with the Dorm Project, I was able to do both. I was able to pursue my bachelor's degree and even my master's degree without having to worry about my financial situation. I was really able to just focus on my goals and my studies. The College Choice Program, which we launched today, is a resource available to all youth in care if they choose to pursue higher education. This program essentially says that young people in foster care can and should dream big. In fact, the program is even the result of a big dream. The pandemic highlighted the need for stronger support and resources for youth in foster care. And so during that time, my peers and I advocated for what we felt was needed for young people in foster care. I'm thrilled that Mayor Adams and ACS Commissioner Dan Hauser listened with time and evident passion from these leaders and countless others. We now are seeing changes that we have prayed for for years. It makes me happier than ever. The bottom line is that when you put a force behind a youth in care, the possibilities for them to succeed will expand. I'm here today standing before you as proof that it is possible with the launch of this reform program, the multiple supports, including tuition, housing, academic support, stipend, socio-emotional support, it will ensure the promise of a swift education for youth in foster care so that all youth in care seeking a college education will know that they can dream big and ACS will be right behind them to support their journey. I want to thank everybody who spent so much time and effort in advocating an encouraging change to build a better program. In return, I reassure with my success and encourage other foster youths to continue to work hard so we can change the statistics together and finish strong. This is to Jess. Thank you so much for coming here and just know that I'm here and it took a lot of people, a lot of people's support for me to be here and one day I would like to give back into child welfare and see what the future holds, you know? Let's continue to work together. Thank you. Two questions on this. How much does the program cost total? How's it, well, I guess three questions. How is it getting paid for? And you mentioned a bridge post-graduation to, you know, I'm imagining like work life. Can you elaborate on that? Give us a little more detail on that, please. So the total cost of the program is $10 million, which is the same as the dorm project, but we're able to even have more students and more flexibility. One of the reasons for that is the coaches and the ACS staff, including Sonya's here, are really helping young people maximize what they're eligible for. So the city dollar only starts on the tuition when young people have maximized and there's so much available for youth and foster care. The $60 a day is city money. And the other question about the bridge, we will continue that $60 for the six months, but the coaches will be constantly working with young people around their career plans. Sonya's gonna work for ACS, I already signed her up. I hope, I hope. And was there one other piece of the question? Where was the money coming from at the $10 million? Your tax dollars, you need to pay more. You need to pay more. Yes, yes. Okay, we're gonna spare y'all the off-topping, you know. Thank you, thank you so much, good luck to you. Thank you, thank you. Thank you. Yes, Mayor, with regard to the decision to move the temporary migrant facility from Portrait Beach to Randall's Island. Number one, if you could explain what was behind the decision, but also the New York Immigration Coalition today called it, quote, a poorly conceived plan to hide asylum seekers into relief camps in remote areas of New York that are prone to flood. What is your response? The pooling of water, we could have mitigated the pooling of water, but the constant pivot and shift to find the right solution to this humanitarian crisis that was created by human hands, we made the decision to move to Randall's Island, and that's what we did. And so those who felt as though we didn't do it with the good hearts that we do, there's nothing I could do about that. Some people look at things and always find the negative. I look towards the positive. We're gonna get through this crisis. We're in New York, this is what we do, and we made the decision. We're gonna continue to pivot and shift. There's a lot of pivoting and shifting that's going to take place. This is a humanitarian crisis. A lot of people have never dealt with humanitarian crises before, realized that you have to make the right decision. We're gonna ensure safety, we're gonna ensure that we give the support that no one else in the country is doing for the migrant and asylum seekers, and that's what we're going to continue to do. Mr. Mayor, good afternoon. How are you? Could you tell us some of the money that's possibly lost during this process? I imagine, you know, having to start some scratch, that's what's impossible. Listen, it's not about money lost, it's using our dollars smartly. We made the decision to shift to Randall's Island, and it's because it's more cost-effective to do so. Mr. Mayor, two questions for you. Yes. Thank you. Have you talked to other municipalities about you potentially housing migrants upstate, and also have you talked to the governor about that? Yes, we have been in communications with our colleagues in the state, and I also communicated with the mayors in Washington and in Chicago, I just find it ironic that these buses are coming to three cities with three black mayors, that's not lost on me, that are experiencing crises already, and I think that the actions that's taking place is really undermining our ability to deal with the crisis we're already facing, so we have been communicated. Where abouts upstate, and have you talked to the governor? Got to move on. Hi, Mr. Mayor. Hey, Kelly. You're reporting that the National Guard is being activated, you communicated that to the governor. I'm wondering, how many National Guards will be posted at this new location? What exactly will be their role, and what type of message is that sending to migrants who have come past this, have had this traumatic experience, and now we're gonna be around this National Guard kind of crisis? Well, the National Guard plays a role anytime we need assistance. We reached out to the governor, and asked the governor for help, and this was one of the areas she decided to help us with, and it says the right message, that we're gonna use everything that we have possible to deal with this humanitarian crisis that we're facing. This is unprecedented. 15,000 people are seeking assistance, and unlike other municipalities, we are doing our role as New Yorkers, and so we're gonna use the National Guard, we're gonna use our medical facilities, we're gonna use everything that's possible so that we can navigate our way out of this crisis that we're facing, and we'll navigate our way out of it. Let's be clear, I know sometimes it's better just to show doom and gloom, doom and gloom, doom and gloom, but that's not who we are. This city is more than the front page doom and gloom that we are seeing. I meet everyday New Yorkers, and when they see me, even they can't speak to me directly because I'm too far away, they just put the thumbs up. They say, Eric, we got this, this is New York. I don't know why people wanna think we can't navigate this stuff. May I'm wondering, cost, do you tell us anything about the cost, and then secondly, have you offered to send a migrant elsewhere? Are you having conversations with some of the migrants who may wanna leave New York and go to other cities or states? Once we get to the exact cost, we will give it to you. We don't wanna do anything prematurely, so you could say Eric lied on the cost. So we're gonna give you, once we get it. We're not, those who want to be reticketed because they never wanted to come to New York in the first place, we are assistant to find out ways for them to be reticketed. Some people wanted to go to other destinations and they were not allowed to do so. It was incentivized to come to New York, Washington and Chicago. And once people come here, we're doing the evaluation, that's what the HIRCs are for, to do an evaluation and make the determination, where would you like to go? Do you have family here? Do you have to go on the shelf to system? So this is a real smart way that our team is addressing this humanitarian crisis. When usually you get the stuff done, what happens with them? What happens with them? We saw a pooling of water. I don't know why people keep using the term flooded. No, we saw a pooling of water and the commissioner in Skoll made the decision to, we looked at several other sites already. We could have mitigated the pooling of water, but the commissioner made the decision, he called me, said, Eric, it's better if we use Randall Island, it's a higher peak. The parking lot is better used for it. And so we pivot and shift. Listen, we're not afraid to pivot and shift. People stay down roads even though it's bad because they're afraid what the media's going to write about them. No, we pivot and shift based on the needs. That's how we got through all these other crises. Diana Allen, the councilwoman who covers that district is that she has some concerns about it, that the speed at which this moving might be a little too fast. It's also in a flood plan. I mean, you just said it's a little higher. I mean, it seems like a similar place. I mean, are there other alternatives you're exploring, and can you kind of address Ayala's concern about the pace here? Respect her opinion. And once we determine that we have another place we want to go to, we'll do that. We're going to continue to pivot and shift to deal with this humanitarian crisis. And we respect her opinion. I love Diana. Michelle, sorry. Well, Randall Island's really being ready. Every time we have a crew there, now observing pools of water and some basic site serving work going on. We are going to ensure that we manage this crisis and based on what's ready, we will move into, we will continue to pivot and shift. I can't, we don't even know how many buses we're gonna get from the southern part of the state. It went from two buses to eight buses to four buses. So we have to be willing to address and adjust based on the challenges that are in front of us. And we got the team to do so. Mr. Mayor, what has allowed you to reduce the capacity by half? Orchard Beach was 1,000, Randall's Island will be 500. What has allowed that change to happen? We have some other things that we're looking at. And once we formalize those things, we're going to announce them. So we're looking at other methods to really address the influx. And really we're trying to judge based on how many buses come to New York. And so we adjusted based on that and we have some other things in the pipeline. How much will it cost the city to move the microchelter from Orchard Beach to Randall's Island? And why didn't you choose Randall's Island before? And where else are you looking? Do you say to move? The microchelter from Orchard Beach to Randall's Island? How much will that cost? Okay, no one was on Orchard yet. So we're not moving anyone. The structures are going to be built. And once we get to final numbers, we'll make sure we tell everyone. Oh, you can specify- You didn't think she was gonna call you? No, I question that, really. One of them is if you can specify that's the other site you're looking at. And for Commissioner, so can you please talk about why Randall's Island wasn't the choice from the beginning when you heard that that was the preference for some people, why it started Orchard when they went to Randall's Island? We're looking at a number of different sites and Commissioner, I answer that for you because he made the determination based on his professional ability. That's it? The, Germany Williams earlier had talked about the need for more federal assistance and more assistance from the governor. Just your thoughts on that and also the usage of Randall's Island. What does that look like with this center there through events get canceled? Does Randall's Island and Icon Stadium, does that continue as usual? The, and the commissioner can talk about that. Germany Williams is right that we need help from the federal and the state governments. I said this over and over again. This is an American crisis and all of us need to do it together. And I don't want to have to choose between making sure New Yorkers who are in need are not receiving what they deserve in this city. We're going to do our share, but we need a team effort to address this humanitarian crisis. And that is why we have been in communications with the president of the White House, I should say. In my conversation with the president last week, we have been in conversation with the governor. But we also need, as I said yesterday, the far right is doing the wrong thing and the far left is doing nothing. I mean, everyone needs to be in this game. You know, these people who are saying that don't put folks here, don't put folks there. I sat down with the mayor of Poland of one of the cities in Poland yesterday and he talked about how every day people from Poland was helping the migrants. Everyone should be on all hands on deck. Everyone, not sitting back and throwing rocks. Rock is not a plan. Everyone should be on deck helping this crisis right now. Thank you. You can see the question about events. Yeah, so one of the reasons that we did not originally place the camp at Randall's Island was because of seasonal use and that ends after Monday. So Randall's Island is now available in a way it wasn't when we started this process. It's also more cost effective. We're actually saving money by moving to Randall's Island at this stage. Thank you. Thank you, thank you, thank you. The day we announce it.