Often when we hit times of economic recession, budget cuts are highest or first taken into effect for programs that help those on the lower end of the socio-economic ladder. Budgets can always get “cut” but money that is taken from one sector ends up being spent in another (i.e. NYS cutting higher education funding, while increasing spending on prisons, http://www.prisonpolicy.org/scans/jpi/nysom.pdf). This very well could be the aftermath of austerity tactics within policymaking; however, poor social policy intervention leads to poor health. Most of the time it seems like policy is crafted to mimic other successful social welfare programs, however the cookie cutter method should have already proven its detriment. As described in “Social Policy Interventions and Health,” Chile, Mexico, and Brazil all managed to launch CCT programs, but in varying ways.
CCT programs in NYC are currently non-existent. Opportunity NYC (designed after the international CCT programs being implemented) would have been better off being reanalyzed and changed to meet its weak points rather than being cut completely. What could be learned however is that social policy intervention should tackle the root of health disparities, allowing for people to live healthier lives while simultaneously enhancing education and social welfare.
