In late March, dozens of New York state legislators wrote a letter
to Governor Kathy Hochul and other authorities to highlight an impending crisis– a $900 million funding gap
in the Child Care Assistance Program (CCAP) that could cause thousands in the city to lose access to child
care.
According to this letter first accessed by New York Focus, several
beneficiaries were at risk of losing child care services each month due to lack of state-provided
assistance. The assistance came from the Child Care Block Grant, under which low income families were
provided vouchers to pay for child care.
During the pandemic, additional funding of $7 billion was allocated to expand the eligibility of the Child
Care Block Grant over a period of four years that helped more children get vouchers. The funding was
also
used to keep staff employed at facilities and programs running in a tumultuous time for parents and
caregivers.
However, these funds are now depleting and facilities have been forced to raise costs, lay off workers or
overwork them in order to stay open.
“It would be quite devastating to the child care industry if the funding runs out,” said Jacqueline Griffith,
founder of a group family day care in Queens. Griffith has been running her facility since 2007 and coaches
other up and coming care providers, helping them make their business sustainable.
While a brief increase in funding provided temporary respite, New York state’s overall struggle to
provide families with adequate child care is long standing. 80%
of families in the state cannot afford
child care due to affordability and rising costs, according to a 2023 report by advocacy group Citizens’
Committee for Children of New York.
Only two children out of 12 in Griffith’s facility pay for child care with cash. Most are reliant on
several state-provided subsidies and vouchers.
Aside from Affordability, Access to Child Care Remains an Issue Across the State
In New York State, rural and semi-urban counties have the lowest density of child care facilities. Eight
counties including Wayne, Schuyler, Orange and Montgomery have less than 30 facilities per 10,000
children under the age of 14.
Compared to these counties, urban areas have a much higher density of child care facilities like Manhattan
(45 facilities per 10,000 children) and the Bronx (111 per 10,000).
Advocates have long called for increased funding to mitigate the child care crisis in the state, calling care
providers the “workforce
behind the workforce,” the people who enable working parents to contribute to the
economy. 53% of families surveyed by Cornell’s ILR Buffalo Co-Lab said that one adult in their family gave
up unemployment to take care of the children in the house due to rising child care costs.
Source:Pexels
“People won’t be able to go to work if there is no appropriate child care. Many will be left unemployed
because they cannot leave their children at home,” Griffith said.
This decreased participation in the workforce has already led to an estimated $23 billion decrease in
economic output in New York City alone.
“This is my passion. We know how to take care of children. All the preventative measures that people talk
about, we already have them in place,” she said while speaking about the benefits of child care and
measures
in her facility like a clean and safe environment as well as health and emergency protocols that are in
place at facilities like hers.
