The Committee for Hispanic Children & Families (CHCF) commends Governor Hochul and Mayor Mamdani for making an historic investment in and commitment to moving New York City and New York State towards universal child care. New York families, providers, and advocates have consistently uplifted the current crisis being faced in the childcare sector, with families and the child care workforce being left to carry the strain, stress, and inequities of a broken system. We know that the malfunctioning system not only harms the families and childcare workforce, but the larger economy as a result of inadequate access to affordable and stable care options so that parents can readily engage in the workforce. As stated by both the Governor and the Mayor, parents should not have to chose between paying for basic needs like rent and food or child care; parents should not have to choose between working for the financial stability of their family or continuing to struggle financially so that someone is home to take care of their children.
CHCF is eagerly awaiting additional details of the planned investments in the Child Care Assistance Program (CCAP) and the creation and expansion of 2-Care, but know that today’s announcement is one to celebrate. We want to particularly express our gratitude of the Mayor’s explicit acknowledgement of the invaluable Family Child Care (home-based or residential based, licensed programs) sector, and the thankless work of dedication and love they have continued to deliver for New York City. The FCC workforce remains essential to New York City and State’s ability to actualize universal child care that truly respects the preferences and unique needs of diverse families. CHCF looks forward to continuing to work in partnership with our advocacy partners and city and state leaders to build a system that truly uplifts this sector within the larger child care system.
While making dedicated investments to expand access to free/affordable care is crucial for New York families, New York State and City must simultaneously meet the needs of the child care workforce, which must be strengthened and grown in order to actualize a universal system. While the state did distribute federal stimulus funding and one-time state dollars to provider a limited child care workforce bonus, there have been no permanent investments in stabilizing the income, access to benefits, and overall growth of this workforce. CHCF continues to join its statewide partners in stressing the need for the state to establish a permanent workforce compensation fund to supplement the persistent inadequacy of the market rate, ensuring appropriate compensation and benefits for this professional workforce, while the state moves towards a true cost of care model and away from a market model that simply does not work for this service.
CHCF wants to once again thank the Governor and Mayor for centering the importance of establishing a universal child care system in New York City and State, and looks forward to working in partnership with city and state leaders and the child care community to ensure that we are building towards a system that truly centers family need and choice, and that equitably honors the invaluable child care workforce.
