A Closer Look at Gov. Hochul’s Affordable Child Care Proposals

As she prepares for her fourth State of the State address, Governor Kathy Hochul has been promoting what she calls an “affordability agenda.” Three components of that agenda involve child care. From the New York Public News Network, WAMC's Capital Region Bureau Chief Dave Lucas reports.Previewing the address, Hochul revealed plans to push for the establishment of a $110 million Child Care Construction Fund to build new child care facilities and repair existing sites.Meredith Chimento is Executive Director of the Early Care & Learning Council, a state network of 35 child care resource and referral agencies that work directly with child care programs throughout New York State. She says the governor's proposal is commendable.“ECLC applauds the efforts of the governor, moving child care assistance from 200% of the federal poverty level to the federal cap of 85% of state median income, meaning that a family of four earning $108,000 can be eligible for child care assistance," Chimento said. "We encourage families to use the new online portal, which is making applying for this child care assistance even more accessible for families, or to reach out to a child care resource and referral agency throughout the state for assistance."Hochul says the plan only helps if there's a place to go. "If you're in a child care desert, doesn't matter. So let's build more. Let's have the ambition to build more facilities and to populate them with more nurturing teachers and teams to support them," said Hochul. The Democrat’s proposal includes launching a New York Coalition for Child Care to bring together business leaders, labor unions, service providers and tax experts to identify a sustainable path forward for achieving universal child care.Business Council of New York State President & CEO Heather Mulligan says the average cost per child is $15,000 a year."There's only 4,200 licensed child care centers in the state. We are very supportive of investing child care facilities, and also the governor's support for expanding access to care with a goal towards making it universally available," Mulligan said. KT Korngold is the director of the Montessori Children's Center, a full time childcare center in West Harrison, NY. "There certainly is a need for us to be able to expand child care, not just in the deserts, but in places like where I am located, and if I could open a second center tomorrow, I would fill it tomorrow with children. The challenge we face, though, is not so much about facilities, it's about staffing, and this investment doesn't do anything to help us solve the problem of increased funding for the child care workforce, which is something that the child care workforce has been clamoring for," said Korngold. Mulligan hails Hochul's proposal to establish a “substitute pool” to expand the child care workforce, helping providers find trusted, vetted professionals to quickly step in and keep classrooms open."This is something that's very important, because in New York there are minimum staffing ratios for safety reasons for children, and as a result, child care centers, right now, without access to a substitute school, have to overstaff, and this is one of the things that can drive up the cost of operating a child care center. So we think this is a very thoughtful proposal, and we're very supportive of it," said Mulligan. Hochul also is proposing free breakfasts and lunches for the more than 2.7 million students in schools throughout New York.The State of the State is Tuesday at 1 and will be carried live on Radio Catskill.