Items filtered by date: December 2020

Tuesday, January 26, 2021

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Significant child care relief – an estimated nearly $450 million – is on its way to New York. But in order to ensure children and parents have reliable child care, and essential child care providers can continue to provide safe, quality care to young children, we need to improve the distribution of funds.

“It is critical that the new funding be deployed swiftly and with a more comprehensive and integrated strategy than was realized with CARES, one that is sensitive to both statewide imperatives as well as local needs and capacities. Along with many statewide advocates, we believe the best way to accomplish this is for OCFS to rely on its existing child care subsidy system structure, and grant these funds to the 58 Social Services Districts in the state. Specifically, OCFS should require counties to declare an intention to spend the funds on the child care system in their communities within certain parameters, and explicitly indicate the purposes the funds will be used for. Then OCFS should quickly distribute the funds proportionally using the existing subsidy allocations as a model.”

Published in News

We were delighted to host developmental pediatrician Mark Bertin on January 20th for a virtual presentation and Q/A on January 20th. Dr. Bertin urged Westchester parents, professionals and caregivers to help children thoughtfully use media, rather than be used by it. He reminded us that “children don’t learn from screens, they learn from people” and that “open-ended imaginative play helps to develop executive function”. According to Dr. Bertin, “technology is not inherently bad, but needs to be handled skillfully to be safe and useful for our children…and ourselves.

Author of How Children Thrive, Mindful Parenting for ADHD and The Family ADHD Solution, Dr. Bertin is on the faculty at New York Medical College and the Windward Teacher Training Institute, as well as the advisory boards for the non-profits Common Sense Media and Reach Out and Read. He is a regular contributor to Mindful Magazine, and his blog is available through Mindful.org and Psychology Today. For more information, please visit his website at www.developmentaldoctor.com

Published in News

Vaccinations Now Available for Child Care Providers in Licensed, Registered, Legally Exempt Care

Governor Cuomo has announced that child care staff, along with others in Phase 1b, are now eligible to schedule appointments to receive the COVID-19 vaccine.

The Council strongly encourages all those in child care including licensed, registered and legally exempt providers to get the vaccine. Child care enrollment remains low because many parents are concerned about the health and safety of their children outside the home. Getting the vaccine is an important way to protect children and your own staff while reassuring parents.

We also urge patience with this process, while increased supplies of the vaccine are obtained and the distribution sites are fully operationalized.

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Child Care Council of Westchester, Inc.

313 Central Park Avenue
Scarsdale, New York 10583

Monday-Friday, 9am-5pm
Child Care Specialists extended hours are available on Tuesdays until 7pm to help you make an informed decision about child care.

Phone: (914) 761-3456
Toll-Free: 1 (844) 387-7525

Fax: (914) 761-1957

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