Items filtered by date: February 2024

GRANT MONEY UP TO $2000!
DO SOMETHING INNOVATIVE
FOR YOUR PROGRAM!

• Do you have an amazing idea for your child care/after school program that needs some resources?

• Is there something you've always wanted to try?

• Have a promising approach that will make great things possible for Westchester children?

Then we encourage you to apply below for a Cate Riley Innovation for Quality Prize. Grants up to $2,000. each will be awarded.

Child care centers, after school programs, family and group family providers, and nursery schools are eligible.

Applications are due by 5PM on Friday, April 12, 2024.

For more info: CLICK HERE!

For an application: CLICK HERE!

For questions, email Anna S. (Kathy Halas' assistant) at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.g

Lifetime Legacy Award

 Kathy Halas
Execuive Director, Child Care Council of Westchester

Transformative Impact Award

 SUNY Westchester Community College
Accepting: Dr. Belinda Miles, President

Business Visionary Award

 Robert Martin Company
Accepting: Greg Berger, President

Join us for Dream Big 2024
May 7th at Captain Lawrence, Elmsford

Sponsorship, Journal Ads, Tickets available!

Our children are precious.

 So are the people who care for and educate them.

So let's pay them like the professionals they are!

Please call on Governor Hochul and your NYS legislators today to make the needed investment in our child care workforce, just Click Here!

Right now the NYS child care workforce makes less than 96% of all NYS occupations.

Because of these low wages, many child care jobs go unfilled, leading to programs unable to enroll new children.

Caring for and educating our young children is not babysitting. It is demanding work, calling for skill and knowledge and patience. The people who do this important work, generally women and often women of color, should be compensated like the professionals that they are.

The Council's new Child Care Survey reveals that Westchester teachers in child care centers earn 44% less than entry-level kindergarten teachers.

The Governor proposes another one-time workforce recruitment and retention initiative, using unspent federal funding. This will not fix the child care staffing crisis.

Time to invest NYS $ in a permanent child care compensation fund that reflects the true value of these indispensable educators.

For more info on the Child Care Council's new Salary Survey, Click Here!

For questions and/or more information, contact Kathy Halas at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..