More than 150 parents, child care providers, nonprofit leaders and business executives from the Mid-Hudson region joined us virtually last week to call on New York State elected leaders to adequately fund child care in the upcoming budget. We are asking for $1.2 billion for the child care workforce, including $1 billion for a Child Care Workforce Compensation Fund, to combat the child care worker shortage and ensure these professionals earn a fair and livable wage. Today, they are paid less than 97% of all other occupations in the NYS workforce! Following the event, we sent resources to every attendee to help them engage their fellow providers, parents, board of directors and communities. Watch the event here. Send your letter to Governor Hochul and your legislators here.

Children who struggle in child care settings may need developmental intervention but often don't get screened, especially if their families are low-income-earning. As a result, these children end up leaving their programs, because of the challenges involved in meeting their needs. They fall further behind, and parents are left without reliable care. It's our goal to intervene as soon as possible for these children, to ensure they get the help they need to meet developmental milestones and be prepared for kindergarten. So as part of our strategic plan, we hired two new developmental specialists - Maria Fredrick and Yolanda Dodson. Both work with programs throughout the county to screen children, help parents obtain additional services through Early Intervention and school districts’ Committees on Preschool Special Education, and enable the child care staff to adapt their learning strategies to best support the children. Maria also has a special focus on Peekskill, where the Council is implementing a new community impact strategy to provide more programmatic and business supports to Peekskill child care programs, and work more closely with employers to meet the child care needs of their workforce.

Child Care Workforce Must Be Priority in NYS Budget

Thank you to Governor Hochul and the NYS Senate and Assembly for the great strides on child care last year. The Governor's new budget will make child care affordable for even more families!

But this year's NYS budget must do more for the child care workforce. Unless there is a permanent path to higher wages and better benefits for the child care workforce, the programs parents need will not be there.

We are calling for a direct investment in the child care workforce of $1.2bil which includes $1bil in a Child Care Workforce Compensation Fund and $190mil for a health insurance premium support program.

You can help by doing these 3 things:

1. Join us on Friday, Feb 17th for our virtual Mid-Hudson Briefing on Child Care at 12 noon. All the state senators and assembly members in the Mid-Hudson Region have been invited. Register Here! Just 30 mins of your time!
2. Send your support letter to Governor Hochul and your representatives in the Senate and Assembly. Click Here! Just 3 mins of your time!
3. Share this email with friends, family, co-workers, parents - everyone who cares about children and those who care for them.

Want more info? Check out these info sheets from the Empire State Child Care Campaign:

ESCCC Fund Child Care Workforce

ESCCC 2023 Policy Priorities

ESCCC Fund Immigrant Children