The Mamdani administration will offer $3 million in emergency grants to home-based childcare providers to help keep their doors open when they face unexpected emergencies.
City officials announced Friday that about 500 family childcare providers who care for kids in their homes would be eligible to apply for grants this year ranging from $1,000-$10,000.
“Home-based childcare providers are the backbone of our childcare system. They should not have to shoulder emergencies on their own. When a refrigerator breaks, a pipe bursts or a storm damages a home, families can lose access to the care they rely on overnight,” Mayor Zohran Mamdani said in a statement.
“This microgrant program is about making sure government shows up before a crisis becomes a closure. It’s one more step toward building a childcare system that values every provider and every family.”
There are more than 6,000 family providers across the city who often operate on razor-thin margins and earn a median wage of $6 an hour, according to a report by the New School’s Center for New York City Affairs. These providers, who are largely women of color and serve more than 100,000 children, will be key for Mamdani to realize his vision of universal childcare.
The city is seeking an administrator to run the microgrant program and officials issued a request for proposal on Friday. The Mamdani administration said the program, which was developed with a working group of family providers and advocates, should officially launch by the end of the year.
“When we invest in providers, we protect children, families and entire communities,” said Gladys Jones, founder and CEO of ECE on the Move, an organization of early childhood educators.
Childcare providers in the city care for kids in a variety of environments, including their homes, local schools and commercial spaces. Providers can be paid out of pocket by families or receive state or city subsidies — either through vouchers or contracts. It’s a fractured system that often leaves family providers earning among the lowest wages — and in further financial straits when something breaks or needs repair.
“We know how a single maintenance issue in their home can impact not only the service they provide, but their livelihood too,” said Councilmember Jennifer Gutierrez, who chairs the committee on early childcare education.
City officials said every family provider will be able to apply for a grant, even if they don’t hold a contract with the city to provide free preschool services for toddlers.
The grants will be funded through the Mayor’s Fund to Advance New York City, a nonprofit that facilitates public-private partnerships.
