Tuesday, April 30, 2024
Year : 2, Issue : 18
The New York state Child Care Availability Task Force released its latest report Friday highlighting progress and initiatives that it says has enhanced child care services in the state.
The report comes after the state budget recently passed by the New York Legislature that continues the ongoing four-year $7 billion investment to expand access to affordable child care and invest the child care workforce.
“Since the release of the Child Care Availability Task Force’s original report in May 2021, New York State has made strong progress in increasing equitable access to affordable child care by raising the child care eligibility limit to the federal maximum as well as investing $7 billion into supporting children and families,” the new task force report said. “However, the work is far from over. If New York State is to move towards universal child care, a strong framework and short-term changes are needed to develop and implement a statewide, universal system.”
Provide $5 million to pilot staffed Family Child Care Networks in various regions to offer technical support and coaching to home-based child care providers, who are mostly women of color and make up the largest component of the state’s child care workforce
“This historic investment conveys a strong message that childcare supports for our families are of top priority. We look forward to continuing to work on innovative and collaborative strategies that propel New York State towards a truly equitable, universal child care system,” state Office of Children and Family Services Acting Commissioner Dr. DaMia Harris-Madden said in a statement.
Source: NY1