NYC politicians urge state to fund child care assistance program in new letter

With tens of thousands of New York City families currently at risk of losing access to free or discounted child care over the next fiscal year due to a looming budget gap, just about every city elected official signed a letter urging state leaders to move quickly to fund the vital voucher program. 

Including New York City Council Members Althea Stevens and Lincoln Restler, who organized the letter, 47 of the current 49 sitting City Council members signed on, as did the Queens, Manhattan, Brooklyn and the Bronx borough presidents, city Comptroller Brad Lander and Public Advocate Jumaane Williams.

The letter, sent to Gov. Kathy Hochul, Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie and state Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins Wednesday morning, comes roughly a week before the impending April 1 state budget deadline – meaning time is short to secure the funding needed to fill the Child Care Assistance Program's upcoming budget shortfall. The letter was shared exclusively with City & State ahead of its release.

The voucher program has been a lifeline for low-income families as they grapple with ballooning child care costs. In order for the city Administration for Children Services to continue providing vouchers for the more than 62,000 children currently receiving them, an additional $900 million is needed this year – which would bring the state’s total budget for child care vouchers to $2 billion, according to the letter. Demand for the state-provided program has increased rapidly in recent years, growing from around 10,000 children in October 2022 to more than 62,000 children in the city as of February. The recent reimposition of work requirements for cash assistance recipients is expected to further heighten demand for the program. This in addition to heightened voucher market rates has strained the city’s ability to continue meeting the families’ needs. 

But without action from the state, the number of children benefiting from the program could soon go down. Rapidly. ACS recently warned that starting in April, without a significant funding infusion 4,000 to 7,000 children could be turned away when they try to renew their childcare vouchers every month.

Demonstrating such a broad array of support in the letter from city leaders is all the more important due to the fact that state lawmakers – and the New York City Council – only just learned about the impending budget gap and how it would adversely impact tens of thousands of children if not addressed. Restler has charged that New York City Mayor Eric Adams failed to raise the issue with the state when sharing the city’s budget priorities in the months prior to the final stretch of the budget process. 

“There is a failure of focus and a failure of leadership by the Adams administration that is forcing the other elected officials from the city of New York to come together and scramble and ask for the leaders in Albany to help fix this mess,” Restler told City & State. 

For whatever funding the state is ultimately unable to provide, Restler said the city needs to be ready to do its part. 

“We have a $900 million gap, which is so big it's hard to wrap our heads around,” Restler said. We’re asking for the state to fill as much of it as possible … and we’re going to need the city to step up after that to help preserve and protect the child care of families in need.”

Read the full letter here: