In the area of child care advocacy, we monitor the development of local district plans and issue a report every 2-3 years which analyzes the newest plans and the ways that local district discretion affects the administration of child care.  Our most recent report, Still Mending the Patchwork: A Report Examining Count-by-County Inequities in Child Care Subsidy Administration in New York State is available on our website.   In addition, we coordinate a Special Needs Work Group that convenes child care advocates from across the state that work collaboratively with the Office of Children and Family Services to assure that children with special needs receive the services that they need in child care settings.

This testimony will address three key points:

1. The financial strain that the requirements of the Child Care Development Block Grant (CCDBG) will impose on New York State and the need for additional funding so that New York State does not lose subsidized child care slots;
2. New York State should adopt options provided under the block grant for the entire state rather than as county options.
3. With limited funding, New York should use subsidy dollars wisely, and exempt unemployed mothers of young children from public assistance work rules if there is not enough money to serve all eligible working families.

Read the testimony.

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