Eric Adams Announces Blueprint for Child Care in NYC

The plan features a $2 billion investment over the next four years in early child care, including allocated funding for undocumented families

By Barbara Russo June 28, 2022

NYC Mayor Eric Adams announced on Tuesday a blueprint to provide more child-care opportunities for thousands of New York City families.

The plan features a $2 billion investment over the next four years in early child care, including allocated funding for undocumented families. For the first time in the NYC's history, according to the mayor, the city will provide child-care vouchers for 600 undocumented children.

The plan also includes increasing outreach for families in temporary housing, expanding opportunities for early childhood professionals and “cutting red tape” for background checks to help support the city’s youth.

According to the mayor, 375,000 parents quit or downshifted their jobs to take care of their children during the pandemic. The plan aims to support working families and allow parents to get back to work while simultaneously adding to the city's economic pulse.

“My administration is working to make sure no parent has to make that hard choice between child care and putting food on their table again,” Adams said. “Our new blueprint is a historic investment in the future of our children, the future of working families and the future of our city. We’re going to increase access to child care for more than 41,000 children across New York City. It used to take a village to raise a child, but these days, it takes a city — New York City.”

NYC Blueprint for Child Care and Early Childhood Education

Over the next four years, the Adams administration will make an additional $800 million in investments, combined with existing spending on child care — representing a total of approximately $2 billion allocated to child-care spending. According to the mayor, the plan will:

Offer an accessible child-care experience rooted in equity to New York City families and increase enrollment across the city
Prioritize 17 high-needs neighborhoods across New York City targeted to increase engagement with families and drive an increase in enrollment through the New York City Administration of Children Services (ACS)
Create a tangible career training and professional development pipeline through The City University of New York (CUNY)
Take bold steps to include undocumented families in new funding to create and expand child-care benefits and make certain that all New York families receive the support needed to provide for their families.

Under the blueprint, the administration will cut red tape and alleviate the frustrations of the application process for families by launching a new application portal designed specifically for child care, allowing families to navigate the process easier. Through DOHMH, the administration will streamline the background check process to work for a child-care provider, reducing administrative burden and clearing the agency’s backlog. DOHMH will also hire an additional 40 staff members to expedite results and make it significantly easier for providers to make new seats available, all while maintaining thorough checks on all staff and employees.

The blueprint builds on private-public partnership. The Child Care Quality and Innovation Initiative, in partnership with the Robin Hood Foundation, allocates a $100 million fund that will make child care more accessible, while improving the quality of care provided to New York children.

“High-quality, affordable child care sets the next generation up for success while allowing parents to get back to work, helping cut poverty now and in the future. It’s one of the most effective poverty-fighting tools we have — and we are excited to partner with Mayor Adams to expand the city’s child care offerings,” Richard R. Buery, Jr., Robin Hood Foundation CEO, said. “As we rebuild a new New York post-pandemic, ensuring every family has access to these child programs will be critical. We look forward to working with the city on data-driven programs that will turn New York City into a child care metropolis, uplifting hundreds of thousands of families.”

More information about the plan for child care and early childhood education is available here.

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