City Council braces to restore cut child care funding — again

Posted March 15, 2013 By Margo Epprecht

Here we go again.

On Monday the City Council will tackle one of the most contentious issues in the city budget: the city’s subsidies for child care and preschool. Last year, the City Council came to agreement with the mayor’s office only four days before dozens of child care centers would have been forced to shut down.

This year, child care and preschool programs around the city face another round of uncertainty waiting for the Council to restore expiring funding for 4,900 children.

“If they do not give us the funding, we have to close and that will affect all those mothers who need us,” said Nenita Corrales, Director of The Prince Hall Childcare Center in East Harlem. Her center serves 30 children aged two to four, with a waiting list of 20.

Last year Brooklyn Council member Jumaane Williams, at podium, joined colleagues, parents and kids opposed to proposed child care budget cuts. The Council now begins the battle anew. Photo: Alexander Hotz

“They come in and inquire every day,” Corrales said of parents who seek to apply. “I tell them to wait and hopefully there will be an opening.” Because of excess demand, Prince Hall has created two new classrooms now awaiting Department of Health approval, one each for 3- and 4-year-olds.

The shortage of subsidized preschool and child care worsened last year when the Bloomberg administration’s new EarlyLearn program disqualified many centers and left about 10,000 fewer seats funded compared with the previous year. The City Council has paid for about half of those, in facilities with reputations and histories known to the local Council members.

“These centers are living on one-year funding,” said Lauren Biscone, an analyst with the Independent Budget Office. “We definitely have more demand in this city than there is funding to pay for it.”

She says it would cost $59 million to restore 4,900 child care slots and more to compensate other cuts proposed by the mayor for after school programs. The largest single category in council restorations last year was child care and youth programs. Last year, the council spent more than $300 million on programs at its discretion, and contributed more than $53 million of that to the restoration of preschool slots. The administration, in a last minute concession, restored $20 million in baseline funding for the program.

“The City Council is an ally in the fight,” said Gregory Brender of United Neighborhood Houses, a Manhattan-based nonprofit whose members provide child care services.

New York City’s Administration for Children’s Services serves 110,000 children in child care and preschool education through contracted care and vouchers, spending $1.1 billion in federal, state and local funds. Even so, pressures on funding for pre–school age children is mounting. When child care center director Corrales gets approval to open the new classrooms, her staff will be able to take care of 25 more children while the parents work. But those parents will look to the city for help paying.

The mayor’s EarlyLearn program is more expensive to run than its predecessor programs. A January survey by the Campaign for Children, a nonprofit advocacy group, found 89 percent of EarlyLearn providers reported city funding was not “sufficient” to pay for the care they provided.

“There is a big gap in child care funding that the city is facing next year,” said Biscone.

The hearing on child care and after-school funding will be held at City Hall on Monday, March 18, at 1:30 p.m. Public comment begins at 4 p.m.

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<h1>City Council braces to restore cut child care funding — again</h1>Here we go again.
On Monday the City Council will tackle one of the most contentious issues in the city budget: the city’s subsidies for child care and preschool. Last year, the City Council came to agreement with the mayor’s office only four days before dozens of child care centers would have been forced to shut down.
This year, child care and preschool programs around the city face another round of uncertainty waiting for the Council to restore expiring funding for 4,900 children.
“If they do not give us the funding, we have to close and that will affect all those mothers who need us,” said Nenita Corrales, Director of The Prince Hall Childcare Center in East Harlem. Her center serves 30 children aged two to four, with a waiting list of 20.
<div id="attachment_4012" style="width: 310px" class="wp-caption alignright"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-4012" class="size-medium wp-image-4012" title="Jumaane_CityHallsteps_030612" src="http://www.thenewyorkworld.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/Jumanees_CityHallsteps_030612-300x225.jpg" alt="Jumaane Williams" width="300" height="225" srcset="thenewyorkworld.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/Jumanees_CityHallsteps_030612-300x225.jpg 300w, thenewyorkworld.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/Jumanees_CityHallsteps_030612-1024x768.jpg 1024w, thenewyorkworld.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/Jumanees_CityHallsteps_030612-400x300.jpg 400w" sizes="(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" />Last year Brooklyn Council member Jumaane Williams, at podium,  joined colleagues, parents and kids opposed to proposed child care budget cuts. The Council now begins the battle anew. Photo: Alexander Hotz</div>
“They come in and inquire every day,” Corrales said of parents who seek to apply. “I tell them to wait and hopefully there will be an opening.” Because of excess demand, Prince Hall has created two new classrooms now awaiting Department of Health approval, one each for 3- and 4-year-olds.
The shortage of subsidized preschool and child care worsened last year when the Bloomberg administration’s new EarlyLearn program disqualified many centers and left about 10,000 fewer seats funded compared with the previous year. The City Council has paid for about half of those, in facilities with reputations and histories known to the local Council members.
“These centers are living on one-year funding,” said Lauren Biscone, an analyst with the Independent Budget Office. “We definitely have more demand in this city than there is funding to pay for it.”
She says it would cost $59 million to restore 4,900 child care slots and more to compensate other cuts proposed by the mayor for after school programs. The largest single category in council restorations last year was child care and youth programs. Last year, the <a onclick="javascript:pageTracker._trackPageview('/outgoing/www.citizensunion.org/www/cu/site/hosting/Reports/CU_Report_NYC_Discretionary_FundingFY2009-2012_May2012.pdf');" href="http://www.citizensunion.org/www/cu/site/hosting/Reports/CU_Report_NYC_Discretionary_FundingFY2009-2012_May2012.pdf" target="_blank">council spent more than $300 million</a> on programs at its discretion, and <a onclick="javascript:pageTracker._trackPageview('/outgoing/www.cccnewyork.org/wp-content/publications/CCCBudgetDoc.CityAdoptedFY13.Aug2012.pdf');" href="http://www.cccnewyork.org/wp-content/publications/CCCBudgetDoc.CityAdoptedFY13.Aug2012.pdf" target="_blank">contributed more than $53 million</a> of that to the restoration of preschool slots. The administration, in a last minute concession, restored $20 million in baseline funding for the program.
“The City Council is an ally in the fight,” said Gregory Brender of United Neighborhood Houses, a Manhattan-based nonprofit whose members provide child care services.
New York City’s Administration for Children’s Services serves 110,000 children in child care and preschool education through contracted care and vouchers, spending $1.1 billion in federal, state and local funds. Even so, pressures on funding for pre–school age children is mounting. When child care center director Corrales gets approval to open the new classrooms, her staff will be able to take care of 25 more children while the parents work. But those parents will look to the city for help paying.
The mayor’s EarlyLearn program is more expensive to run than its predecessor programs. A January survey by the Campaign for Children, a nonprofit advocacy group, found 89 percent of EarlyLearn providers reported city funding was not “sufficient” to pay for the care they provided.
“There is a big gap in child care funding that the city is facing next year,” said Biscone.
The hearing on child care and after-school funding will be held at City Hall on Monday, March 18, at 1:30 p.m. Public comment begins at 4 p.m.

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