New York, NY — EdTrust-New York celebrates the passage of S.1926 (Persaud) /A.7145 (Walker) by the State Legislature and advancing it to the Governor’s desk for signature. The legislation requires every county social services office in New York State to create and maintain a wait list of families seeking child care assistance. By collecting and analyzing this data, the New York State Office of Children and Family Services (OCFS) will be able to monitor unmet needs and help the state plan more effectively. The shift in policy marks a crucial step toward preventing future funding shortfalls—like the one New York State experienced this past spring, which forced the state to invest $400M in emergency child care assistance to prevent families from losing care.
While we welcome this progress, we remain deeply disappointed that the Legislature failed to even vote on S.4472C Ramos/A.1001D Clark. This bill would have streamlined burdensome paperwork requirements and ensured automatic rate increases for child care providers when the market rate increases. It also would have moved the state away from the outdated market rate survey toward a more accurate cost estimation model that reflects the true cost of care. We urge lawmakers to take action in the next session by passing two essential bills: one that guarantees automatic rate increases regardless of the methodology used, and another that enables New York State to implement a child care cost model.
EdTrust-New York and the Raising NY coalition previously commissioned Prenatal to Five Fiscal Strategies to develop a comprehensive cost model for child care. We continue to advocate for its use to establish fair and sustainable wages for early childhood educators across the state.
We are also disappointed that the Assembly failed to vote on A.283A (Paulin), the companion to S.1222A (Rivera) which the Senate approved. This bill would have required a comprehensive review of New York’s Early Intervention (EI) system, identified cost-saving measures, and recommended ways to strengthen the program. Although both chambers moved this legislation forward last session, and the Governor vetoed it, only the Senate acted this year.
New York ranks 50th in the nation for delivering EI services in a timely manner. Many children age out of the program without ever receiving services, leading preventable delays, the need for costly special education, and long-term consequences. Since many EI-eligible children receive Medicaid, the state’s failure to act is not only fiscally shortsighted but also an equity issue. While we recognize concerns about potential federal Medicaid cuts, the Assembly’s inaction leaves vulnerable children without a contingency plan, an unacceptable and unconscionable failure.
We are deeply concerned that lawmakers failed to pass the New York for All Act (S.2235 Gounardes / A.3506 Reyes) EdTrust-New York, alongside more than 75 organizations, strongly supports this bill, which would prohibit local law enforcement and other agencies from engaging in any federal immigration enforcement, except when explicitly required by law. Confusion between local, state, and federal agencies over their roles in enforcing immigration mandates continues to spread fear across all immigrant communities. Family separations are devastating and cause lasting harm to both children and adults. We join advocates across sectors—child care, education, health care, faith, child welfare, and anti-hunger—in urging the Legislature to pass this bill and ensure that no child goes to bed afraid of losing a parent or family member.
EdTrust-New York remains committed to partnering with lawmakers to protect and uplift the state’s youngest and most vulnerable learners.
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About EdTrust-New York:
EdTrust-New York is dedicated to eliminating equity and opportunity gaps that hinder students from reaching their full potential. We focus on ensuring that students of color, including Black, Latinx, Native American, and Asian American and Pacific Islander students, and those from low-income backgrounds achieve high levels of success from early childhood through college. For more information, visit EdTrustNY.org.