Council Member Restler Proposes SCCF Voucher Model
Council Member Lincoln Restler suggests utilizing the SCCF voucher model to fund child care for a single year as a way to reduce the waitlist without committing to long-term liabilities.
So I where I'm going with this, and if chair chairs, who I adore, who I didn't say anything nice about you at the beginning of my comments, I apologize.
I do.
Two two quick ones.
I'm sorry.
Um I do adore them.
That was very sincere.
The um I'd say that to all the tiers, but I really mean it today.
The um uh so just to ask I I I understand that we have a an enormous responsibility.
We significantly increased enrollment for these non non-mandated low-income childcare vouchers during COVID with an expectation of federal funds lasting forever, and we're not there, and we've been successful for two years in a row with tremendous advocacy in Albany to maintain that every family who has a voucher is able to keep it.
That's an enormous achievement.
You guys deserve credit, everybody involved deserves credit, God bless.
But we do have a 25,000-person waiting list.
The suggestion I want to make to you on the record here is that we do SCCF vouchers again.
This was the model we crafted during the de Blasio administration, it can be funded for a single year.
We don't make a in perpetuity commitment that this child is gonna have a voucher until they're 13 and age out, but that they have that we add child care capacity for this coming fiscal year with the resources we know we have today.
And I think that is the approach we should take in this moment to help reduce the waiting list and take an approach and help more families connect to care now.
And if we can get more money from Albany in the future, then let's enroll people in the vouchers in the future.
But let's do more today.