Councilmember Restler questions voucher waitlist and OCFS hours policy

Great.

Thank you so much.

We've been joined also by Councilmember Brewer, and we'll go on to Councilmember Ressler, followed by Gutierrez.

Great.

Thank you.

Congratulations, Commissioner.

It's good to see the ACS team this morning.

I will just note, building on Councilmember Epstein for a second, the CAC in Brooklyn is moving.

We've received no

communication about that so would appreciate a briefing on what's planned and where that's going it's in our district it's an important location and we really want to make sure that that is handled thoughtfully

and with that I'm going to switch the topic that your team knows I'm going to ask about which is vouchers building on council member Ose's questions just to affirm there are 25,000 children currently on the

Voucher waiting list?

So, first of all, absolutely commitment to follow up related to the CAC question that you have, and then I'll turn it over to Liz.

Yes, based on the report from last Friday, 25,600.

25,600 children desperately in need of child care who do not have it today and with no plans right now to provide any funding to the families on the wait list.

I want to be clear.

I obviously share your concern and want to get care to as many families as possible.

However, there are families on the wait list that are actively engaged in care, especially with New York City public schools.

We keep those children on the wait list because if and when we are able to offer them a voucher, we want them to have the choice of type of care.

You mentioned earlier that your team and others across the administration are doing outreach to folks on the wait list to connect them to 2K seats and after school programs.

Have you quantified how many families have been successfully connected from the wait list to other child care options?

No, we don't have a way to quantify that, but I can say that there are about 6,000 children that are enrolled in CCBG-funded New York City public school seats.

There may be children in other...

New York City public school seats, meaning funded by other funding streams, and we don't have currently the ability to do a data match with DYCD.

So without a data match, we know that there's tens of thousands of children who are in desperate need of support.

And while we know this is a major commitment for Governor Hochul and Mayor Mamdani,

We're in the lurch.

These families are left in the lurch.

So just to understand, it certainly seems that there is, with the historic investment in the state budget, there are resources available for this fiscal year to pay for additional vouchers.

Without concern about future years, can you confirm that's accurate?

As you know, the budget is either being signed or signed potentially while we're sitting here.

But the CHOC year funding was determined five months ago.

We all know what those numbers are, and we've known them for five months.

The mayor and the governor did an announcement on like the fifth day in January, and the numbers have not moved.

So just to affirm a simple question, for this fiscal year coming up, FY27, do we have funding for additional vouchers?

Not for future years.

I understand there's a major liability there.

Well, I do want to say that I haven't seen the, I haven't had a chance to look at the final bills.

So I'll take your word for it, but the language is complex and we do need to look at that.

And we would be remiss if we didn't to ensure that it is exactly the same as the executive budget.

However, we are always looking at where we are on spending and enrollments across the three agencies that use this funding, HRA, ACS, as you know, and New York City Public Schools.

And so now that the state budget is final, we will need to look at and analyze how and

when we will be able to move the wait list.

I can't confirm today what that time window looks like.

So where I'm going with this, and if chairs who I adore, who I didn't say anything nice about you at the beginning of my comments, I apologize.

I do.

Two quick ones.

I'm sorry.

I do adore them.

That was very sincere.

I say that to all the chairs, but I really mean it today.

So just to ask, I understand that we have an enormous responsibility.

We significantly increased enrollment for these non-mandated low-income child care 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 an in perpetuity commitment that this child is going to have a voucher until they're 13 and age out, but 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 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.

Last question.

If you want to respond to that, you're welcome.

Anything you want to add?

We note your recommendation.

Thank you.

I appreciate it.

I'm not shy.

Last thing, I am deeply disturbed by one policy that didn't make it into the state budget, which has to do with OCFS's policy around

hours that parents work, and access to child care vouchers.

Basically, OCFS has regulations that require parents to, that only allow for a child to have a voucher during the precise hours that a parent is working.

So if a parent works nights, then they don't get a daytime child care voucher.

If a parent works Mondays and Tuesdays, then the kid can only go into the child care center Mondays and Tuesdays.

If this policy is going to be imposed on the city, it would be profoundly disruptive.

It would lead to child center closures because how can a child care center that has 100 kids have a different policy of what hours every 100 kid is coming in?

You can't hire teachers that way.

We will see enormous, enormous disruptions to our child care system.

I am hopeful that the governor is able to guide her agency to do the right thing and that OCFS no longer...

And OCFS sees that this would be a disastrous policy for New York City child care.

Do you have any updates on your conversations on this?

Is OCFS giving any indication to you that they recognize how harmful and disruptive a policy this would be?

I mean, first I'll say, you know, but for the good of all, you know that ACS has been advocating

Yes, no, no, no.

I'm not criticizing you.

No, I just want to understand the position of the agency and the position of this administration, which is that we agree that this would be bad for providers, bad for families, bad for child development.

We have been advocating at the OCFS level and having conversations there.

The administration has been speaking with chamber about this.

I don't have any updates, but we are holding on to the same hope that you are, that there is a pathway so that we can ensure that families who are juggling more than just their work schedule, as we know, have the opportunity to have the care for the health of their families.

There's, I think, four or five working days left in session.

Whether we pass the heavy sea brisboard bill again, which is one way to fix this, or OCFS changes its regulations, which is another way to fix this, we just need it fixed because the families in New York City...

Thank you, Lincoln.

Sorry, I'm done.

Thank you.

Bye.