Riley asks about transition from home to school settings

And lastly, transitioning from in-home care to in-school care can be a little bit challenging for parents.

I could attest my son just went to pre-K, and it was really a challenge to get him from not being attached to his mother every time she's dropping him off.

So can you just explain?

explain the thought process in not having 2K inside of a traditional school setting, just on the record.

So when we look at where families with two-year-olds often choose to send their children for care, where we see the environments that

educators are trained and ready to welcome toddlers, those are our community-based centers and our family child care programs.

Those are spaces that environmentally are right for two-year-olds, where we have educators who have been working with toddlers for years and years and have gone through the training and experience to be able to serve them well.

And so we've really focused on expanding 2K in those settings because that is where toddlers in New York City are cared for today.

What we are doing essentially is saying rather than families pay out of pocket for that care, the city is stepping in to cover the cost of care, but we want to honor the expertise in those early childhood settings.

Okay.

And out.

She said the state is covering it now.

I would just add on that as we're approaching the end of the year, we will be very intentional with having either pre-K or kindergarten information sessions so that families are able to get exposure to what the new program is.

We're working very closely with our school-based colleagues to really support the transition.

Yeah, and I think that's a great idea, just having some form of a blueprint for a parent that after their child has been in a home care provider system,

them into a traditional school setting will be extremely helpful.

Great work.

I'm looking forward to this expansion.

Thank you.

Thank you, Chair.

2K's number one fan right here, Councilmember Riley.

Okay, thank you for your questions.

Next up, we have Councilmember Santos-Wosso, Councilmember Joseph, and Councilmember Felder.