Recently, child care has been making headlines in New York, and we want to say, that’s a great start! Now let’s build on that to help families truly access the child care they need. 

SIGN to tell lawmakers in New York to build on the MOMentum for child care: investing in summer and afterschool care are important too! 

This year’s New York State budget includes significant investments for families, but as moms, dads and caregivers know— child care is so much more than universal pre-k, and we need to make sure that our lawmakers understand that!  

We need to build on what’s been passed to truly support families to access the child care they need so they can go to work knowing that their children are being taken care of in a safe environment. We also need to make sure that while more slots are available, that classrooms have child care educators to lead and teach in those spaces– because no child care educators mean empty classrooms! OR because kids can’t be left in classrooms unsupervised! 

Click here to SIGN and say: we need to build our child care system: more funding for afterschool and summer child care and more funding for child care educators! 

The text of the letter that will be sent to lawmakers is below:

Dear Lawmaker, 

First, I want to express my gratitude for your continued leadership in securing and supporting historic child care investments in our recent years. By championing expanded assistance and laying a world-class foundation for our families, you have helped establish our communities as leaders in family and economic support.

Because of the immense success of these initiatives, we have an exciting opportunity to build on this momentum. We can take the next step to ensure that both child care educators and children thrive: expand our child care infrastructure to support afterschool care, summer programs, and make vital, permanent investments in our early childhood educators a reality.

Investing in our workforce alongside these flexible care windows is a massive win-win for our local economy, our businesses, and our families. Recent data highlights the incredible positive impact further expansion will bring:

• Addressing afterschool care and summer care needs: Across New York, the vast majority of young children live in households where all available parents work. By seamlessly extending care into the summer and afterschool hours, we give these parents ultimate peace of mind, stabilizing the 3:00 PM to 6:00 PM workday window and preventing the annual "summer scramble" for coverage.
• Solving the Staffing Shortage: We cannot expand child care slots or afterschool programs without the educators to staff them. Statewide data from the Empire State Campaign for Child Care shows that over 55% of surveyed child care programs report being understaffed, forcing them to turn families away or close classrooms. Investing directly in our educators is the single most effective way to open up new slots for families locally.
• Elevating a Critical Profession: According to the Schuyler Center's State of New York's Children data, the average wage for a child care worker is just $37,675 annually—meaning these educators earn less than 96% of occupations statewide. Dedicated, permanent investments in educator compensation will dramatically reduce turnover, attract top talent, and treat early childhood education with the professional dignity it deserves.
• Fostering Student Success: High-quality afterschool and summer programs do more than just fill a time slot—they boost academic performance, improve social-emotional learning, and keep kids safe and active. Combining these programs with a well-compensated, stable workforce ensures all children get a strong, continuous start.

We know that New York has the vision and the political will to lead on child care. By championing targeted investments for summer care, afterschool programming, and child care educator compensation in the upcoming budget and legislative cycles, you can help us create a truly comprehensive system where both our children and our workforce can thrive.