NYC rolling out child care subsidy program for migrants, other undocumented children
New York City is increasing access to subsidized child care for hundreds of undocumented children.
Mayor Adams announced on Wednesday a $10 million child care assistance program for families who are otherwise ineligible for federal subsidies because of their immigration status.
Called Promise NYC, the program will launch after the holidays and is expected to reach more than 600 children over the next six months, giving their parents — including thousands of migrants arriving from the southern border in recent months — more flexibility and accessible care while they search for housing and new jobs.
“Navigating obstacles in a new city and a new country are tough, and coupling those issues with a lack of child care can prevent parents and families from achieving the dream they so desperately set out to achieve,” said Adams in a statement.
“By launching Promise NYC, we are alleviating the stress from those concerns, supporting children and families, and creating a fairer city for all New Yorkers,” he said.
The Administration for Children Services is contracting with four local organizations with ties to immigrant communities in each borough — who will connect families with monthly subsidy payments, and help parents identify child-care providers and enroll their children.
“ACS is thrilled to be launching this new program in New York City, which will, for the first time ever, provide child-care assistance to hundreds of low-income families who were previously and unfairly ineligible due to their immigration status,” said Jess Dannhauser, the commissioner of ACS.
The organizations include the Center for Family Life in Brooklyn, NMIC in the Bronx and Manhattan, La Colmena on Staten Island, and the Chinese American Planning Council in Queens.
Arlette Cepeda, deputy director of La Colmena, told the Daily News that many of the mothers they work with from Central and South America — including a large population of Mexican immigrants and now asylum seekers from Venezuela — have had to make difficult decisions about relying on others for care or bringing their children with them to important meetings and doctor appointments.
“Either you don’t go because you have no one to leave the kids with, or you bring them along,” she said.
The subsidy payments will help change that, Cepeda added — and connect families to city assistance at their site.
“It’s a place where they can come and feel comfortable, and trust that we will guide them through the process, especially as they’re new to the city and the systems. So I think it will be a tremendous help toward them,” she said.
The program has been a monthslong effort that started before thousands of asylum seekers were sent on buses from the border to large cities like New York, but is anticipated to help many of those families.
As part of his sweeping child care plan for 41,000 children under 5 years old, Adams announced in June that the city budget earmarked $10 million for subsidized care for undocumented children.
The move comes after a multibillion-dollar child care expansion in the state budget this year notably excluded services for undocumented children.
“This new program is a game changer for countless immigrant families whose children were previously ineligible to receive critically needed child care assistance,” said Anne Williams-Isom, deputy mayor of health and human services.
