This year’s New York State legislative session ended with significant steps toward making it a little easier to raise a child in New York. The Children’s Agenda was pleased to see progress on making child care more affordable and ensuring Early Intervention providers are there when infants and toddlers need them. These legislative victories were the result of multi-year efforts on the part of parents, community members, advocates and legislators.

The legislature has done their part. Now it’s time for the Governor to sign these bills into law. The majority of burdens children bear are preventable. New York has the data, resources and capacity to support children in a way that meets all of their needs. The only question is whether we have the political will. With most of these bills passing unanimously, the answer to that question now lies squarely with the Governor.

Child Care
While in recent years New York State greatly expanded eligibility for assistance paying for child care, making approximately half of children ages 12 and under eligible, lengthy approval times and limitations on when assistance funds can be used make it difficult for families to pursue new job opportunities and balance the demands of everyday life. The legislature passed three common sense solutions to make child care more accessible to working families:

• Modeled after policies used in Monroe County, families across New York would be presumed eligible for the Child Care Assistance Program while their application is being processed. This means they can quickly access assistance paying for child care rather than having to wait upwards of a month to be approved. (A.4099-A Clark / S.4677-A Brouk)
• To ensure that families who can most benefit from affordable child care can access it, the legislature approved eliminating minimum work hours to be eligible for the Child Care Assistance Program. This means children whose parents and caregivers have sporadic or seasonal employment or whose work is limited by disability can still benefit from quality early childhood education and their parents can pursue fuller employment. (A.1303-A Clark / S.4924-A Ramos)
• Recognizing that not all parents work 9 to 5, the legislature approved eliminating rigid requirements for drop-off and pick-up times that are especially disruptive for children whose parents work variable schedules and in the gig economy. (A.8878 Hevesi / S.8152 Brisport).

Kids need consistency, parents need predictability and New York’s economy doesn’t work without access to quality, affordable child care. These common sense solutions will make living in New York a little easier for families, giving them the flexibility they need and allowing them to pursue new jobs and employment opportunities. They also bring greater equity to the child care system by helping families with the lowest incomes.

Early Intervention
There was also progress made in addressing the crisis in Early Intervention for infants and toddlers with developmental delays and disabilities. Building off the increase in reimbursement rates that was won earlier this year in the state budget, the Assembly and Senate unanimously passed legislation that will require the Department of Health to study how reimbursement rates are determined for Early Intervention screenings, evaluations, services, and service coordination; and make recommendations for how rates are determined moving forward. (A.10175 Paulin / S.1198-A Rivera)

New York must develop a way to fully compensate Early Intervention providers for the life-changing work they do with children and families. It’s the only way to ensure every child who needs Early Intervention gets the services they need, when they need them.

The Governor has until December 31st to sign the bills passed by the legislature into law. The Children’s Agenda, alongside parents and community members, will be advocating in Albany until then to ensure these important legislative fixes are signed by the governor and enacted  into law.