Overview
Monroe County’s Department of Human Services plays a pivotal role in supporting thousands of our community’s children and families. The Children’s Agenda pays close attention to County spending and policy making to ensure the best outcomes for kids, especially our most vulnerable. In this document we lay out recommendations to improve the Child Care Assistance Program and Child Protective Services through budgetary and policy changes for the upcoming 2026 Monroe County Budget.
Child Care Assistance
Child care assistance leads to parents’ stable employment and safe, nurturing environments for Monroe County’s young children. Changes in the federal and state funding in recent years have allowed more families to receive assistance, but trouble is looming in 2026 and 2027.
To prevent worst-case scenarios, The Children’s Agenda recommends that the County include the following in its 2026 Budget:
Priority 1: Establish a Child Care Assistance Program Contingency Fund
Priority 2: Adopt Two-Year Continuous Eligibility for Child Care Assistance
Priority 3: Process Child Care Assistance Program applications in a timely manner by increasing/boosting department staffing.
The recently released 2026 Monroe County Proposed Budget includes an increase of $11.2M in unspent funds (rollover) from past years to supplement the Child Care Assistance Program, but no additional local dollars (contingency fund) in case the County exceeds its projected enrollment. There is no mention of two-year continuous eligibility for child care assistance in the proposed budget. Staffing also remains flat in the Department of Human Services which oversees the Child Care Assistance Program.
Child Protective Services
Monroe County must improve data sharing, to ensure Child Protective Services investigations are not causing more harm than they are preventing.
Priority 4: Improve Child Welfare Data Transparency by modeling data reporting on the Administration for Children’s Services in New York City (Monthly Flash Reports)
The proposed budget does not mention any initiatives to improve child welfare data transparency.