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New York State Reports

Reimagining Universal Pre-Kindergarten Funding in New York: Addressing Equity and Funding Sustainability

October 30, 2025

Every child in New York deserves a quality education, beginning in pre-kindergarten, to be
the basis for their future success. Providing such an education requires adequate, equitable,
and sustainable funding. The existing Universal Pre-Kindergarten (UPK) funding mechanism,
however, is complicated to administer, has several structural flaws, and provides inadequate
per-pupil funding. Under the current system, districts receiving the minimum per-pupil amount
or those already serving nearly all eligible families face years of flat funding, with few options
to increase their allocations.

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Family Affordability Fact Sheets for All NYS Counties

October 23, 2025

New York is one of the most expensive states to raise a family. Core necessities such as housing, child care, food, healthcare, and transportation consume a growing share of household income, especially for low- and middle-income families. These rising costs are driving many families to leave the state in search of more affordable living conditions. High costs of living also contribute to persistent child poverty, with New York home to three of the ten U.S. cities with the highest child poverty rates. Addressing these challenges requires bold, family-centered policies that ease cost burdens and promote economic stability.

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Reimagine the Future: The Need to Reform Early Intervention in New York State

October 15, 2025

New York State’s Early Intervention program is in crisis and ranks 48th in the nation for delivering on-time Early Intervention services. Infants and toddlers languish on waitlists for life-changing therapies, and data show disparities in access based on race and geography. Federal authorities have identified clear failures in due process.

To reimagine the Early Intervention program and meet the needs of infants and toddlers with developmental delays and disabilities, the State must increase resources for the Early Intervention program and adopt reforms to improve its performance.

In this report, we examine key elements of successful state systems and provide an update on the status of New York’s Early Intervention program.

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Our Statement on the 2025-26 NYS Legislature Session

June 25, 2025

In its 2025 session, the New York State legislature made positive steps forward for New York’s children and families and yet missed many opportunities to address longstanding problems. New York’s children are threatened by recent federal actions and looming legislation that will lead to higher rates of child poverty, more food scarcity, and a loss of health care. State leaders missed several opportunities to provide our children with additional support to mitigate the harm of federal cuts. We look forward to working with our partners in government to address these shortcomings in the future.

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Sustainable, Sufficient & Fair: Revenue Sources for Universal Child Care in New York State

June 4, 2025

Like public education and transportation, child care benefits society at large. When children are learning and thriving in safe, supportive settings, their parents and caregivers can work or pursue the education needed to boost their family’s economic fortunes, and businesses are able to recruit and maintain a reliable workforce. However, in New York, like many states, child care is far too difficult to find and often too expensive to afford.

Leaders in New York have made substantial investments in child care, particularly over the past several years. And yet many families across New York State are stuck on waitlists to receive assistance and are unable to pursue their career and educational goals.

The Children’s Agenda is issuing this report to inform the work of the New York Coalition for Child Care, which is tasked with, among other things, identifying a sustained funding stream to help New York achieve universal child care and implement the recommendations of the Governor’s Child Care Availability Task Force.

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Milestones Matter: The Children’s Agenda Reviews the New York State 2025-26 Budget

May 22, 2025

The 2025-26 New York State budget contains some milestone wins for children and families – and some big misses. We are grateful that Governor Hochul and the State Legislature listened to the calls of advocates and took bold actions to boost economic security and health for New Yorkers. These gains could be threatened unless additional investments are made in areas missed this session.

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Imminent Threat: Without State Action, Thousands May Lose Access to Child Care

April 9, 2025

Child care is a critical need for families in every community. In past years, New York State improved the Child Care Assistance Program (CCAP) by expanding eligibility and removing barriers for families to access subsidized care. Enrollment soared across the state. However, Governor Hochul, the Senate, and the Assembly have not allocated sufficient funding in their respective 2025-26 budget proposals to meet the growing demand for child care assistance. Without additional funding in this year’s budget, families across the state will lose access to the child care they depend on.

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Investing in New York State’s Early Intervention Program Factsheet

March 19, 2025

Between zero to three years old, a child’s brain is developing 1 million new neural connections per second. 90% of our brain is fully developed by age 5.

The Early Intervention (EI) program was established in the federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Act to guarantee every infant and toddler the chance to reach important developmental milestones during this critical time. New York’s Early Intervention program is currently not able to deliver on that promise.

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Prioritizing Equity in New York’s School Funding: The Foundation Aid Formula

March 17, 2025

Every child in New York is entitled to a sound, basic education. Providing such an education requires adequate and equitable funding. After years of advocacy and a lawsuit brought by parents who were frustrated by the chronic underfunding of schools, New York State developed the Foundation Aid formula in 2007 to create equitable school funding across districts. The formula is designed to be progressive, factoring in community wealth and student need in order to direct the greatest State funding to districts with the fewest resources and the highest needs.

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Photo of smiling infant and the words Explaining Governor Hochul's Proposal to Expand the Empire State Child Credit

Explaining Governor Hochul’s Proposal to Expand the Empire State Child Credit

January 9, 2025

On January 6th, 2025, Governor Kathy Hochul announced a proposal to expand New York’s Empire State Child Credit. Her recommendation addresses some of the most harmful structural flaws that have limited the effectiveness of the state’s child tax credit since it was first introduced in 2006. Currently, this expansion would be rolled out over two years, with the phase-in elimination and young child increase happening in the 2025 tax year, and the higher credit for older children delayed until the following year. To have the greatest impact, policymakers should consider modifying this proposal to allow for full implementation in year one.

These changes build on the progress made in recent years when the Empire State Child Credit was expanded to include children under the age of four. There is more work to be done — most notably tying the credit amount and income levels to inflation — but this bold proposal is a critical step towards ensuring that all children and families in New York have the supports they need to thrive.

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