About US
Better Child Care NYC was formed in response to a crisis facing the child care sector. Nearly all of New York City’s neighborhoods are “child care deserts,” in which there are no child care seats available for local families. It is not possible to address this problem due to inadequate or outdated policies that make it unnecessarily difficult to create new child care centers, open them in a timely manner and meet the needs of New York residents. The lack of availability for working class families is one of the most critical issues facing New York City today, and the City and State can help by taking key steps to address this problem.
We are a coalition of labor, civic organizations, day care centers, education advocates, chambers of commerce, and many others. We know that the best investment the City and State can make is in its people. We are working together to make sure New Yorkers have more access to child care and this city remains affordable for generations to come. Our current partners can be found below.
Our Partners
Fix the NYC Child Care Property Tax Credit: Current credits do not cover the cost of creating a new child care center. The State should enable the City to increase the value of each tax credit, which will help create thousands more child care seats. This policy change would not require any additional funding.
Our Plan
Extend Child Care Hours: Regulations impacting operating hours force many families to choose between earning income and utilizing child care services. Policymakers can remove barriers for extending legislation to remove barriers for extending child care hours, for instance from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., which would give parents more job flexibility to support their household.
Lift Outdated Restrictions While Ensuring Safety: City law only allows infant and toddler child care on the ground floor of buildings, which significantly reduces child care seats. Policymakers can amend this law to allow centers above and below ground floors, while ensuring that such centers continue to operate safely.
Streamline the Permitting Process: Even when child care centers are built, it takes far too long to get them online due to an unnecessarily complicated permitting process that requires three different City agencies. Policymakers can solve this problem by consolidating the process within a single agency and creating a fast track for child care permit approvals.
Create Wrap Around Inspection Teams: Right now, various city agencies are required to conduct inspections which can lead to delays and greater costs for child care centers. The creation of a wraparound inspection team with designated point people at all the agencies involved will ensure child care centers get built safely, on time and on budget.
More details on our platform and what it means can be found here.
Media Coverage
By: amny
Op-Ed | It’s time to improve child care access for New York City families
By: crains new york business
Op-ed: Restrictive access to child care is costing New York's economy billions
Get involved
Want to join our fight? Interested in covering our work? Or just want to know what you can do to help? Email us below or contact us using the form.