WHO CARES FOR THE CHILDREN?
(Article published in HWW March 2010)
Amelia is on public assistance and job hunting but can’t go to work till she finds someone to care for her child. What should she do?
Sylvia worries about child care, too, because her WEP assignment starts soon. What should she do?
Cheryl’s lucky to have a job offer, but her baby is barely a year old. Who can she trust to take care of her? What should she do?
Parents faced with these decisions often call the Center for Children’s Initiatives, or CCI (and formerly Child Care Inc.), for information and advice.
Carolyn Henriques, CCI’s Parent Services Coordinator, says, “Usually when parents call us they are not sure about the type of care they need for their child. Many don’t know what is available in their area or what to do if they need help to pay for it.”
Child care providers may be licensed or informal
Low income New Yorkers can use two kinds of child care – either “licensed” (or sometimes “registered”) or informal.
1. Licensed or registered care includes both centers and homes that are monitored by city and state agencies and funded in NYC by the Administration for Children’s Services (ACS).
2. Informal child care is provided by someone like a relative, neighbor or friend who does not have a license to be a child care provider.
Carolyn Henriques says, “We prefer to make referrals to licensed programs,” as do most child care experts. There are two benefits to using ACS subsidized child care. ACS sets standards for care and also conducts inspections to be sure children are placed in a safe and healthy environment.
However, some parents prefer informal care for their kids. Perhaps a grandmother is available and eager to care for the kids and could use the extra income. Maybe their friends have used a neighbor for child care and it worked out well.
Also in some cases, parents on public assistance use informal arrangements because they cannot find licensed care in the time they are given to make arrangements for their children.
Commissioner Seth Diamond, Executive Deputy Director of the NYC Human Resources Administration (HRA), estimates that about half of parents in the shelter system, and a little more than half of parents on public assistance, have their children in informal, unlicensed care.
CCI can help these parents. “If parents are happy with their informal care,” Carolyn Henriques says, “we can offer suggestions on how to enhance it. For example, we can suggest how to create contracts or agreements with caregivers which might avoid problems. A contract could cover the hours of care, pay, meals included and so on.”
Child care is free to people on public assistance
If you’re on public assistance and you need child care in order to take part in an “employment related activity” which could be a job, education, or training, the law guarantees you free child care. You are entitled to receive a “voucher” which pays for either ACS licensed/registered care or for informal unlicensed care.
“People on public assistance in employment activities or working are eligible for free child care until the child is 13,” says Commissioner Diamond.
If you are working and your case is closed you are entitled to receive transitional child care benefits for one year
The challenge is finding good child care quickly
In the course of applying for p.a., people come to the Job Center where they’re assigned a “work activity.” Some arrive with child care arrangements made. If a parent arrives at the Job Center without any child care arrangement, she is given five to seven days to find it and return. Their challenge is to find a child care provider that is qualified, is in the area, and has a space available in the very next week. The one week deadline on finding childcare imposed by HRA and the Job Center is a much shorter time than the three months the Bureau of Child Care web site recommends for parents seeking child care. Parents must work very fast.
According to Commissioner Diamond, workers at Job Centers are expected to provide clients with the names of two licensed or regulated child care providers. The workers also have access to lists of child care slots. Also a parent can get help from ACS at the East End Job Center in Manhattan, where shelter families’ cases are located, and can provide assistance to parents.
When looking, be flexible and keep good notes
“It isn’t always easy to find the care you want,” says Carolyn Henriques. “If you have a 13 month old and want a child care center, you’re likely to discover that there aren’t that many centers for infants and toddlers. Centers usually start at 2 years 9 months. So when we are talking to parents about their child care plan, we encourage them to get on a waiting list for a center, but we tell them to think about using family child care or group family child care.”
If the client does not find child care before her “return appointment” at the Job Center five to seven days later, she should show the Job Center worker proof of where she looked, and ask for more time. The Job Center worker has the option to extend the deadline for starting the work assignment.
If the Job Center worker does not extend the deadline, the client could be denied benefits. Also, if a parent on public assistance loses her child care for some reason and so can’t perform her work assignment, she may receive a sanction and lose her benefits.
Commissioner Diamond thinks the number of sanctions for non-compliance is low. But he is quite clear about the city’s priorities. “Our priority is work right away,” he says. “There is no reason that someone can’t pick one type of child care and then when their needs change they can change to a different type.”
Resources
The agency that regulates child care in NYC is the Bureau of Child Care of the NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene. You can click onto their web site or call 311 to locate the names and contact information for licensed child care services in all five boroughs.
For more help in finding and choosing child care of all kinds, you can call the New York City Resource and Referral (CCR&R) Consortium at (888) 469-5999, funded by NY State and composed of five child care resource and referral agencies in NYC:
Center for Children’s Initiatives (formerly Child Care Inc). (212) 929-7604
Child Development Support Corp. (718) 230-0056
Chinese-American Planning Council (212) 941-0030
Committee for Hispanic Children and Families (212) 206-1090
Day Care Council of New York, Inc. (212) 206-7818
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CHECKLIST FOR PARENTS
From the Center for Children’s Initiatives –
Take this along to when you’re deciding on a family child care home.
NAME OF PROVIDER VISITED:
______________________________________________________
DATE VISITED:
______________________________________________________
Is the house/apartment safe and well maintained?
Is the setting bright and cheerful?
Are there books and are the toys safe and appropriate for the children?
Is there good light and ventilation?
Are the activities planned varied and age appropriate
Are there smoke detectors and fire extinguishers?
Are medicines and household products locked away?
Do the children play/go outdoors every day?
Is there a clear schedule for meals/naps/playtime?
Do the care givers respond quickly to the children’s needs?
Are they gentle in handling the children?
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REGULATED CHILD CARE
In NYC, the Administration for Children’s Services funds, regulates, and inspects child care services for eligible New Yorkers. To be eligible for subsidized care, you must have one of these reasons for needing child care:
• You are working or in an approved training or educational program, or
• Your child or family is receiving services from either ACS or the Human Resources Administration (HRA) or a social services agency.
Also, you have to qualify by family income. Here are the guidelines:
Regulated child care comes in the following different forms:
Center Based Programs
Full time-year round programs serving children between 8 weeks and 5 years old, licensed by the Dept. of Public Health. Most Centers serve pre-school children over 2 years and potty trained. Also there are center based programs that serve children 8 weeks to 3 years old with a special license to serve this group.
Family Child Care
Care in someone’s home who has registered with the NYC Department Of Public Health to care for up to three to six children aged 6 weeks to 12 years old for more than three hours a day.
Group Family Child Care
Care in a private home that is licensed by the NYC Dept. of Public Health to care for up to 12 children from 6 weeks to 12 years (but no more than 4 children under 2 years old) with help of an assistant.
Universal Pre K (UPK)
Two and a half hour early education program for 4 year olds. It can be based in a child care center, public school or group family child care home.
Head Start
Federally funded, part day pre school, early education program, mainly for 3 and 4 year olds whose family income is below the federal poverty level. Ten percent of children enrolled can be from families with income above the poverty level. Ten per cent of slots are reserved for children with disabilities.
School Age Child Care
Program for school age children, generally from 6 to 12 years old. Most programs offer care from the end of the school day until 6 pm, sometimes school vacation periods and holidays.
