Q&A
The rigorous process of opening early childhood care centers
2:56:49
ยท
61 sec
Council Member Rita Joseph and Gregory Brender discuss the complex and rigorous process involved in opening early childhood care centers.
- Brender explains the involvement of multiple city agencies in the approval process
- The discussion covers the need for various inspections, staff clearances, and facility preparations
- They highlight the time-consuming nature of the process and its impact on program stability
Rita Joseph
2:56:49
And they go through a rigorous process in order to open, right?
Gregory Brender
2:56:53
It is a very rigorous process and understandably it's the health and safety of New York City's children.
2:56:59
But it is an incredibly rigorous process involving multiple city agencies, the health department, the fire department, if they're a DOE contractor, if they're NY CPS contractors through NY CPS.
2:57:09
So there's a lot of agencies involved and often a lot of different people involved, not just the staff who are permanently running the center but there may be consultants and architects and other folks involved in ensuring space is ready and then ensuring that staff is in place because as you know the process of clearing people through background checks is not quick or simple either.
2:57:32
So when programs open you need to be fully staffed at every level, directors, support staff, teachers and you want to ensure that they have the time to do that in place and they can't necessarily do that, you know, popping up after sort of having to close and then reopen in a very short amount of time.