Your guide to NYC's public proceedings.
Q&A
Inquiry about significant increase in low-income childcare vouchers
1:21:16
ยท
3 min
Council Member Stevens inquires about a reported 700% increase in low-income childcare vouchers. Scott French explains that the increase is related to the reinstatement of mandatory engagement requirements for cash assistance recipients.
- French details how childcare vouchers are connected to mandatory engagement in training, education, or other programs
- The discussion reveals that mandatory engagement had been paused but will resume in April-May, leading to an expected increase in childcare voucher demand
- Stevens expresses concern about the late communication of this issue and emphasizes the need for collaboration between agencies and the City Council to address the potential funding deficit
Althea V. Stevens
1:21:16
Last question I have which would be really quickly, know on the ACS side with the childcare vouchers, one of the things they were saying was that there seems to be a 7%, seven hundred % increase in low income vouchers because of the eligibility requirements for low income for the vouchers and I just, they weren't able to give a real concrete example of like why there's such an increase in this population for low income childcare vouchers.
1:21:44
They said we would have to come to you guys, because I wanted to know did you guys have an understanding of what was this huge increase for in the low income vouchers?
1:21:54
Because right now I believe we're trying to work with get $1,000,000,000 for this deficit we have with the vouchers.
Scott French
1:22:02
Hi, council member.
1:22:03
I can take care of that So oftentimes, you know, when it comes to childcare vouchers, there's sort of different levels of childcare vouchers based on how people access the vouchers.
1:22:14
So for individuals on cash assistance who
Althea V. Stevens
1:22:16
Yeah, that's the cash assistance.
1:22:17
They said it's gonna be about a you guys are predicting about a 700% increase.
1:22:21
I'm just trying to understand what that 700%
Scott French
1:22:23
Sure.
1:22:24
So childcare is really connected to when we have mandatory engagement in place, and so individuals who have a barrier to engaging in training, education, or other things as part of cash assistance, we will connect them to childcare.
1:22:38
That's considered the mandatory childcare for the city where everybody on cash assistance who needs it must be given a childcare voucher.
1:22:45
The city has had mandatory engagement on pause for the last several years, which has allowed ACS and others to increase the low income vouchers.
1:22:55
We will be returning to mandatory engagement as we have to, as it is a state requirement, it's a federal requirement this April, May, and we'll start to see probably the increase in our childcare vouchers increase starting early summer.
1:23:10
And so we've trended out where we think the need will be with us, and that is sort of what they're indicating.
1:23:16
Right now there's about 23,000 individuals who access childcare vouchers, and we expect that to increase significantly as we ramp up mandatory engagement.
1:23:26
So that would be what they were referring to as it relates to their need that they're looking for.
Althea V. Stevens
1:23:32
Yeah I know this is major priority but it has not been brought to us like a major priority right.
1:23:36
I think that especially with talking with ACS and even with them and the conversations I had with them I'm like well why is you know this just being brought up.
1:23:43
Obviously we can help support in speaking with the state right.
1:23:47
Like I know a number of us has been to Albany to lobby and so it seems like we're behind the totem pole now especially if this is something that we know that was happening, so I I really want us to make sure that in these instances that we are using the council as well because we are partners in this work And, you know, it's right now working really hard to see that.
1:24:06
So it doesn't seem like this is something that's new around the 700% increase because the mandate the mandated requirements were going to be uplifted again.
1:24:15
So just thinking about how do we push forward because without that this is gonna be a huge loss because there's such a huge deficit and so I'm really concerned.
1:24:24
So definitely wanna continue to talk offline to figure out how both agencies are working together to lobby in addition to the work that we're trying to do here at council so that we can try to get some of this funding restored because it is such a great number, but thank you.