Public Employee Press

Child care subsidies available again

The state Legislature and the governor have provided $3.85 million in new funding for the demonstration project that has helped many DC 37 families with subsidies for child care and after-school programs.

The New York Union Child Care Coalition, a committee of the city Central Labor Council and the state AFL-CIO, developed the program and has been collecting applications from eligible union families who need help paying the ever-escalating costs of child-care programs.

"Our members are struggling," said Moira Dolan, senior assistant director of DC 37's Research and Negotiations Dept. "This program targets families who are just a little above the established cutoffs and otherwise wouldn't be eligible, but still need assistance."

"I have two children and my daughter, 7, needs an after-school program," said Local 1549 Police Administrative Aide Wiletha Jones of Brooklyn's 72nd Precinct. "My child-care cost for the after-school program went up two weeks ago from $85 a week to $110. The subsidy program gives working parents the possibility of obtaining the help that we need."

Local 420 member Anthony Jones, a Patient Care Associate who worked his way up from Housekeeping by attending school, has five children, and four of them need child care. The programs for the 10-year-old twins and the two- and seven-year olds cost from $500 to $600 a month, he said. "I learned about this subsidy program from my shop steward, Paula Forbes. It's a blessing because I really need it," said Jones.

The governor's support "shows that he recognizes the need to help working families, particularly at this time when keeping people in jobs is so important," Dolan said. "If someone can't keep a job because of child-care costs, it's a big step backward."

On the other hand, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg's proposed budget for the 2013 fiscal year, which begins July 1, slashes funds for after-school programs (see budget story on page 5).

"We have this subsidy money until March 2013," said Dolan. "So we are reminding legislators how important the program is for working people. We would love to see it expanded and made permanent instead of remaining a demonstration project, as it has been for 10 years," Dolan said.

Go to www.dc37.net and click Member Services and then Special Programs for more information on the program, the application process, and income and zip code eligibility requirements.