|
Public
Employee Press New
state budget preserves Queens child-care program In
the New York State budget adopted in April, $3 million was allotted to continue
the Queens Child Care Project. The funds mean that the voucher program, which
provides day care subsidies for low-income families, will still be available.
In
particular, we want to thank Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver and Assembly member
William Scarborough, said Assistant Director Moira Dolan of the DC 37 Research
and Negotiations Dept.
For parents like Queens Library Guild Local 1321
member Lawanna Dean, the mother of children aged 3, 6, and 11, the voucher program
is crucial.
If I didnt have the voucher program, I probably
wouldnt be able to work, she said. A Customer Service Specialist at
the Langston Hughes Community Library and Cultural Center in Queens, Dean expressed
immense relief at the news of the funding. If it didnt get renewed,
I dont know what I would have done, she said. Her 3-year-old is enrolled
in the Our Kids Place Child Care Center, and the other two children are enrolled
in afterschool care.
The subsidy voucher may also be used for eligible
summer day camp expenses for children under 13, and must be used with a provider
who has an official tax identification number. For more information, parents should
call 212-929-4608 and ask for the Queens Project, said Dolan.
| |