Public Employee Press

Day care activists spur funding gains

To paraphrase Frederick Douglass, there’s no child care without constant struggle. Access to safe, affordable child care ranks among the top concerns of DC 37’s many working parents. To address the needs of parents who depend on day care to keep their jobs, the union and its allies struggle constantly to meet the need.

In March, District Council 37 is planning a fundraising concert to raise money for day care and awareness about the huge unmet need, said DC 37 Executive Director Lillian Roberts.

One running battle has been to preserve and expand the state-sponsored facilitated enrollment program that subsidizes the high cost of day care. This effort is showing some gains, said Moira Dolan of the DC 37 Research and Negotiations Dept.

“Despite earlier concerns that funding would be cut off for families enrolled in the state-sponsored program, it is now clear that the funding will be extended through March 30, and possibly longer,” she said. “The DC 37 members who have written letters and testified at public hearings have had a significant impact,” said Dolan.

Members Charlena Bunche, Ayanna Gabriel and April Reid spoke at a public hearing in November on the difference to their families between paying $85 a week for child care and paying $45 through the subsidy program.

The women also told of the precarious juggling they must go through to locate quality care for their children while working a full-time job and the long waiting lists for spots in the facilities of the Administration for Children’s Services.

Testifying on behalf of Roberts, Dolan said the members need financial assistance and day care with non-traditional hours at or near worksites.

In separate initiatives, the City Council recently allocated $875,000 to continue the subsidy program in targeted Health and Hospitals Corp. facilities, and funded a study to be conducted by Cornell University to gather data about the ­importance of the subsidies to working families.