Financing Child Care in the United States - Ewing Marion Kauffman ...

UNIONS
NYSLMCCAC ENRICHMENT GRANTS
PROGRAM (NEW YORK)
DESCRIPTION
The New York State Labor/Management Child Care
Advisory Committee (the Committee) has established,
and continues to support, a network of 50 work–site child
care centers for children of state employees. In addition,
several other programs have been developed to assist
state employees with work/life concerns.
WHEN ESTABLISHED
The Committee was established, and began to provide
start–up grants and technical assistance, in 1981. In
1986, support from the Committee was expanded to
include health and safety grants. In 1989, the health–
and–safety–grant concept was broadened to include
staff development and other operating costs, and it was
renamed the Enrichment Grants program.
ANNUAL AMOUNT
In the 1997–98 state fiscal year, $1.65 million was
expended for the Enrichment Grants program and
$296,221 for separate Health and Safety Grants; in
1998–99, $1.73 million was expended for the
Enrichment Grants program. These funds, and others
overseen by the Committee, are set aside as part of the
collective bargaining process with the following unions:
Civil Service Employees Association (CSEA), Public
Employees Federation (PEF), United University
Professions (UUP), Council 82, District Council 37 and
the Graduate Student Employees Union. The Governor’s
Office of Employee Relations also contributes on behalf
of management/confidential employees.
SERVICES FUNDED
The grants may be used for the following: staff salaries
(with some restrictions) and benefits, staff development,
health and safety projects, professional services (such as
bookkeeping and legal assistance), supplies, equipment,
non–routine maintenance, liability insurance, advertising,
food and occasional labor. In addition to providing
technical assistance and start–up grants, the Committee
has established an Enrichment Grants program to enable
the centers to address program quality issues and
maintain affordable fees for employee parents.
HOW FUNDS DISTRIBUTED
Funds are distributed through contracts between each
center and the Governor’s Office of Employee Relations
(which staffs the Committee.) The centers are required to
submit an expenditure plan for the total grant amount, a
staffing plan, a list of board members, a year–end audit,
the board’s response to the audit management letter
and certification of grant expenditures. Additionally, all
network centers must establish a sliding fee scale.
Grant funds are distributed to the centers based on a
formula that takes into consideration the number of
state employees’ children enrolled and the percentage
of low–income parents served. Centers that receive
accreditation from the National Academy of Early
Childhood Programs receive a one–time additional
$5,000 in their operating grants.
POPULATION SERVED
Network centers primarily serve children of state
employees, although they may serve the larger
community as well, and many do. Rather than requiring
the centers to serve a specific percentage of state
employees, the Committee expects the centers to give
priority to children of state employees and to establish
a sliding fee scale for these employees.
STRATEGIC CONSIDERATIONS
• During the years that it helped to establish a network
of work–site child care centers, the Committee learned
first–hand that child care was critically under–funded.
It became clear to the Committee that in order for the
centers to keep parent fees affordable and maintain
high–quality standards, operating support in addition to
parent fees was necessary.
• New York State’s network of work–site child care
centers is a visible, tangible response to employees’
needs for high–quality child care. Several of the
centers provide care during odd hours (for example,
for children of shift workers at state mental health
and correctional facilities). Many provide before– and
after–school programs as well as holiday programs and
summer camps. Employees are pleased with the
centers. The state benefits from improved morale and
productivity and decreased absenteeism.
• Funding for New York’s work–site child care centers
comes from the collective bargaining agreements with
six public employee unions. Currently, the state has
reached agreement with one union (UUP), while the
other five collective bargaining agreements have
expired. There are no funds available for the
Enrichment Grant Program, pending the outcome of
negotiations.
• Many state employees are not able to benefit from the
work–site centers. Many centers have waiting lists, and
services for infants and toddlers are extremely limited.
The Committee has attempted to address this concern
by developing a number of related programs, including:
enhanced resource and referral services; a Work and
Family Initiatives Fund, which makes small grants
available to local labor/management committees for
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