Jefferson County warns expanded state childcare eligibility may exhaust local funding

Karen Markham, commissioner, told the Jefferson County Health and Human Services Committee that expanded eligibility for the New York State Childcare Assistance Program has sharply increased local enrollment and may exhaust the county’s childcare block grant by August 2025. "The need, the funding has not kept up with the need," Markham said.

Markham said the state expanded eligibility effective Oct. 1, 2023, raising the income threshold to 85% of the state median income and adding mandatory payment rules for absences and closures. Those changes increased county cases from 340 on Sept. 30, 2023, to 557 as of May 1, 2025, and raised monthly subsidy claiming to about $450,000 on average. "At the time of this presentation, we were predicting to exhaust all of our funding by August 2025," she said.

Why it matters: If the county exhausts its childcare allocation, families reauthorizing benefits annually would be treated like new applicants under current guidance, Markham said, which could put long‑enrolled families at risk of losing assistance. She cautioned that federal and state priority rules determine wait‑list order and that local officials cannot set different priorities.

Committee members asked how a wait list would affect working parents. Legislator Monicelli asked, "So I'm a person who gets a job and I have a child ... When do you tell me that's only for a year?" Markham said families are notified when their 12‑month reauthorization is due and that reauthorizations are processed under state timelines. She added that county staff must process applications within required timeframes and that applicants are subject to the same priorities as new applicants unless state guidance changes.

Markham said Jefferson County’s current annual block grant allocation is $5,734,876. With a few hundred thousand in rollover funds the county’s available funds rose above $6 million for the fiscal year, but that would still be insufficient under current claiming trends. She reported the county was informed of a $400 million state budget increase (not yet official) that includes $50 million for the rest of the state; counties may receive immediate allocations of either $250,000 or the equivalent of 6.5% of their block grant allocation. Markham said Jefferson County’s estimated share under that formula would be about $370,370 and would likely avert a wait list for the current fiscal year, but she warned next year’s needs remain uncertain.

Markham also described administrative risks if the county denies a reauthorization for lack of funds: families can request a fair hearing and receive continued aid until the hearing’s result, which could obligate the county to continue payments while cases are adjudicated.

The committee did not take formal action on the issue but requested ongoing monthly spending reports and said county administration will be kept informed. Markham said she will monitor state directives and report any change in the county’s ability to continue current enrollments.