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Lawmakers press for larger wage and workforce investments as OCFS defends LEAPS rollout
Summary
Legislators pressed OCFS to expand funding for LEAPS after‑school grants and to adopt a permanent statewide plan to raise childcare worker pay as shortages forced programs to reduce seats.
Lawmakers sharply questioned OCFS officials over the rollout of LEAPS, the state’s consolidated after‑school grants program, and pressed the agency to prioritize long‑term pay increases for the child‑care workforce. Assembly and Senate members said many qualified after‑school providers received passing scores but were left unfunded; advocates called for additional funding to restore and expand program slots.
Commissioner Demia Harris‑Madden and committee members described the LEAPS competition as very competitive: OCFS officials said they awarded 239 awards for tens of thousands of new seats but that hundreds of passing applications went unfunded because available dollars were exhausted. Several lawmakers and providers urged the Legislature to add roughly $155–195 million to make additional LEAPS awards for eligible applicants and restore slots for middle‑ and high‑school after‑school programs. OCFS said it expects a smaller RFP for older‑youth programming but acknowledged that many eligible applicants remain unfunded.
Child‑care advocates and CCR&Rs told the committees that the sector’s principal failing point is labor. Speakers pushed for a permanent workforce compensation fund — a sustained revenue stream to supplement wages — and urged the governor and Legislature to move beyond one‑time bonuses and limited COLA increases. OCFS described several complementary measures in the executive budget: a $3,000,000 “substitute pool” pilot (to be run via procurement, with CCR&Rs as logical applicants), investments in childcare career pathways through CUNY/SUNY tuition proposals, and $100 million in capital grants to expand seats. WonderSchool, a vendor that runs statewide substitute pools in other states, testified on the benefits of building a statewide digital matching platform and said incentives and travel reimbursement can help recruit substitutes.
Why it matters: Child‑care accessibility depends on both physical seats and staff. Legislators repeatedly said the state must prioritize workforce pay now to avoid losing seats and programs and to realize the significant capital investments in childcare availability. The LEAPS complaints about eligible but unfunded applicants make the funding gap concrete: many communities received no new after‑school resources despite viable applications.
Next steps: Staff and advocates said they will push legislative add‑ons for expanded LEAPS funding and a workforce compensation fund; OCFS said it will partner with CCR&Rs on a substitute‑pool procurement and return with implementation details.
