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City, ACS and advocates spar over child-care vouchers, foster care rates and voucher wait list
Summary
ACS told the Council its FY27 preliminary budget aims to protect continuity of child-care vouchers but cannot immediately clear a roughly 17,000-child wait list without additional funding; members pressed the agency on staffing, program integrity and state reimbursements for Raise the Age costs.
New York City’s Administration for Children’s Services told the City Council’s Children and Youth Committee that it expects to maintain the city’s current child-care voucher policy in fiscal 2027 — but it would not have the funding to clear the voucher wait list immediately.
Interim Commissioner Melissa Hester said ACS has grown the number of children enrolled in ACS-issued child-care vouchers from about 7,500 in 2022 to roughly 71,000 today, and credited recent state executive budget proposals for additional childcare funding. She said the governor’s proposal would allow ACS to continue its current approach to re-certifying most families and to preserve continuity of care for those already enrolled.
Council members pressed…
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