Saturday, October 17, 2026
Gov. Kathy Hochul’s expanded investment in child care is helping more Nassau County families find affordable care, but local organizations continue to play a key role in connecting families with services and resources.
That was the focus of an Oct. 8 roundtable at VFW Post 1790 in Valley Stream, where DaMia Harris-Madden, commissioner of the New York State Office of Children and Family Services, met with local leaders, educators, child care providers and nonprofit representatives to discuss the needs of children and families.
Hochul’s 2027 budget increased funding for child care and early-childhood education by $1.7 billion, bringing the statewide total to $4.5 billion. Of that, $3 billion will be allocated to the Child Care Assistance Program, which helps eligible families pay for child care, including after-school care.
“The aim is to get to universality,” Harris-Madden said of the state’s efforts to expand access to child care.
In Nassau County, the program is set to receive nearly $192 million, an increase of $53.5 million over the current year. Enrollment has more than doubled over the past five years, from 3,988 children in June 2021 to 8,263 in June 2026, according to figures provided by the state.
Statewide, CCAP serves about 183,000 children, with recent funding extending affordable care to an additional 13,000. Families earning up to 85 percent of the state median income remain eligible. For a family of four, that translates to an annual income of nearly $116,500. Eligible families’ contributions are capped at 1 percent of the portion of their income that exceeds the federal poverty level, with most paying no more than $15 a week.
Under Hochul, the state has increased reimbursement rates for child care providers by 50 percent since she took office. Current rates cover the charges of about 80 percent of providers, according to OCFS.
Another part of the state’s approach is expanding child care facilities.
New York allocated a combined $150 million in its fiscal 2025 and 2026 budgets for capital construction grants to create or preserve more than 10,000 child care slots.
Four Long Island organizations received a total of more than $10.6 million in the latest round of grants: the Jewish Early Learning Center, in Merrick; Chabad of Islip Township; Long Island Head Start; and the Jewish Reconstructionist Society of the North Shore, in Plandome.
Harris-Madden also highlighted efforts to help families meet basic needs and strengthen relationships between fathers and their children.
Under her leadership, OCFS hired its first staff member dedicated to fatherhood engagement in the child welfare and juvenile justice systems and established the state’s first Fatherhood Steering Committee. The agency is also preparing to distribute $70,000 in grants to nonprofit organizations working in the area.
“We want to provide some policy suggestions, but we also need to try to figure out how we can fund some of the initiatives that are happening,” Harris-Madden said.
The office has also expanded the hours of its HEARS Family Line, a telephone service that connects families with resources for food, housing, health care and child care, as well as parenting support. In December, the line’s hours were extended to 8 p.m., allowing working parents more time to seek assistance.
For local organizations, connecting families with those resources is an important part of their work. Mamie Eng, director of the Valley Stream Library, said it serves a population of about 40,000 people with varied and changing needs. In addition to its own programs, the library helps residents find information about other services and organizations.
“We are becoming the first stop for many of our families,” Eng said.
She added that libraries often serve as an initial point of contact for families seeking assistance. Some provide meals or host outside organizations that can connect residents with additional support.
Eng also highlighted the library’s partnership with Vivian Stein, owner and director of Academic Munchkins Childcare Center in Valley Stream. The center, which has served local families for more than 30 years, accepts children whose families receive assistance from the Department of Social Services and the Administration for Children’s Services.
“We accept DSS, ACS. We have foster children now coming in, and it’s just a wonderful group of people,” Stein said of her staff.
The center, on Central Avenue, is about two blocks from the library and is partnering with it on bilingual educational story times scheduled to begin in the coming weeks. The collaboration, Eng said, will allow the library to offer a program it otherwise might not be able to afford.
The roundtable was hosted by Assemblywoman Michaelle C. Solages, who said the discussion gave community organizations an opportunity to share what would best support families in her district and across Long Island.
Residents seeking assistance with child care resources or other state services can contact Solages’s district office at (516) 599-2972.
