Full press release below:
AFFORDABLE CHILD CARE: GOVERNOR KATHY HOCHUL LAUNCHES BUSINESS NAVIGATOR PROGRAM TO MAKE CHILD CARE MORE AFFORDABLE FOR WORKING FAMILIES
October 10 -- Governor Kathy Hochul today announced the launch of a Business Navigator Child Care toolkit designed to support employers who want to assist their employees with securing quality, affordable child care services for their children. The toolkit was developed by the Early Care & Learning Council using $1 million in funding allocated by the Governor in last year’s state budget. The Governor announced the initiative in last year’s State of the State address. This initiative is part of Governor Hochul’s historic $7 billion investment to expand and improve child care accessibility and affordability for working families.
By equipping employers with a single source of up-to-date information on child care, the Business Navigator toolkit will help connect more working families in New York to supportive resources so that they are not forced to make difficult decisions when it comes to either advancing their careers, or safely caring for their children. More than 800,000 children in New York under the age of six have working parents, underscoring the critical importance of safe and nurturing child care environments both for children's development and parents' ability to work.
A Business Navigator program has been established in each of New York State’s ten Regional Economic Development Council regions. The toolkit – The Business Navigator: Employer’s Guide to Child Care Solutions in New York State – was created to serve as a statewide employer child care guidebook and offer concrete steps that business leaders, business owners and human resources teams can use to develop a child care strategy that meets the needs of their employees with young children.
“As New York’s first mom governor, I know what it’s like to be a working professional with young children at home to care for,” Governor Hochul said. “For countless New Yorkers, it’s a daily challenge that’s been overlooked by businesses and workforce leaders for too long. Today, we’re investing in expanding access to child care and improving affordability for families by providing the right tools in our toolkit for our employers and businesses to utilize.”
The 56-page toolkit is being introduced at workshops for businesses in each of the 10 economic development regions with support from local Child Care Resource Centers. The first workshop was held today in the Capital Region at the Landing Hotel at Rivers Casino and Resort in Schenectady. This was held in partnership with Brightside Up, the Capital Region Chamber and the Center for Economic Growth. The remaining nine workshops will be held at various dates and locations statewide in January and February.
The Business Navigator initiative is based on one of the recommendations to come out of the first New York State Child Care Availability Task Force (CCATF) overseen by Kathy Hochul when she was lieutenant governor. Pursuing her push to provide assistance to both families and businesses, Governor Hochul proposed establishing a Business Navigator program in her 2023 State of the State address and allocated $1 million for the initiative in the state fiscal year 2023-2024 budget. Governor Hochul’s groundbreaking $7 billion investment to provide affordable, easy access to necessary child care has made this initiative possible and will improve affordability for families across New York State. Additionally, under Governor Hochul’s leadership, a historic $1.8 billion state and federal investment in the Child Care Assistance Program (CCAP) was secured in the FY25 Enacted Budget.
New York State Office of Children and Family Services Commissioner and Co-Chair of the Child Care Availability Task Force Dr. DaMia Harris-Madden said, “Safe, high-quality, and equitable early education and child care is vital to the well-being and healthy development of young children, as well as strengthening families and communities. There is a critical need for safe and nurturing environments for children while parents are at work. Each year, a lack of child care nationwide is responsible for $122 billion in lost earnings, productivity and revenue. We are grateful for Governor Hochul’s continued investments in child care, including the Business Navigator program. Supporting workers in their search for appropriate child care not only helps individual families and promotes healthy development of children, but also aids in building a thriving economy across this great State of New York.”
The New York State Child Care Availability Task Force 2021 report found that a majority of New York State business leaders felt that “the lack of accessibility and availability of high-quality child care for infants and toddlers negatively impacts their businesses and their ability to hire and retain employees.” Nearly 75% of business leaders also said they believed investment in access to child care for children from birth to 3 years old would have a positive impact on their business. In a second report released earlier this year, the task force reiterated support for the Governor’s Business Navigator program and for incentivizing more employers to assist with meeting their employees' child care needs. In 2023, the Governor announced a $1 million commitment to create a Business Navigator program to support corporations that are interested in supporting their employees’ child care needs.
The child care task force experts recommended engaging employers as key partners in establishing an affordable and accessible high-quality child care system by enhancing engagement with the Regional Economic Development Councils and creating a toolkit for employers on why and how to support child care. Governor Kathy Hochul is fulfilling these recommendations through establishing the new Business Navigator outreach program and toolkit.
The toolkit includes information for businesses to determine the child care needs of employees; resources on finding child care that can be shared with employees; descriptions of federal and state tax incentives available to businesses; and examples of child care benefits that businesses may consider offering their employees – including creating on-site child care or contracting for child care for employees’ children.
For a digital copy of the Business Navigator toolkit, including additional resources, please visit the Early Care & Learning Council website. For more information on child care services and assistance in New York State, please visit the Child Care Services page on the OCFS website. Employers who wish to attend one of the upcoming in-person toolkit workshops may register at the Business Navigator Toolkit Regional Live Launch.