Traditionally, these critical programs have been operated separately, with funding, programming and planning done in silos, leading to contradictory eligibility requirements, overlaps in services and a waste of precious limited resources. But change is on the horizon.
For the first time in recent years, New York City is in a position to create an innovative early childhood care and education system that could be the best in the nation. At the end of January, Gov. Eliot Spitzer took a big step toward making pre-kindergarten a reality for thousands of children across the state when he unveiled his proposed 2007-2008 state budget, which included a large increase in funding for pre-kindergarten programming. In New York City, this means that approximately $60 million in new money will allow the city to take another step forward in making pre-k truly accessible to all preschool-age children.
The timing could not be better. As part of his bid for reelection in 2005, Mayor Bloomberg promised that he would expand New York City’s universal pre-kindergarten (UPK) program to serve all 3- and 4-year-olds in the city. His Commission on Economic Opportunity went a step further, recommending an expansion of care and early education services to meet the needs of families with young children. Implemented properly, the expansion of UPK can be a backbone upon which a comprehensive quality early childhood education and care system rests, meeting the needs of young children and their working parents.
How is the city taking advantage of this unique opportunity? Writer Suzanne Reisman, who served until last fall as manager of the Child Care Seed Fund at the Low Income Investment Fund, sat down Feb. 15 to discuss policy directions with some of the city's major public and private players in the field. What follows is Reisman's conversation with:
Jennifer Jones Austin, family services coordinator for the city of New York;
Kay Hendon, associate commissioner for child care operations, Administration for Children’s Services, division of child care and Head Start;
Nancy Kolben, executive director of Child Care, Inc.;
Claudia Siegman, manager of the New York Child Care Seed Fund of the Low Income Investment Fund;
Wendy Trull, acting director of program development, Administration for Children’s Services, division of child care and Head Start.
Creating a comprehensive early care and education system
JENNIFER JONES AUSTIN: About a month or so ago, we launched the Office of the Mayor’s Task Force on Early Childhood and Education. The task force is an internal group that is comprised of agency representatives from the Administration for Children’s Services (ACS), the Department of Education (DOE), the Department of Youth and Community Development (DYCD), and representatives from the Office of the Mayor. We are aimed at achieving a streamlined city early child care and education system. We began our efforts by taking a look at the campaign promises that the mayor spoke of, expanding services to primarily low-income children and families, and expanding universal pre-kindergarten (UPK).
