In the meantime, ACS will refer children attending the two centers scheduled to be shut down to other providers. In a statement regarding the upcoming Mott Haven closing, commissioner John Mattingly said, “All of the children who attended Lucille Murray DCC will be transferred to other ACS-contracted programs in the general community, or their parents will be issued vouchers to find private child care.” Some families have already made the switch. For example, according to a staffer at the ACS-funded Pamela C. Torres Day Care Center in Mott Haven, two children from the Lucille Murray center recently enrolled at Torres and another 10 families have visited the site.
Others will likely have to rely on a large network of private care providers located throughout the South Bronx. “The change will be uncomfortable for the kids,” said City Councilwoman Maria del Carmen Arroyo, who represents Mott Haven and surrounding neighborhoods. “But the centers do excellent work and have the capacity,” she said of private programs.
One possible alternative is Ready, Set, Grow!, a private day care provider only a couple of blocks from the Lucille Murray center. Director Nurita Love was not aware of the upcoming closure, but said her center has five open spaces, and will have many more when a new branch opens later this month.
