NYC to offer child care assistance to low-income, undocumented families

NEW YORK (PIX11) — Mayor Eric Adams’ administration on Wednesday unveiled the “Promise NYC” plan, a first-of-its-kind program that will provide child care assistance to low-income families with children whose immigration status makes them ineligible for federally funded subsidized child care.  

The program establishes partnerships with community-based organizations that have deep ties to immigrant communities in their respective boroughs, and it comes amid an influx of undocumented migrant families bused to New York City from southern states.

"Every child deserves the opportunity to succeed, no matter where they came from, and as a city of immigrants, we know that the American dream starts here in New York City," Adams said in a statement. "Navigating obstacles in a new city and a new country are tough and coupling those issues with a lack of child care can prevent parents and families from achieving the dream they so desperately set out to achieve. By launching Promise NYC, we are alleviating the stress from those concerns." 

With a $10 million investment, the city will contract four community organizations. The Center for Family Life will serve families in Brooklyn, NMIC in the Bronx and Manhattan, La Colmena will offer services in Staten Island, and the Chinese American Planning Council in Queens. Each of those organizations will be responsible for community outreach, signing up eligible families, and supporting families' search, selection, and enrollment with a child care program, including the issuance of monthly subsidy payments. 

New York City Administration of Children Services (ACS) Commissioner Jess Dannhauser lauded the program.

"All children, regardless of immigration status, deserve the benefit of environments that nurture their development, and Promise NYC will make this happen," said Dannhauser. "ACS is thrilled to be launching this new program in New York City, which will, for the first time ever, provide child care assistance to hundreds of low-income families who were previously and unfairly ineligible due to their immigration status."