NY Counties Lead: New Pilot Partners Counties with State to Expand Child Care

By New York State Association of Counties - Jan 27, 2026

NY Counties Lead

By Joe Mahoney, NYSAC Contributing Author

A lack of affordable child care services has emerged as an acute challenge across New York, affecting families, employers, and local economies. While the issue is statewide, solutions are increasingly being shaped and delivered at the county level, where local leaders are partnering with the state to expand child care options that reflect community needs.

Advocates for increased public investment in child care say an expansion of such services yields multiple returns, including providing a bridge for parents to enter or rejoin the workforce while ensuring youngsters receive early care and enrichment that set them up for future success.

But for many parents, the cost has become staggering. For a family with a 4-year-old and an infant, the average cost of full-time child care amounts to $28,000, according to Child Care Aware of America, an advocacy group.

In fact, the costs are so high that the lack of affordable child care has prompted some families to leave the state, according to New Yorkers United for Child Care, another advocacy organization.

As part of her 2026 agenda, Gov. Kathy Hochul has announced the state is creating partnerships with Monroe County, Broome County, and Dutchess County for pilot programs that will establish new child care options tailored to the needs of their respective communities. The initiative would be supported by $60 million in state funding, provided the Legislature approves the plan. The focus of the effort is to support programs serving children from infancy to three years old.

Every parent I have run into talks about the struggles with affordability and access.

Monroe County Executive Adam J. Bello

“Business owners are raising this as an economic development issue as well,” Bello added, noting that a shortage of affordable child care options has become a roadblock to parents taking jobs when employers are looking to expand their workforce. “It impacts the ability to hire workers, which then impacts the ability of your economy to grow.”

When the Hochul administration first broached the idea of a pilot program partnership between counties and the state, Bello said Monroe County “raised our hand immediately, because we have had good partnerships with the state, and we have a good history of managing child care dollars.”

For Broome County, the partnership with the state for a $20 million pilot program comes at a time when the county is moving forward with an ambitious plan to create a major child care center at Oakdale Commons, a former shopping mall site in Johnson City. The county has retained a national child care provider, KinderCare, to manage the program. The broader redevelopment project at Oakdale has already been funded through an earlier grant.

“We understand the importance of offering affordable child care to the community, and doing whatever we can to increase its availability,” Broome County Executive Jason T. Garnar said.

With Oakdale slated to become a mixed-use facility, Garnar said the county determined the site would be an excellent location for a child care center, given its close proximity to the county’s workforce development office. Parents, he said, will be able to drop off their children before visiting the workforce development office to work on résumés and pursue local job opportunities.

Transportation challenges are also reduced, as Oakdale is a stop on regional public transportation routes.

Many daycare operations in Broome County have long waiting lists, Garnar noted. While the Oakdale child care facility will serve parents employed by Broome County, the opening of a new center there will help expand overall access to child care across the county.

The state’s pilot program encourages the counties involved to test a variety of approaches to expanding the availability of services and addressing local needs. Garnar said he wants to explore ways to improve wages for child care workers, noting that low pay has made it difficult to recruit and retain staff.

“It’s hard to get people to work for $16 or $17 an hour and watch kids all day long, even if that is their calling,” Garnar said.

But the main objective, he added, is “trying to do whatever we can to increase the availability of child care to allow people to work. The biggest barrier to people not working is they have kids.”

Dutchess County Executive Sue Serino, a former state lawmaker, has voiced strong support for the pilot program. “As a mom and a former provider of child care services, I know that quality child care changes lives. It gives children the strong start they deserve and gives parents the chance to work, grow, and provide,” Serino said.

Child care is one of the smartest, most impactful investments we can make—strengthening our economy and building healthier communities.

Dutchess County Executive Sue Serino

In return for a $20 million state investment in each of the three counties, the counties are being asked to contribute 10 percent toward the child care expansion effort. State officials estimate the investments will support 1,000 new child care slots in each county, beginning next year.

“My mission to deliver universal child care for all is a multi-year plan for the entire state, making living in New York more affordable and the best place to raise a family,” Hochul said in a statement.

Bello said he is optimistic the Legislature will approve the initiative. “This is a no-brainer,” he said. “It doesn’t matter where you are on the political spectrum—right, center, or left. I think we can all agree child care is an important issue because it really impacts everybody.”