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UPDATED: Feb. 15, 2022 at 8:54 a.m.

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul announced on Jan. 28 that the state will make $70 million in grant funding available to newly licensed, registered or permitted child care facilities in child care deserts — areas without sufficient space for children in child care facilities.

This grant is the first dispersal of the $100 million allocated in the 2021 Enacted Budget for the Invest in NY Child Care grants. The funding comes from the federal American Rescue Plan funds and will be administered by the New York State Office of Children and Family Services.

The funds will be allocated to assisting new child care providers in child care deserts to cover start-up and personnel costs; build their programs; recruit, train and retain staff; and give them resources so employees can access COVID-19 vaccines.

“Child care is one of the most critical engines to build back New York stronger from the pandemic, and it will provide countless opportunities for working parents,” Hochul said in a press release.

The funding plan defines a child care desert as a census tract where there are three or more children under the age of five for each available slot in a child care facility. More than 60% of the state falls under this definition. According to a map linked in the release and an additional key, 70% of the central New York regional economic development council meets this definition.

Child care providers can use the map to discover the potential funding they are eligible for under this plan based on request for application, or RFA, scores assigned to each census tract based on the severity of their child care disparities through a scale of less than 22 to 100. Census tracts within Onondaga County have RFA base scores ranging from 32 to 100.

Higher RFA scores increase the likelihood of an applicant qualifying for funding. On top of the base score, applicants can receive five additional RFA points if they provide infant or toddler care and another five for offering non-traditional hours, which sets the maximum RFA score at 110 for any applicant.

Statewide, $63 million of the funds are allocated to funding based on base RFAs and $7 million are dedicated to funding bonuses for providers that qualify, according to the RFA. Central New York will receive roughly $3.66 million for base funding and about $406,000 for bonus funding.

Onondaga County holds five census tracts that have an RFA base score of 100: tract 23, tract 34, tract 43.01, tract 49 and tract 61.02. Census tract 43.01 is just west of Syracuse University.

At least another 15 census tracts within the county have a base RFA score between 90 and 99, and at least 25 census tracts scored between 80 and 89.

The key clarifies that while the map may provide an estimate of an applicant’s RFA score, the score does not guarantee the applicant will receive funding.

The size of a child care shortage in a census tract and its larger regional economic development council, as well as the racial and ethnic diversity of the area and the percentage of low-income families living in an area, are included in the map’s data as well. Low-income families are qualified as being below two times the federal poverty level.

All five tracts with an RFA score of 100 are listed as having a “high” diversity index, which “represents the likelihood that two persons, chosen at random from the same area, belong to different race or ethnic groups,” per the RFA. These tracts are all also listed as having high populations of low-income families.

Applications for the funds open on April 11, and the application deadline is May 19 at 11:59 p.m., according to the request for applications, or RFA.

The grants will last two years and must begin by June 30, 2022, and they will end by June 30, 2024, per the OCFS website. The funds will be paid out in eight quarterly installments, according to the RFA.

“These federal funds will go a long way towards ensuring that no New Yorkers will be without child care,” Hochul said in a press release. “New York will always remain committed to eradicating the problems of child care deserts and will work tirelessly to ensure all parents have access to this vital lifeline.”

CORRECTION: A previous version of this article misstated that 70% of Onondaga County meets the definition of a child care desert. However, it is 70% of the central New York regional economic development council that meets this definition. The Daily Orange regrets this error.

Published on February 14, 2022 at 11:47 pm

Contact Danny: ddamron@syr.edu | @dannyamron_