POUGHKEEPSIE – Governor Kathy Hochul, fresh from her State of the State address on Tuesday, joined elected leaders and business professionals to announce a $20 million grant for Dutchess County to implement a pilot program to develop new daycare programs for children. Hochul, vowing that “Universal 4K will be available to every child in the State of New York,” touted the need for daycare to allow parents to join or return to the workforce to boost the economy.
“This is a brand new concept,” Hochul said. “We’ve identified three communities across upstate, to start a pilot program,” and continued with “We’re investing $20 million per county, three counties, starting with Dutchess County, Monroe County, and Broome County to become the incubators.” The pilot program will task the three counties to develop plans with daycare providers and the business community to find strategies that will allow parents to join, or rejoin the workforce. The successful plans will then be replicated in other locations.
The ultimate goal of the program is to create daycare for children from newborns up to three-year-olds, as part of Hochul’s vision for affordable year-round daycare. The $20 million for Dutchess County will support up to 1,000 seats for children ages 0-3. The state is investing $20 million per county, with each county contributing an additional 10 percent. The first families will be served starting in 2027, pending funding approval from the state legislature.
Governor Hochul used Day One as the backdrop Wednesday because the Poughkeepsie-based nonprofit is a model for Governor Hochul’s plan: innovative, community-based models that create quality learning environments for children and good jobs for adults, built from the ground up with local partners. “The Governor’s focus on children under five recognizes what the science tells us and what Day One has been demonstrating: the earlier we invest in a child’s development, the greater the impact–and most brain growth happens before a child ever reaches a traditional Pre-K classroom,” said a statement from Day One.
“This is the most transformational policy in our state,” Governor Hochul said, noting that “The ripple effect is extraordinary,” noting that if women can find affordable daycare, the mothers can get into the workforce, which helps the economy grow.
“Governor Hochul is investing in communities that are ready to build universal child care from the ground up with the people who know their families best,” according to Day One Co-founder Geraldine Laybourne, who hosted the group for Wednesday’s announcement. “For years, we’ve been proving in Dutchess County that when you train community members to become early educators and create joyful care that meets families where they are, everyone benefits and it gets results. The Governor believed in this approach when she first visited us in 2019. Now, Dutchess County gets to show what happens when state investment meets local innovation. We’re ready.”
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