New York governor announces expanded
child care fee assistance for military families
ALBANY, N.Y. (Sept. 26, 2023) – Governor Kathy Hochul today announced that more than 48,000 New York state military families will now be able to receive child care fee assistance that covers 15,000 state-licensed child care providers. The military fee assistance will offset the cost of child care not covered by the parent fee as calculated by their total family income up to a maximum child care rate of $1,800 per month per child.
New York has been selected as the first state approved to qualify licensed / registered child care providers for participation in this federal military fee assistance program. Child care providers licensed by the New York State Office of Children and Family Services will be eligible to participate and receive fee assistance on behalf of a military family under the Military Child Care in Your Neighborhood-PLUS program offered by the U.S. Department of Defense.
“While the costs of child care continue to rise beyond what many families can afford, providing high-quality, accessible, and low-cost care choices for New York families is vital. That commitment extends to our military families,” Hochul said. “This summer, we announced that tech giant Micron will develop on-site child care for 50,000 new employees helping build semiconductors, and today we announce that 48,000 New York military families will now receive additional child care fee assistance covering 15,000 providers statewide.”
The Military Child Care in Your Neighborhood-PLUS (MCCYN-PLUS) program was created more than 15 years ago to help reduce the out-of-pocket expense for military families using community child care providers. However, under MCCYN, the child care providers must be nationally accredited, and this sometimes means families have limited choices. The military fee assistance will offset the cost of child care not covered by the parent fee as calculated by their total family income up to a maximum child care rate of $1,800 per month per child. Military families can search for and select an approved child care provider through the DoD’s request-for-care website MilitaryChildCare.com.
In addition to greatly expanding the child care options for military families, the federal government has increased the child care provider rate cap up to a maximum of $1,700 per month per child.
For more information on MCCYN-PLUS-approved providers or to apply for military child care assistance, families should visit MilitaryChildCare.com.
(Governor’s Press Office)