NYC Councilwoman Julie Menin to roll out several bills aimed at boosting childcare

City Councilwoman Julie Menin plans to introduce several legislative proposals Thursday aimed at instituting universal child care in New York City.

The bills would establish a child-care advisory board, a directory of every child-care provider in the city, an online child-care portal, a child-care building certification program and a fund the city could draw from to award $1,000 child-care grants.

“New York City is facing an affordable child-care crisis of astronomical proportions,” Menin (D-Manhattan) said. “Providers around the city severely lack resources and cannot adequately pay and retain qualified staff. This crisis has a ripple effect on many aspects of our daily life.”

The advisory board she’s calling for would be required to submit annual reports to the mayor and City Council focused on how to address the problems faced by providers and how to make the service more affordable.

The fund Menin wants to create would be administered through the Administration for Children’s Services, which would in turn award grants to child-care programs at risk of closure.

The Upper East Side councilwoman, who plans to hold a rally promoting the bills Thursday as well, views them as part of a five-year plan to ultimately implement universal child care in the Big Apple. By expanding what she calls “child-care infrastructure” now, Menin intends to make child care both more affordable and more accessible.

She cited high costs as one of the primary motivators behind her package of bills, noting that New York State is the sixth most expensive when it comes to child care and pointing to a recent report from the city comptroller that shows, on average, it costs families $21,000 annually to pay for the care of an infant younger than 18 months old.

“Studies have shown that children who are well cared for have greater success later in life and parents who can afford child care are more productive members of society,” she said. “One of the wealthiest cities in the world must take steps to address the need for affordable, high-quality early-childhood care.”