New York opened child care aid to families earning up to $83,250

Before this budget, New York’s child care subsidy only reached families earning up to twice the poverty line, about $55,500 for a family of four. The 2022 state budget raised the limit to three times poverty. Starting Aug. 1, 2022, a family of four earning up to $83,250 could meet the income test. Most families pay a small weekly share.

Families apply through their local social services office and must have a qualifying reason for care, such as work, school or training. In New York City, the Administration for Children’s Services runs the program. The budget also raised provider reimbursement rates and ended the rule requiring parents in college to work 17.5 hours a week.

Gov. Kathy Hochul proposed reaching the higher limit over three years. Forty-seven legislators, including Sen. Jabari Brisport, said that was too slow and pressed for a larger child care investment; Brisport later voted against the full budget as still inadequate. Assemblymember Andrew Hevesi and Speaker Carl Heastie also pushed the issue. The final budget raised the limit in one step, and Hochul credited Heastie and Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins with the work.

The budget provided $894 million in new Child Care Block Grant funding that year. In 2023, the income limit rose again to 85% of state median income. For June 2026 through May 2027, that is $116,492 for a family of four. Funding can still delay aid: on Oct. 5, 2026, New York City said nearly 29,000 low-income children had been waiting and it would begin moving more than 10,000 off the list.