More than 10,000 NYC kids are coming off the child care waitlist

New York City’s Child Care Assistance Program gives low-income families a voucher that pays for child care at an eligible provider they choose. It covers children from 6 weeks through 13 years old, and through age 19 for children with disabilities. Since May 2025, demand has exceeded available funding, so eligible families who were not receiving cash assistance have been put on a waitlist. By fall 2026, more than 29,000 children were on it.

The city plans to move more than 10,000 children off the list. ACS is sending invitations in batches, following waitlist order and first serving families that are unhoused, have a child with a disability, or earn below 300 percent of the state income standard. Invited families must reapply; if they remain eligible, they receive a voucher. If you are waiting, do not apply until ACS invites you. Since September 2026, the city has covered voucher copays, making care at an eligible provider free.

Council Members Lincoln Restler and Jennifer Gutiérrez and state Sen. Jabari Brisport had pushed for child care funding and attention to the voucher waitlist. At the Oct. 5 announcement, Mayor Zohran Mamdani credited their sustained advocacy, then announced the expansion his administration developed. ACS Commissioner Rebecca Jones Gaston’s agency is carrying it out. The expansion is backed by state and city money: Gov. Kathy Hochul secured $475 million in state matching aid for city vouchers in the FY 2027 budget, and the city must provide matching child care funding.