Local families may be left scrambling for a place to send their young children as child care providers face a new reality.

On September 30, a $24 billion lifeline of federal funding for daycare providers across the country came to an end.

What You Need To Know

  • Billions in funding for early childhood education centers across the U. S. ended September 30

  • According to Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, 5,000 child care centers across the state could be at risk of closing

  • One Manhattan child care provider said they may lose staff with the reduced funding

Senator Kirsten Gillibrand explained, “Without fixing this cliff in New York, probably 250,000 kids could lose care and over 5,700 New York childcare centers are possibly going to close."

The billions in funding was part of the American Rescue Plan, meant to help stabilize the child care industry during the pandemic. 

It helped Mary Cheng pay staffers at the six early childhood learning centers and the six after-school programs she runs for the Chinese-American Planning Council.

Cheng said over the last three years “We received about $1.9 million."

With the federal funding now gone, "I foresee that we’re going to loose a lot of staff because of it," Cheng said.

Senator Gillibrand is working to pass the Child Care Stabilization Act in Washington to help close the funding gap some care providers are now faced with.

The loss of funding also comes as a new study from the Citizens Committee for Children of New York found 80% of families in New York City cannot afford childcare for their children under five.