March 2, 2018 -- Westchester County Executive George Latimer and child care leaders held an interactive conversation on a broad range of topics related to the improvement of child care in our County.
Latimer said: “What we heard were concerns about cost of child care, proper compensation for providers and safety issues from both those who provide child care services and those who receive them. Our goal is to better equip all sides with the tools they need to provide the type of services residents rely on.”
Westchester County offers three levels of child care subsides so residents are able to provide high level and low cost care for their families. For years, the funding for these programs have been used as a place to cut in order to cover the County’s increasing financial insolvency – cuts which have been detrimental to the highly effective child care providers and the families that utilize them. Today marked the beginning of a new dialogue so Westchester can begin to do what it can to tackle the challenges which many of our County’s families face.
President/CEO of YWCA of White Plains/Central Westchester Maria Imperial said: “The YWCA White Plains & Central Westchester applauds County Executive George Latimer’s willingness to focus on the critical issue of early childhood education. There is perhaps no tool greater to achieve the YWCA’s mission of eliminating racism and empowering women than access for all to quality childcare.”
Executive Director of the Child Care Council of Westchester, Kathy Halas said: “County Executive Latimer has been a champion for children throughout his entire career as an elected official and we are so grateful for the highly productive dialogue we had this morning. The Westchester early care and education sector improves the lives of our children and families, helps our employers prosper and strengthens the whole Westchester community. We are eager to work closely with the Latimer administration to build on what we currently have so that the potential of every single Westchester child is realized.”