New York Child Care Subsidy Staff Describe How Policy Implementation Influences Latino Families’ Receipt of Subsidies

Introduction

This brief, part of a multi-state series exploring Latino^a families’ access to CCDF subsidies, shares insights from local program staff who help implement the subsidy program in New York—a state that is home to more than 1 million Latino children,¹ many of whom are eligible for child care subsidies but do not receive them.² Data suggest that 13 percent of state-eligible Hispanic children in New York received subsidies in 2020, which is higher than the national average of 9 percent, but lower than the average of 15 percent for all children in New York.³

In New York, the state’s Child Care Assistance Program (CCAP) is administered at the county level through 58 local social service districts covering 62 counties.^b (See “Context and Background” section for more information on New York’s Hispanic population, and about the CCDF program overall and in New York.) To learn more about local subsidy implementation and administrative practices with potential implications for Latino families’ access, we surveyed more than 100 district-level CCAP frontline caseworkers and administrators. In this brief, we report on the survey results related specifically to subsidy eligibility requirements, the application process, and communication and outreach with families, as well as staff members’ views on how Latinx applicants may experience these aspects of the subsidy program similarly to or differently than other applicants.

Key Findings

By sharing information about their implementation practices and experiences related to aspects of the subsidy application process—including key eligibility criteria, documentation requirements, and communications and outreach—local New York subsidy program staff provided insights about potential access barriers and facilitators for Latine families.

Local CCAP staff members’ perceptions of the activities and circumstances that make families eligible for subsidized child care were generally aligned with New York state policy, despite notable variation. Except for parental employment, which nearly all staff recognized as a qualifying activity, the share who said that various state-approved activities were ‘not approved’—or that they did not know whether the activity could qualify families to receive child care subsidies—ranged from 23 percent (attending high school/obtaining a GED) to 51 percent (employment-related activities as part of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP).  At the time of this survey, districts had greater flexibility regarding what qualifying activities they would cover, and the program allowed for other options such as case opening and closing procedures to vary by district. Subsequent regulatory changes since, have standardized many of those options resulting in greater clarity and uniformity between districts.

According to CCAP staff, the Hispanic and non-Hispanic families they served most often received child care subsidies to support parental employment, job search, and job training. In addition, staff mentioned that English as a Second Language classes were a more common qualifying activity for Hispanic applicants (relative to non-Hispanic applicants), and that post-secondary education and child involvement in child protective services or foster care were relatively more common for non-Hispanic applicants than for Hispanic applicants.

Local staff described implementation practices and experiences related to collecting documents from subsidy applicants, highlighting several areas of potential administrative burden for families overall and for Hispanic families in particular.

• Staff were generally in alignment with one another and with state policy in terms of the documents they collected from families, with some variability around asset verification, driver’s license or state identification, and birth certificates for adults in the household.
• Notably, no staff said they required families to provide Social Security numbers (which is prohibited by federal and state guidelines), though just over 40 percent said they typically requested them during the application process.
• While most staff reported few challenges with documentation, nearly 40 percent said that work hours and income verification (two key pieces of eligibility determination) can be difficult for families to provide. Staff descriptions of documentation challenges highlighted significant mismatches between verification requirements and the nature of many parents’—including Latino parents’—employment (e.g., multiple jobs, self-employment, fluctuating hours, and wages paid in cash) that make documentation more complicated. Staff also recognized that language barriers and immigration status concerns could complicate or compound these challenges for some Latino families.

CCAP staff responses suggest some degree of system capacity to support access to subsidy programs for Spanish-speaking applicants, but very little in the way of resources to engage with Latino families who primarily speak an Indigenous language.

• Roughly half of surveyed staff described Spanish-language program resources (e.g., materials, interpreter services) as very accessible.
• Few staff (<10%) personally identified as being of Latino heritage or being fluent in Spanish, which may leave them reliant on centrally provided resources to engage and communicate with Spanish-speaking applicants. Only around 5 percent of frontline staff felt ‘greatly’ prepared to assist families who primarily speak Spanish.
• Most staff described supports for applicants who speak an Indigenous language from Latin America as not accessible and reported feeling ‘not at all’ prepared to assist these families.

According to CCAP staff, Hispanic and non-Hispanic families in New York learn about child care subsidies through a variety of methods—most commonly through child care providers, word of mouth, and agency referrals.

While just over one third of staff (37%) said that their agency engages in targeted outreach to Latino communities, a smaller share (<20%) reported that such connections were made through community contacts or partnerships with community-based organizations.

Footnotes

^aWe use “Hispanic,” “Latino,” “Latinx,” and “Latine” interchangeably throughout the brief. The terms are used to reflect the U.S. Census definition to include individuals having origins in Mexico, Puerto Rico, and Cuba, as well as other “Hispanic, Latino or Spanish” origins.

^bThe five New York City borough counties constitute one service district.

Suggested Citation

Crosby, D. A., Stephens, C., Mendez, J. (2024). New York child care subsidy staff describe how policy implementation influences Latino families’ receipt of subsidies. National Research Center on Hispanic Children & Families.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.59377/542o5154m

About the Center

The National Research Center on Hispanic Children & Families (Center) is a hub of research to help programs and policy better serve low-income Hispanics across three priority areas: poverty reduction and economic self-sufficiency, healthy marriage and responsible fatherhood, and early care and education. The Center is led by Child Trends, in partnership with Duke University, University of North Carolina at Greensboro, and University of Maryland, College Park. This publication was made possible by Grant Number 90PH0028 from the Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation, Administration for Children and Families, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Its contents are solely the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official views of the Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation, the Administration for Children and Families, or the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

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