New York City will begin removing more than 10,000 children from low-income families from the waiting list for child care vouchers, reducing a list that currently exceeds 29,000 children, Mayor Zohran Mamdani announced Monday.
During a news conference in the Bronx, Mamdani said this will be the first time in 15 months that the city has added children from the wait list to the program. Families will be invited to apply for vouchers gradually over the coming months, although thousands of children will still be waiting to receive assistance.
The Child Care Assistance Program (CCAP) offers subsidized child care to eligible children ages 6 weeks to 13 years. Minors with special needs may be eligible up to age 19.
The Administration for Children’s Services (ACS) will begin inviting families to apply in the coming weeks. Those who qualify will receive a voucher that will cover the cost of care with the provider of their choice.
According to the administration, federal rules require the city to prioritize families whose income is less than 300% of the federal poverty level, families facing homelessness and those who have a child with special needs.
Additionally, families who receive vouchers will not have to pay the out-of-pocket costs traditionally required by the program, thanks to an additional $5.2 million investment announced by the city in August.
“When I say affordable, maybe I’m expressing myself wrong, because what I mean is 100% free,” Mamdani said on October 5. He explained that the elimination of co-payments will benefit both families who already receive vouchers and those who are selected from the waiting list.
The expansion is supported by Gov. Kathy Hochul’s $1.2 billion investment to move toward universal child care in the city, including $475 million to stabilize and expand the voucher program. Monday’s announcement did not specify how much this separate expansion will cost.
“This historic expansion of free child care will provide relief to thousands more families across New York City,” Hochul said in a statement.
The waiting list began to grow in May 2025, when demand for vouchers exceeded the program’s capacity, Mamdani explained.
Asked why the city is expanding access so far, months after Hochul announced the funding in January, Mamdani said the city received the corresponding allocation from the state budget over the summer. Subsequently, it reviewed the available funds, the number of vouchers used and the number of families that stopped receiving the benefit.
The mayor explained that the administration wanted to ensure it had the necessary resources to continue providing assistance once a family received a voucher.
City officials also noted that many child care providers have spaces available that could be filled by families who get off the waiting list.
Emmy Liss, executive director of the Mayor’s Office of Child Care and Early Childhood Education, said thousands of providers have spots available because families on the waiting list have not been able to pay for child care out of their own pockets.
The city also added a new filter to its online child care services map, at nyc.gov/childcare, that allows families to search for licensed providers who accept vouchers.
