As a part of the solution to generations of poverty and inequality, we need universal child care in the City of Rochester.  The details of my plan are below, but first let’s talk about why we need such a thing.

One of the biggest barriers to employment and/or continuing education is child care.  It is well known that the cost of quality child care is unreachable for those living in distressed areas of the city.  If you do not have a quality option for your children, being available to work or go to school is virtually impossible. 

[NOTE: Here we could have a discussion if everyone SHOULD have to work, but that’s a discussion for another time.]

Subsidies for child care go through the County, and that money goes mainly to for-profit child care entities.  Does it help families?  Somewhat.  Is it enough?  Not nearly – and that’s the reason I have chosen to make universal child care a part of my campaign. 

So what would this look like?

The program would start with using facilities we already have – mostly City recreation centers, unused school buildings, and underutilized schools – to create a child care program that is run by the City of Rochester.  This should start as soon as possible to begin to fill in the gaps that the County program has.  From there…

Look at how the City could work with the County to combine resources.

See how the program could share resources with local Head Start programs in the City.

See if there are any privately run, in-home child care programs that would be interested in being incorporated into the City program.

Is this going to cost money?  Absolutely, but I know this; we need this investment in our children in order to save money on the cost of police, jails, and other social programs.  A quality, free child care system in Rochester will help with poverty, crime, and our schools.  It is this fact that will help us locate State and Federal funding. Starting a City-run program will also create jobs that we should insist be union jobs at prevailing wages.

[I will be releasing a platform plank on City finances in the near future.  This will also help explain how to pay for this as well as my other ideas.  When that plank is released, I will put a link here.]

Roadblocks:

State and Federal regulations.  There are government-created laws and rules that determine how child care is supposed to function.  We know from decades of experience that this framework is not working and we (meaning City Council and City Hall staff) will have to organize citizens to put pressure on those in higher levels of government in order to make this work.  And it will take some time, but this crisis is real; our needs are real and we have no choice but to fight for what our children need.  For the benefit of everyone.