Jan. 8 (UPI) — New York Gov. Kathy Hochul and New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani are set to announcee a new free child care program for 2-year-olds in the state Thursday.
Hochul and Mamdani will introduce the program on Thursday morning during a news conference in Brooklyn. The program will launch in September, focusing first on neighborhoods with the highest need before expanding to full scale by the 2029 school year.
The program, 2-Care, is part of a broader effort to expand free and subsidized child care in New York. More details about investing the state’s budget into expanding access to child care are expected to be discussed during Hochul’s State of the State address next week.
Hochul’s executive budget proposal, due April 1, will include a plan to fund greater access to pre-K, growing access to pre-K for all 4-year-olds by 2028. Her funding proposal for this year would make child care accessible for 100,000 more children, Hochul’s office says.
The 2-Care program will include a 40% increase in state investment into child care subsidies for low-income families, totaling about $1.2 billion. Hochul’s ultimate goal is to provide universal government-funded child care throughout the state.
Universal child care access was a key policy that Mamdani campaigned on last year. He called for free care for all children from 6 weeks to 5 years old with no income restrictions.
Mamdani coasted to victory in November’s election.
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