By Walter Pryce
This is an opinion column. It reflects the views of the writer. It discusses an article by the Bipartisan Policy Center; the views attributed to the center are its own.
Erie County did something this fall that families had waited a long time for. Its waiting list for child care assistance went to zero. “Just a year ago, a thousand children on that wait list — and now there’s zero,” Gov. Kathy Hochul said in Buffalo on Oct. 5, according to her office’s transcript. “That means more children now have access to affordable childcare, and for their families, that’s life-changing.”
That is real progress, and Albany and the county both deserve credit for it. But a subsidy only helps a parent who can find an open seat. A new article from the Bipartisan Policy Center, a Washington think tank that works across party lines, is a useful guide to what Western New York should do next.
What the Bipartisan Policy Center found in Kentucky
In “From Capitol Hill to Kentucky: Learning from Local Child Care Solutions,” published Nov. 10, the center describes taking 12 congressional staff members from both parties to Louisville. It calls the trip “the first congressional staff delegation of its kind exclusively on child care.”
The center chose Kentucky because it has a Democratic governor and Republican supermajorities in the legislature, and still treats child care as shared ground. It says the state approved more than $135 million in new child care funding for fiscal 2027.
Two of its findings matter most here. First, providers told the staff that “expanding access to families requires more than opening another classroom.” Hiring and keeping teachers, thin margins, low reimbursement rates and regulation all decide whether a center can grow. Second, “Louisville has changed zoning rules to make it easier for providers to open and expand access,” and business leaders there have made child care a workforce priority. The center says the Kentucky Chamber estimates better child care could let 16,000 to 28,000 more Kentuckians work.
Where Erie County stands
The money side has moved fast. In the governor’s telling, the state put $1.2 billion into the Child Care Assistance Program, raised the income limit for a family of four to $116,000, and capped what families in the program pay at $15 a week. County Executive Mark Poloncarz’s proposed 2027 budget raises child care assistance by $15.4 million, or 21.4 percent, to $87.4 million, and expects to serve about 3,602 children a month.
Seats are another matter. In July, two Amherst centers closed with about a week’s notice, WKBW reported. Their owner, Brian Yocum, said many families had “unexpectedly lost childcare assistance or were placed on the waitlist” at renewal time, just as the centers’ leases came up. The Childcare Resource Network told the station that Erie County is a child care desert, with too few licensed openings to meet demand.
Sheri Scavone, CEO of the Western New York Women’s Foundation, put the stakes plainly: “We’re talking about the majority of families needing a safe, affordable, accessible place for their child to be during the day.”
The strongest objection
County officials have reason to be careful. In February, Erie County opted out of the governor’s pilot for universal care for children up to age 3, citing a $23.1 million deficit in its assistance program, Buffalo Toronto Public Media reported. The budget says the program is reimbursed up to the limit of the federal block grant, and the state’s fiscal monitor for the county, the Erie County Fiscal Stability Authority, has urged the county to prepare contingency plans for potential shortfalls in mandated programs. If state money pulls back, the county could be left holding the bill again.
That caution is fair. It is also an argument for planning in public, not for standing still. State Sen. April Baskin objected in February that the opt-out was made without consulting providers. “We can’t afford to make a (bad) decision here,” she said.
What Western New York should do
The Erie County Legislature should ask the Department of Social Services, during this budget season, to publish monthly enrollment in the assistance program, the state allocation and spending against it, and the contingency plan the fiscal stability authority asked for.
Buffalo and the suburban towns should do what Louisville did: review their zoning codes and remove rules that make it harder for child care centers and home-based providers to open or expand.
Employers and business groups should treat child care the way Kentucky’s business community did, as a workforce problem that affects hiring.
County leaders should tell Albany now whether Erie County wants into the universal-care pilot if the state expands it, and what it would need to say yes.
What you can do
The Legislature holds its public hearing on the proposed budget Nov. 17 at 6 p.m. and votes Dec. 3, according to its budget hearing schedule. Ask your legislator two questions: how many licensed child care seats Erie County gained or lost this year, and what the county will do if the state money shrinks. Then ask your town board when it last looked at its zoning rules for child care.
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