The Child Care Resource Center is not intended to recommend any particular provider over another. We encourage you to visit several child care provider’s sites and/or facilities before making any final decisions. Although we do not provide references for providers, due to confidentiality, we encourage parents to ask for these. Only you, as a parent can decide whether the quality of care matches your family’s needs. Please take the time to do your research and learn more about quality child care.
Referrals
For faster service, please contact the Director of the Child Care Resource Center, Dawn Garvey, at 518-234-2568 or Toll free: (866)849-2402 or dgarvey@sccapinc.org
Child Care Resource & Referral Newsletters – THE PARENT CONNECTION
5 Steps to Choosing Child Care: As a new parent finding child care for the first time, or a family attempting to find a new provider, locating high-quality child care might be easier said than done.
Types of Child Care: There are different types of care to choose from. Click here to learn more.
Choosing Child Care: More and more, research tells us that our children’s healthy development depends on safe and positive experiences during the first few years of life. If you are a parent who works during these early years, choosing good child care is one of the most important decisions you will ever make for your child. To help you make the right choice for your child, researchers have identified 13 research-based guidelines to think about when choosing a child care program. Click on this link to find out more.
Is This the Right Place for My Child? 38 Research-Based Indicators of High-Quality Child Care?: This user-friendly booklet contains a checklist of 38 questions that parents can ask to evaluate the quality of child care programs. This booklet explains why each question is important and how it relates to the quality of care, based on research about what is important to children’s health, safety, and development.
If You Cannot Find Child Care: Ideas on steps to take if/when you can’t find child care.
Once you have made contact and visited a specific child care provider, you should check the licensing history and complaint file of the program by calling the number listed below. To check the complaint history of a program, visit the NYS Office of Children and Family Services website at www.ocfs.state.ny.us or call the Albany Regional Licensing Office at (518) 402-3038.
Average Cost of Child Care in New York State: Click on this link to find out the average cost of childcare in New York State, county by county.
Check Eligibility or Apply for Child Care Subsidy: To see if you are eligible for a child care subsidy, or if you would like to apply for a subsidy for your child, contact your local Department of Social Services at 518-295-8334. If you want general information about child care subsidies, SCCAP’s Child Care Resource Center can also help you.
3 Main Categories of Eligibility for Receiving Child Care Subsidies: Child care subsidies are provided by social services districts to enable a parent or caretaker to work or engage in other approved activities. Child care subsidies help parents/caretakers to pay some or all of the cost of child care services. Social services districts can pay the cost of care up to the market rate. Click on this link to see the three main categories of eligibility for receiving child care subsidies.
Federal Tax Credit
According to the IRS, if you paid someone to care for a child or dependent so you could work, you may be able to reduce your tax by claiming the credit for child and dependent care expenses on your federal income tax return. This credit is available to people who, in order to work or to look for work, have to pay for child care services for dependents under age 13. The credit is also available if you paid for care of a spouse or a dependent of any age who is physically or mentally incapable of self-care.
State Tax Credit
If you qualify for the Federal Tax Credit, you also qualify for the State Tax Credit. The credit is a minimum of 20% and as much as 110% of the federal credit, depending on your New York State adjusted gross income.
For more information visit the Child and Dependent Credit page of the New York State Department of Taxation and Finance website.
Additional assistance may be available to families in the form of one of the following ways. Parents are encouraged to inquire about these services at their current child care program.
- Sliding Fee Scale: fees for this scale are based on income standards set at the program.
- Fees Negotiable: program is willing to negotiate fees on an individual basis.
- Scholarships: program offers its own scholarship program or will accept scholarship funds.
- Multi-child Discounts: program offers a fee reduction to parents with more than one child enrolled in care.
Please click here for copies of Child Care Regulations.