June 23, 2020
Albany, NY

Governor Cuomo Announces $65 Million NY Forward Child Care Expansion Incentive

Funding from Federal CARES Act will Support New Childcare Health and Safety Protocols and Assist Closed Programs with Reopening

Mid-Hudson Region Enters Phase Three of Reopening Today

Long Island to Enter Phase Three Tomorrow

1.2 Percent of Yesterday's COVID-19 Tests were Positive

Hospitalizations Drop to 1,104 Statewide

Confirms 597 Additional Coronavirus Cases in New York State - Bringing Statewide Total to 389,085; New Cases in 37 Counties

Governor Andrew M. Cuomo today announced that $65 million in federal CARES Act funding is available for child care providers statewide through the New York Forward Child Care Expansion Incentive program.

The funding available includes:

  • $20 million to assist childcare program with reopening and expansion of capacity by providing materials to support a more socially distant model, and for supplies and activities associated with reopening and expansion. This may include partitions, short term rental of space, etc.
  • $45 million in childcare Reopening and Expansion Incentive funds to pay for 50% of the cost of a newly opened classroom (maximum grant amount of $6,000) as an incentivize to open the classroom. The temporary funds will phase out over the second and third months as more parents bring their children back into childcare.

Throughout the pandemic, 65 percent of OCFS-licensed and -registered child care programs remained open, many serving families of essential workers. The funding being made available today will help to bring closed programs back to operation to serve families returning to the workplace.

"New York went from one of the highest infection rates in the country to one of the lowest because we made decisions based on science - not politics," Governor Cuomo said. "We're seeing in other states what happens when you just reopen with no regard for metrics or data - it's bad for public health and for the economy, and states that reopened in a rush are now seeing a boomerang. We do about 60,000 tests per day - more than any state or country on a per capita basis and approximately 1 percent of tests are coming back positive. We do this testing religiously, and we watch the rate and calibrate our reopening by that rate. The Hudson Valley moves to phase 3 today and Long Island will go to phase 3 tomorrow.

"As we move further into the reopening and more parents go back to work, we're also making sure child care programs across the state have the support they need to reopen safely," Governor Cuomo continued. "By providing support for expanded classrooms that allow for more social distancing and other resources, we can help keep staff and children safe."

To be eligible for reopening funds, child care programs must have either been closed as of June 15 and have a plan to reopen within two weeks of applying or currently operating below their licensed capacity and would like to expand. The grants will be pro-rated as programs reach capacity. Programs must submit a detailed plan for use of funds and must remain open at least through the end of the year.

The maximum awards for the $20 million in Reopening and Restructuring Incentives depend on the size of the program and range from $300 to $1,600 one-time grants. Child care programs may apply to OCFS through July 15.

The governor also updated New Yorkers on the state's progress during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The number of new cases, percentage of tests that were positive and many other helpful data points are always available at forward.ny.gov.

Today's data is summarized briefly below:

  • Patient Hospitalization - 1,104 (down -18 from the day before)
  • Number ICU - 302 (down -28 from the day before)
  • Number ICU that are intubated - 204 (down -24 from the day before)
  • Total Discharges - 69,769 (up +59 from the day before)
  • Deaths - 27
  • Total Deaths - 24,766

Of the 48,709 tests conducted in New York State yesterday, 597, or 1.2 percent, were positive. Each region's percentage of positive tests over the last three days is as follows:

REGION

SATURDAY

SUNDAY

MONDAY

New York City

1.20%

1.10%

1.40%

Capital Region

0.40%

0.70%

1.30%

Central New York

0.90%

0.70%

1.80%

Finger Lakes

0.40%

0.70%

1.10%

Long Island

1.00%

0.90%

1.10%

Hudson Valley

1.00%

1.00%

1.00%

Mohawk Valley

1.00%

1.40%

0.50%

North Country

0.20%

0.10%

0.40%

Southern Tier

0.30%

0.30%

0.20%

Western New York

0.80%

1.00%

1.30%

The Governor also confirmed 597 additional cases of novel coronavirus, bringing the statewide total to 389,085 confirmed cases in New York State. Of the 389,085 total individuals who tested positive for the virus, the geographic breakdown is as follows:

County

Total Positive

New Positive

Albany

2,062

2

Allegany

58

0

Broome

671

1

Cattaraugus

118

3

Cayuga

108

0

Chautauqua

116

0

Chemung

139

0

Chenango

141

1

Clinton

100

0

Columbia

454

2

Cortland

44

0

Delaware

91

1

Dutchess

4,150

5

Erie

7,073

38

Essex

41

0

Franklin

28

1

Fulton

244

0

Genesee

229

4

Greene

256

0

Hamilton

6

0

Herkimer

137

0

Jefferson

84

0

Lewis

24

1

Livingston

125

1

Madison

347

0

Monroe

3,540

28

Montgomery

109

1

Nassau

41,544

31

Niagara

1195

2

NYC

21,3056

315

Oneida

1,421

5

Onondaga

2,702

27

Ontario

242

0

Orange

10,666

12

Orleans

277

1

Oswego

179

6

Otsego

83

0

Putnam

1,305

0

Rensselaer

533

5

Rockland

13,529

15

Saratoga

538

3

Schenectady

770

9

Schoharie

57

0

Schuyler

12

0

Seneca

64

0

St. Lawrence

217

0

Steuben

263

0

Suffolk

41,056

46

Sullivan

1,440

2

Tioga

141

1

Tompkins

175

0

Ulster

1,757

1

Warren

262

0

Washington

244

0

Wayne

145

2

Westchester

34,581

24

Wyoming

93

0

Yates

43

1

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Contact the Governor's Press Office

Contact us by phone:

Albany: (518) 474 - 8418
New York City: (212) 681 - 4640