The cost of child care is a challenge for families across the country. But a New York state assistance program appears to be falling short, leaving some parents with tough decisions to make ends meet.

Waitlists have been rolled out in several counties across the state.

“If I don’t have child care, I can’t work and I can’t pay my other bills,” said Marisa Pendergrass, a young mom from Saratoga County. “A lot of places wanted a big deposit, and a lot of places were looking for the $300-to-$350 range a week which wasn’t really doable for us.”

What You Need To Know

  • Some New York counties have created waitlists for child care assistance program amid funding woes

  • New York's Child Care and Development Block Grant supports the Child Care Assistance Program, which is facilitated by county governments

  • In Warren County, the program's expenditures for 2024-25 are almost 50% higher than they were the year prior

Pendergrass planned to lean on the state’s Child Care & Development Block Grant, which supports a program meant to help eligible families with some or all the costs.

“They told me they do not have any funds,” Pendergrass said.

The funding, which is made up of state and federal dollars, is dispersed on the local level by county governments, but in some counties, new and existing applicants have been added to newly created waitlists.

“Within the past few months, we realized that our expenditures for 24’-'25 is about a 45% increase from 23’-'24 program expenditures,” said Warren County Department of Social Services Commissioner Christina Mastrianni.

The commissioner said an increasing demand and changing eligibility thresholds are contributing factors.

“We haven’t had to have a waitlist in a while, but because some of the program changes determined we were going to exceed our allocation,” she explained.

Mastrianni and her counterparts across the state work with the state’s Office of Children and Family Services (OCFS) in determining which area receives what.

Spectrum News 1 contacted OCFS for comment on the matter, but did not receive a response as of Wednesday evening.

“We don’t want to discourage people from applying,” Mastrianni said. “We want you to continue to apply. We’ll closely monitor our budget and waitlists.”

In the meantime, Pendergrass’ faith in the program is wavering, but with sacrifices she and her family are making it work.

“I’ve heard people say they don’t need as much assistance as they’re giving them. So, someone who can afford $50 a week or $100 a week is $1 a week,” she explained. “I can’t pay any of my credit card bills, student loans and stuff like that. We’re behind on everything else.”

She and partner both work 40 hours a week, and she’s considering picking up additional work.