For Immediate Release
UFT reaches contract with state for home child care providers
Jul 31, 2009 7:31 PM
The UFT reached on July 31 a two-year contract agreement with New York State and the NYS Office of Children and Family Services (OCFS) for New York City’s 28,000 home child care providers. The groundbreaking deal – the first of its kind in New York – locks in a standard for determining the rate that providers are paid per child and will ultimately supply all providers with access to health insurance through the Family Health Plus program. The agreement was achieved after nearly two years of negotiations and is subject to ratification.
New York City’s home child care providers care for and educate more than 50,000 children from working families in pre-school and after-school settings, from infancy through the after-school years. The providers range from family members and neighbors caring for one or two children to licensed group family providers who care for up to 12 pre-school-age children and additional school-age children. Their work includes everything from everyday nurturing care to pre-kindergarten education. They help younger children with reading and learning letters, numbers, colors and shapes, and they help older children with their homework. The providers are paid through both government subsidies and payments from parents, and the average salary is $19,000. The UFT represents 28,000 home child care providers across New York City. The Civil Service Employees' Association (CSEA) represents 26,000 home child care providers throughout the rest of the state who will be covered by a similar agreement.
“It took years for us to get to this point,” said outgoing UFT President Randi Weingarten, “but as with any struggle for working people, the long and hard fight for recognition for our providers has been worth it. This agreement is just the beginning. By reaching it we have taken a very first step to creating the foundation of professional growth and economic stability for a very deserving group of early childhood educators. They do the work that allows others to go to work, but prior to collective bargaining had little clout to provide the dignity that their work should entitle them to.”
TENTATIVE CONTRACT OVERVIEW
PAY RATE
The contract locks in a standard for determining the rate that providers are paid by the state per child, which is currently between $98 and $160 per child per week. Every two years, the state reassesses and recalibrates that per-child rate of pay – called the “market rate” – through a statewide survey of the fees that other providers charge. Under the agreement, providers will continue to receive the current rate.
HEALTH INSURANCE
Under the agreement, home child care providers will receive health insurance through Family Health Plus, a public health insurance program run by New York State. Coverage will be phased in over time, first by grouping those who are already Family Health Plus participants into a newly created Voluntary Employee Benefit Association (VEBA). The VEBA was made possible thanks to recently passed state legislation and will allow providers who are not otherwise income-eligible to participate in the Family Health Plus program.
In Fiscal Year 10-11, the UFT will receive $5 million from the state to help enroll additional home child care providers who do not presently have health coverage. In the second year of the contract, that amount will increase to $9 million.
Once the contract expires, New York State will conduct an assessment of the remaining providers not covered by health insurance in order to find ways to enroll them.
Under the agreement, OCFS will also work with the state Department of Insurance to help providers acquire liability insurance and Workers' Compensation policies.
QUALITY IMPROVEMENT GRANTS
According to the contract, $3 million in Quality Improvement Grants will be available to providers statewide each year for the next two years. Providers can use the grants to pay for supplies and make upgrades to their facilities.
PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
The contract provides the UFT $500,000 in professional development funding so that it can create new learning opportunities for home child care providers to help them enhance their skills. As additional training funds become available, New York State will supply additional money.
WORKERS RIGHTS
Under the agreement, a new set of grievance procedures will be developed in consultation with OCFS to govern payment and contract disputes as well as issues relating to licensure and inspections. In addition, a joint committee with members of the CSEA, the UFT and OCFS will review and reassess all regulations under which providers work.
PARENTAL RIGHTS
This agreement affirms a parent’s right to choose the childcare provider of his or her choice.
“ACORN members are both providers and parents of children that receive the services of the providers,” said Bertha Lewis, chief organizer of the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN). “We are thrilled to have partnered with the UFT and their tremendous organization to provide the opportunity for providers to work as professionals and for parents to get higher quality childcare for their children in low income communities”
"It has been a long struggle for family providers to earn this respect and these improvements,” said Pam Wells, a group family childcare provider from Washington County. “On behalf of the children and families we care for, we could not be more pleased with the results of these negotiations.”
“I am thrilled that after years of hard work by so many people we finally have an agreement that will help pave the way to a better life for our providers who take great pride in their role as early childhood educators,” said Tammie Miller, a registered family childcare provider and the chair of the UFT's home childcare providers’ chapter. “It acknowledges their dedication and it will go far to help our providers prepare children for school while allowing tens of thousands of parents to get up every morning and go to work knowing that their children are in responsible hands.”
“I don’t know where I would be without the union,” said Stephanie J. Brade, a Harlem-based provider who specializes in caring for children with special needs. “I had so many problems and so many needs. At one point my landlord was trying to evict me, and it was a struggle to keep my head above water. Thanks to the union getting this agreement, I can look forward to working for a better future for my family and the children I care for.”
“I want to thank Governor Paterson for his commitment to early childhood education and these providers,” said Weingarten. “I also want to thank incoming UFT President Michael Mulgrew, UFT Secretary Michael Mendel, UFT counsel Carol Gerstl and our partners at ACORN for their efforts on behalf of our child care members.”
