Child Care Quality and Innovation Initiative
Child care is foundational for our youngest New Yorkers, their families, and their caregivers. It lays the groundwork for early development, academic achievement, economic productivity, and a lifetime of better health. But too many families with low incomes are unable to find high-quality, affordable care; child care is unaffordable for 52 percent of New York City families, and the economic cost to the city from parent absenteeism and workplace turnover due to child care challenges is estimated at $1.28 billion annually.
In 2022, Robin Hood launched the $100 million Child Care Quality and Innovation Initiative to help more New York City families access high-quality, affordable child care. So far, Robin Hood has invested $24 million in 51 community-based, research, advocacy, and grassroots organizations, and eight government agencies. This work is helping families in underserved neighborhoods access quality care while enabling parents to work and earn stable income.
Guided by a commitment to create lasting change, the initiative has helped unlock over $1 billion in public funding and fueled a citywide campaign that secured $3 billion in new and improved child care services for New York City families.
Our Impact
31,500
Children receiving high-quality child care
2,500
Families able to afford care through child care assistance, saving families $42M a year in child care expenses
4,100
early educators receiving training and support to strengthen classroom quality and promote children’s early learning
Grantee Spotlight
The Center for New York City Affairs, Robin Hood Grantee
In NYC, family child care providers are a vital part of the child care ecosystem, serving more than half of children in subsidized care citywide, disproportionately providing infant, toddler, and nontraditional-hours care — yet they earn the lowest wages in a workforce that earns less than 97 percent of all other occupations. The workforce is overwhelmingly older, immigrant women of color; half rely on public assistance and most are severely rent-burdened.
Over the past decade, FCCs have been rapidly closing, threatening the city’s child care capacity. Despite their critical role, no system-wide data existed on FCC providers’ earnings, revenue, costs, or private clients — making it nearly impossible to design effective policy to stabilize the sector.
The Center for New York City Affairs at The New School produces rapid-turnaround fiscal and policy research to advance equitable outcomes for low-income New Yorkers. With support from Robin Hood’s CCQII, the Center collected and analyzed this missing data, giving policymakers and advocates the evidence base they needed to implement real change.
The Center’s research contributed to major wins for child care and low-income workers, including securing an additional $350 million in state funds for NYC’s child care voucher program and raising unemployment insurance maximum weekly benefits from $504 to $864.
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Our Strategy
We fund and support grantee organizations to inform policies, improve services, and strengthen infrastructure aimed at:
- Increasing child care access and affordability: We aid in expanding access to child care in underserved neighborhoods by collaborating, sharing resources, and implementing solutions to address the unique needs and challenges faced by families living in poverty.
- Improving quality: We invest in coaching, training, and professional development for early childhood educators so that the adults who care for young children have the skills and support they need to create high-quality learning environments.
- Creating early learning and development opportunities: We fund programs that build children’s language skills, early literacy, and social-emotional development – giving the youngest New Yorkers a strong foundation for kindergarten and beyond.