Paid late. Paid too little. Tell the City Council.
The City Council is holding a hearing on the business of child care, and we need providers, parents and allies there, in person or on Zoom, to tell them what is really going on with late payments, unexplained payment reversals, system failures, and more.
250 Broadway, 8th Floor, Hearing Room 1, Manhattan. Hearing details
For many child care providers, every month is a crisis. Month after month, they are paid late and some see payments reversed with no explanation at all.
Already child care providers are paid only after they submit attendance for the month.
Imagine an 8th grade teacher getting docked pay because students were out with the flu!
Years ago, child care providers were promised that the State would begin paying in advance and finally based on enrollment, rather than attendance. None of this has happened.
Now, the city needs more child care providers to meet demand for universal child care.
Join us to testify and demand that they fix these problems before more providers are affected!
- Pay providers in advance
- Pay based on enrollment
- Hold agencies and third-party vendors accountable
Our campaign to Pay Our Providers is about pay justice. Pay justice means thriving wages -- but that's not all. We need the basics of on-time payment and functional payment systems too. New York City Council must deliver on these promises.
Sign up to testify, and join us.
How do you testify?
- Sign up with us. Tell us how you'd like to testify, so we can get you ready and make sure POP shows up together.
- Register with the Council. We'll give you your answers to copy into the Council's official sign-up form. It takes about two minutes.
- Speak up on Oct 29. You get two minutes, in person or on Zoom. Or send written testimony, which the Council takes up to 72 hours after the hearing.
Sign up to testify
Let us know how you plan to testify and we'll help you register.
Thank you! One more step.
To speak at the hearing, you also need to register on the City Council's official form. Here are your answers, ready to copy and paste into it.
- Open the Council's form and fill it in It opens in a new tab, so you can come back here to copy each answer.
- Ask the Council for interpretation by Monday, Oct 26 This opens an email to the Council's translation team with your details filled in. Just press send.
- Done? Let us know So we know who's on the list and can save you a seat with POP.
In person, you can also sign up with the Sergeant-at-Arms at the back of the hearing room on the day. On Zoom, you have to register ahead of time, and the Council sends you the link before the hearing. Stuck? Email ben@actionlabny.org.
You're on the list. See you Oct 29!
We'll be in touch before the hearing to help you get ready. Bring your receipts: payment dates, letters, anything that shows what's happening. And bring a friend.
This is just the start. On December 2 we launch the Pay Our Providers campaign across the state, in Albany, Buffalo and New York City. Register now so we can count you in.
What to say in two minutes
- Who you are. Your name, your program or your kids' program, and your neighborhood or Council district.
- What happened. How late, how many times, how much. Payments that were reversed. Bring your receipts.
- What it did to you. Covering payroll or rent out of pocket, borrowing, going without your own pay, families and children who were affected.
- What you want. Pay providers on time, every time. Pay in advance and based on enrollment. Pay Our Providers: a real wage scale for everyone who does this work.
Everything you say or send becomes part of the public record.