There were thousands of additional New York City children that enrolled in early childhood education centers in the latter half of 2024, according to preliminary figures from City Hall.
The average Administration for Children's Services child care voucher enrollment increased by 21% between July and October 2024 when compared to the same period in 2023, according to the mayor's Preliminary Management Report that will be released on Thursday.
This means an additional 13,869 children got early child care vouchers for a total of 79,411 children enrolled by ACS between July and October 2024, according to a press release.
“Our administration is focused on making New York City the best place to raise a family, and that means making New York City more affordable, keeping our city’s residents safe, and improving quality of life for working-class New Yorkers," said New York City Mayor Eric Adams. "The data shows that, once-again, we are delivering on that mission by expanding access to affordable child care, especially for our most needy families."
City Hall said ACS child care voucher applications are now being processed much faster, with 96% of applications receiving eligibility determinations within 30 days compared to 67% during the same period last year.
There are now 150,000 children enrolled in city early childhood centers today. That said, the mayor recently decided to close several Brooklyn and Queens early childhood centers citing low enorllment. About 250 parents, caregivers and staff contested these numbers, and rallied on Friday to keep the centers open.
For the 2024-2025 school year, the number of applicants tripled from 2019 (before the pandemic), going from 14,000 applicants in 2019 to over 43,000 initial applicants in 2024. At the same time, the number of offers increased by 350%, going from 9,500 offers in 2019 to over 43,000 offers in 2024.
