New report documents unfair practices
Workers’ Rights Board calls on policymakers to improve conditions for family childcare providers

Albany, NY—Community leaders who participated in the Workers’ Rights Board “Family Childcare Provider Justice” hearing released their report and recommendations at a news conference at 11 a.m. on Thursday, September 14 at Frannie’s House Daycare, 91 Russell Road, Albany.

To read more, click below. Adobe Reader is necesary to read these PDF documents.
News Release
Report (10 pgs.)
Recommendations (4 pgs.)
Full Testimony (22 pgs.)

The report, “Not All Fun and Games: Unfair Practices in the Family Childcare Industry,” is based on testimony from 19 family childcare providers and one graduate of a family childcare setting, including nine individuals who gave oral testimony.

Unwieldy, perplexing regulations and a malfunctioning subsidy system were among the far-reaching problems these providers face. The report endorses actions that can be taken by elected officials and regulatory agencies to improve conditions for the over 14,000 licensed, home-based, providers in New York state who help raise our children while we work.

“We are expected to adhere to strict high standards and perform as professionals, but are not viewed as professionals. This must change,” said Marcia Mango, a provider who testified at the hearing. “ All too often providers who serve child care subsidized families have to wrestle with a system where they are paid late, incorrectly or not at all. While most people get paid for working hourly or by eight hour shifts , we can not get paid for extra hours put in, unless we go over twelve hours a day. (Would you like to work twelve hours and not get paid any more than somebody doing the same job for six hours, or be told you can only get paid for two shifts in a 24 hour period while most people get paid for three?)”

A representative of New York State Assemblyman Paul Tonko and Rev. Alexandra Lusak, pastor of the First United Presbyterian Church in Troy, two of the panelists at the childcare hearing, were present on September 14 to answer questions about the report and recommendations.

In addition, the Labor-Religion Coalition presented to Assemblyman Tonko dozens of signatures on special church bulletins collected as part of the Labor in the Pulpits program. Each signature is an appeal to members of the NYS Assembly to override Gov. Pataki’s veto of childcare providers recognition legislation (Assembly Bill 10060). Labor in the Pulpits is a nationwide program celebrating the historic links between labor and religion and lifting up policies designed to secure dignity and respect for workers.

Last Updated: 10/02/2006
© New York State Labor-Religion Coalition