Picente Announces Family Daycare Startup Grant Program

County Executive Anthony J. Picente Jr. today announced a Family Daycare Startup Grant Program that would provide $250,000 to create new home daycare businesses and help existing home daycares expand.

“The inadequate supply of childcare is a major hurdle faced by families and employers across Oneida County,” Picente said. “The startup costs associated with creating a family daycare is a barrier that many cannot overcome. This grant program will alleviate that burden, and in turn, expand childcare capacity by strengthening the workforce pipeline, generating jobs and giving more options to families looking for affordable daycare.”

The Family Daycare Startup Fund is a direct result of the recommendations given in a recent report from the Oneida County Childcare Taskforce that Picente formed after his 2022 State of the County Address. One of the major barriers the taskforce identified with starting a family daycare is the initial cost, which currently is the financial responsibility of the daycare provider. Startup costs can include diapers, playpens, various toys, educational materials, sleeping mats or cribs and a variety of other equipment designed to improve the safety and quality of the environment for the children being supervised.

Those costs can be prohibitive to lower-income families interested in starting up their own family daycare and prevent some individuals from becoming New York State-certified providers. Existing providers also face the same cost barrier when in need of equipment to expand their capacity to be able to provide services to more parents.

According to the New York State Office of Children and Family Services (OCFS), there are currently 67 licensed family daycare homes, 51 licensed group family daycare homes and 34 licensed daycare centers in Oneida County.

Cornell Cooperative Extension of Oneida County (CCE) currently provides technical support to individuals interested in opening a family daycare within their own home. This support includes providing access to state-required orientations and trainings, assistance with completing the NYS Childcare application packet and assistance with maintaining compliance with all OCFS regulations. Following the completion of this licensing process, individuals are permitted to begin operating their own family daycare facility.

Oneida County will partner with CCE to execute the Family Daycare Startup Grant Program. The $250,000 fund allocated by the County will be administered by CCE and not exceed $2,500 per individual daycare. Benchmarks will be set for recipients and quarterly reports on program results will be submitted to the County by CCE.

The program fund could create up to 100 new daycares and slots for up to 1,000 additional children.

Oneida County is also providing CCE with $42,500 to fund a Childcare Navigator position that will help individuals seeking childcare connect with daycares and assist those who want to start daycare businesses.

“I applaud County Executive Picente for recognizing the impact that a lack of quality childcare has on children, families and the economy in Oneida County and for starting the Childcare Taskforce to identify solutions that address this challenge,” said CCE Executive Director Mary Beth McEwen. “Cornell Cooperative Extension is happy to work with the County Executive and Oneida County Government to assist and encourage the creation of new childcare businesses throughout the County. Adequate quality childcare is an integral part of a thriving economy, and even more importantly, investing in quality childcare invests in the future of the children, building the foundation that they need to succeed in school and throughout their lives.”

To apply for the Family Daycare Startup Grant Program, email CCE at earlycareandlearning@cornell.edu or call 315-736-3394 ext.243.

The Oneida County Childcare Taskforce Report was released in July. The recommendations it made to improve childcare worker employment, training and retention; expand capacity and identify and eliminate access barriers, can be viewed here.