Sullivan County plans to reopen its child care assistance program to new applications on September 16.
The program, which helps families pay for the high costs of child care, has been closed since July 2025 due to a lack of funding.
“Our folks are gonna continually monitor funding as we authorize cases so that we try to mitigate before we suddenly find out we’re out of money,” said Dan Hust, Sullivan County’s Communications Director.
Hust says applications will not be accepted in bulk as it had been in previous years.
“Each applying family has to submit their own application to the child care assistance program. It can’t be done on behalf of anyone else. Each applying family also has to complete an interview and submit all the documentation required to make an eligibility determination, which we have 30 days to make,” said Hust.
In 2023, Governor Kathy Hochul significantly expanded eligibility for the state’s child care assistance program. While New York invested more funding to the program, it wasn’t enough to keep up with increased demand.
Sullivan County quickly overspent the $3 million allocated for 2025-2026 due to overwhelming demand, with the number of families soaring from 150 children in 2023 to 650 children in 2025. New York’s Office of Child and Family Services has increased the county’s allocation from $3 million to $5.9 million for the upcoming fiscal year.
Hust says the program plans to open on September 16 at 9 a.m.
Image: New York’s Office of Children and Family Services Commissioner DaMia Harris-Madden at Sullivan County’s Bertha Green Williams Early Childhood Development Center in March 2026 (Photo Credit: Kimberly Izar)