Child Care & Head Start

NYC Administration for Children's Services: The City's child welfare agency, dedicated to protecting children and strengthening families

Find a program near you using CityMap

type your address and select the borough in the upper right-hand corner in the NEW SEARCH box
Then select “Day Care Center” or “Head Start Program” from the drop-down box of “Show Nearest” box
click on the arrow or hit “enter” -- the printable map will then be populated with programs nearby as well as create a listing of these programs

ACS's Division of Child Care and Head Start administers the largest publicly-funded childcare system in the country, serving approximately 120,000 infants, toddlers, and school-aged children. This includes the Head Start program, a federally funded, family–centered child development program for low-income children ages 3-5, that promotes intellectual, social, emotional and physical growth in order to develop each child’s potential for successful living. Head Start also offers family members opportunities and support for growth and change.

Child Care Program

Head Start Program

Find out if you qualify for
subsidized child care

Pre-Kindergarten & Kindergarten Information for Parents

NYC’s Department of Education is sponsoring information sessions about pre-Kindergarten and Kindergarten admissions for the 2010-2011 school year. Representatives from the Office of Student Enrollment and the Office of Early Childhood Education will be available to answer your questions. Sessions will be held from 5:30pm – 8:00pm.

Please click on the below links for more details on when and where the sessions will be held throughout the City.

2010-2011 Pre-Kindergarten Admissions (PDF)

2010-2011 District 1 Pre-Kindergarten & Kindergarten Fair (PDF)

Attention Child Care and Head Start Teachers

To help us design teacher training series, please click on the link below and take this 5-minute SEEDS survey (Social Emotional Early Developmental Skills). The survey asks questions so we can learn about Child Care and Head Start teachers' experiences in the classroom. The survey period is March 15th to April 2nd.

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/SEEDS

Information for Providers

Website (URL) address for Web-based Enrollment System

Below is the link to the Web-based Enrollment System (WES). Simply clink on this link to bring you to the sign-in page: https://a069-ra1.nyc.gov/WES

Market Rates for Voucher Providers

The market rates have been revised effective 07/01/2009. View market rate charts and information (PDF)

Child Care Strategic Plan and Head Start Annual Report

Community Needs Analysis

Children’s Services conducted a community needs analysis to examine the availability of public and private early care and education (ECE) services for all young children (ages 0-5 years) and families in New York City, but especially for children eligible for ACS’ subsidized services. This Summary Report, “Charting the Course for Child Care and Head Start: Community Needs Analysis of Early Care and Education in New York City,” highlights the main findings related to the provision of ECE services across the City, the boroughs, and individual neighborhoods.

Community Needs Analysis Summary Report - Revised (in PDF format)

Full Community Needs Assessment Report - August 2008 (in PDF format)

Rethinking Child Care

The Administration for Children’s Services puts forward its vision to reform New York City’s early child care system. This major initiative is called “Rethinking Child Care: An Integrated Plan for Early Childhood Development in New York City." Read Press Release and Exceutive Summary

Archives:

2001 Strategic Plan (in PDF format - 2.4 MB)

2009 Head Start Community Assessment

As mandated by federal Head Start Performance Standards, Children’s Services conducted a Head Start Community Assessment in 2009. The Assessment is a comprehensive report of the city-wide needs and services that impact the ACS Grantee Head Start program, its delegate agencies, families and children, as well as service capacity and access. It addresses the challenges associated with providing comprehensive services to low-income families in a large city consisting of many diverse neighborhoods, and includes information on the strengths of these communities.

ACS 2009 Community Assessment (in PDF format - 42.1 MB)