Sullivan Families Go Year Without Child Care Aid as Some Struggle to Stay Afloat

Rose Chateau has a three-year-old daughter, Dinah, and is expecting a baby boy in December. Dinah loves toys, ice cream, and coloring – and she’s excited to do more of those activities with her soon-to-be sibling.

“I’m 23 weeks pregnant, soon to go on 24 [weeks],” said Chateau, a Narrowsburg resident. “[Dinah’s] gonna be almost four by the time this baby is born, and we found out we’re having a boy.”

But Chateau says she and her husband are nervous about their growing family since Sullivan County’s child care assistance program has been closed for more than a year.

“I always wanted two kids, so I’m so happy that [Dinah’s] having a sibling,” said Chateau. “A joyous occasion turn[ed] into ‘Uh-oh. I don’t know how the next year’s gonna be because she still has another year left until she’s going to kindergarten, and then he’s gonna be in daycare so I can go back to work, and that’s gonna be two payments at once.”

Dan Hust, Sullivan County’s Communications Director, told Radio Catskill that the county plans to reopen the program to new applicants on September 16. He says the county plans to closely monitor funding once the program reopens and as it authorizes cases so that it doesn’t suddenly find itself without funds.

READ: Sullivan’s Child Care Assistance Program to Reopen Sept. 16

But the year-long pause has still left hundreds of families suddenly without childcare support for too long, Chateau says. For her daughter Dinah, it’s meant cutting back daycare from five days to three days a week.

Families, daycare providers eagerly await program reopening

In 2023, Governor Kathy Hochul significantly expanded eligibility for the state’s child care assistance program. While New York invested more funding into the program, it wasn’t enough to keep up with demand.

The number of families Sullivan County served soared from 150 children in 2023 to 650 children in 2025. In July 2025, Sullivan County closed its child care assistance program to new applications due to a lack of funding. County officials say they overspent the $3 million allocated for 2025-2026 because of overwhelming program demand.

The state has nearly doubled the county’s allocation for the upcoming fiscal year 2027 from $3 million to $5.9 million and made a historic investment of $4.5 billion for child care statewide in the latest state budget.

Diana Willi, executive director of the nonprofit Sullivan County Child Care Council, said the abrupt stop in support has left families with difficult choices this past year.

“Many families are making the choice to stop working. Some families are making the choice to put their child care on a credit card, hoping the program will open soon enough,” said Willi, whose organization connects parents to quality child care in Sullivan County.

READ: Rural Families Still Without Child Care Assistance 7 Months Later, Despite Hochul’s Child Care Push

Willi says that even before the program was paused last year, the county didn’t have enough child care providers, especially those with available infant care slots. “Now, there’s even less.”

New York state is among the most expensive states in the country for childcare. The market rate for weekly day care for a child under a year and a half is $320 per week in Sullivan and Delaware counties, totalling more than $16,000 per year. Rates are higher in neighboring Ulster and Orange counties at $385 per week.

Chateau says she and her husband have been paying for Dinah’s child care out of pocket the past year.

“The child care payment is like another car payment per month,” said Chateau. “It’s already hard enough in this economy, and I’m working my hardest.”

Image: New York’s Office of Children and Family Services Commissioner DaMia Harris-Madden advocated for Governor Hochul’s childcare investments in Sullivan County in March 2026 (Photo Credit: Kimberly Izar)

The pause has also left many child care providers split on how to move forward, with some feeling they must choose between maintaining good financial standing or delaying payments from families entirely.

At Sweet Angel Daycare in Harris, colorful foam tiles and toys like sensory blocks and miniature puppets fill the floor. Owner Deirdre Migliaccio opened her daycare last September, prioritizing children two years old or younger, as she says this is the greatest need.

“I gotta say about three families who just said, ‘Look, I can’t do it without the subsidy,’” said Migliaccio. “It was rough hearing that. I felt bad, and I lowered my rates. I brought them down as low as I possibly could, and I wasn’t taking deposits. Anything that would help them maybe get another week out of me.”

Willi of the Sullivan County Child Car Council says the child care assistance program has rippled across the county.

“Childcare is an interesting industry because it’s a warm and fuzzy industry [like] ‘I love kids. I love to have babies around me,’ but it’s a business, and those two things collide often,” said Willi.

For now, Chateau is waiting on the program to reopen in mid-September so she can apply for Dinah. “This is for the kids, and I think this is so important for Sullivan County to help our kids and our local parents.”

Image: Sweet Angel Daycare in Harris, N.Y. (Photo Credit: Kimberly Izar)