Hi John,

Today, we're joining hundreds of parents, educators and advocates from across New York State traveling to Albany to demand that the State Legislature makes child care investments a priority in this year's budget.

Even if you are not in Albany with us today, you can take part in today's Advocacy  Day using the toolkit below. We are fighting to make the child care system work for ALL of New York's families that rely on it by asking State Legislators for:

• $1.2 billion to improve the pay of the child care workforce, which earns less than 96 percent of jobs in the state. We believe the only way to ensure there is enough child care for every family in the state that needs it is by paying a thriving wage to our child care educators for the important work they do
• Pass the bill that will allow families to access child care full time, regardless of their exact hours at work. Governor Hochul vetoed this legislation, known as "decoupling," at the end of 2023
• Invest in "nontraditional hours" care — including overnights and weekends
• Invest in care for children with disabilities and developmental support needs
• Ensure that all children are eligible for assistance with no immigration requirements
• Ensure families can use child care assistance, even if they earn less than minimum wage

Today's Child Care Advocacy Day is about standing with parents and child care educators from cities around New York State, and our collective call for the New York State Legislature to make child care investments a priority and help create a universal child care system for New York’s families.

Show your support for universal child care with the toolkit below!

STEP 1: Tell Your State Legislators:
We Need #NYSUniversalChildCare

Calls and emails to your elected representatives work! They need to hear from us — their constituents — that they must make child care investments a priority in this year's budget!

Take a minute to email your State Legislators by clicking the button below.

STEP 2: Amplify on social media

Use the sample posts and graphics below to amplify today's action in Albany on your own social media channels.

Sample Tweets

Posting is easy — simply tap "click to share on X" and it will automatically format the text to post from your X account (you can edit it before it posts). You can also copy and paste the below sample posts to share on other platforms.

Click to share on X:

The @empirestateccc is here in Albany for our statewide Advocacy Day! We’ve got 400 parents, early childhood educators, and advocates ready to win #NYSUniversalChildCare!

Click to share on X:

Affordable high quality child care is necessary for New York’s working families to thrive! That’s why the @empirestateccc is here in Albany with 400 of our members to say that it’s time for #NYSUniversalChildCare now!

Click to share on X:

Child care providers do the work of caring for and educating our youngest New Yorkers, but they earn less than 96% of jobs in the state. It’s time to pay our child care educators a thriving wage! That’s why we’re here in Albany for #NYSUniversalChildCare!

Click to share on X:

New York’s child care workforce deserves a thriving wage for the work they do educating and caring for our youngest New Yorkers! The @empirestateccc is here with 400 of our members in Albany today calling for #NYSUniversalChildCare!

Click to share on X:

400 parents, child care providers, and advocates from @empirestateccc are here in Albany today to tell our lawmakers it’s time for #NYSUniversalChildCare! We can’t wait any longer for high quality affordable child care for families and thriving wages for the child care workforce.

Click to share on X:

Too often, a lack of investment means New York's families can't find the child care they need. That’s why @EmpireStateCCC is in Albany calling for investment in weekend and overnight care + support for children with disabilities and developmental needs. #NYSUniversalChildCare

Click to share on X:

We believe #NYSUniversalChildCare means ALL of New York’s children. Today @EmpireStateCCC is in Albany calling on the NYS Legislature to put an end to requirements that prevent families from affording the care they need because of their child’s immigration status.

Graphics

Click below to download graphics for social media to your computer!

...Or tap and hold on the thumbnails below to save them to your phone: