Child Care

Coronavirus (COVID-19) Alert

Child care centers must follow strict safety guidelines including:

Social distancing
Daily health screenings
Frequent cleanings and disinfection

Children over the age of two and staff who are not fully vaccinated are strongly encouraged to wear face coverings except when eating, drinking, showering, swimming, or sleeping.

The Department of Health will inspect programs to verify compliance.

Contact your child care provider for more information about reopening.

Get health and safety guidelines for child care centers.

Face Coverings

Effective September 15, face coverings are required at state-regulated child care facilities for children ages two and up, staff, and visitors.

Vaccine Mandate for City Contracted Staff

Effective September 27, City contracted child care and after school staff must receive at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine.

Some programs include:

3-K
Pre-K
EarlyLearn Program
HomeBase Childcare
Afterschool Programs
Cornerstone Program
Beacon Program

To find a vaccination site, visit the Coronavirus (COVID-19) Vaccine page.

Need something else?

Child Care Financial Assistance for help paying for child care
Head Start to learn about free child development activities for children ages 3 and 4
Pre-Kindergarten Enrollment for information about Pre-K and 3-K for all
Child Care Complaint to report a problem with a child care program
After School Program for elementary, middle school, and high school students

You can get information about permitted, licensed, and registered child care programs. Some of these programs are partially paid for by the City. Others are private and will require you to pay for the full cost of the program.

Child care programs include:

Group child care during the day or at night for children 3 to 5 years of age
Infant-toddler care for children 0 to 2 years of age
Home-based or after school child care services

Online

NYC Child Care Connect is an online portal that includes a group child care center directory and a free messaging service that parents and caregivers can sign up for to receive notifications about specific child care centers.

To compare child care centers, you can review:

Recent inspection reports
Violations issued
Staff turnover

Access NYC Child Care Connect and sign up for the messaging service.

Get tips for choosing a day care provider.

By Phone

You can get a list of licensed and registered child care programs through the Child Care Resource and Referral Consortium.

Call 311 for assistance by phone.

The Living for the Young Family through Education (LYFE) Program provides day care services for children, ages 8 weeks to 3 years old, of students still attending school. This program tries to meet the specialized needs of young families.

Online

Learn about day care for parenting teens who are in school.

By Phone

Call 311 for assistance.

[67003]

As of January 1, 2019, all group child care programs and school-based child care programs must keep at least two epinephrine auto-injectors with retractable needles on-site. These auto-injectors must be dosed for children. At least one staff person trained in using the auto-injector must be on-site whenever children are present.

This requirement does not apply to home-based family day care programs.

Online

Learn more about epinephrine.

By Phone

Call 311 for assistance.

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Knowledge Article

IP Address

Licensed Child Care Providers

Child Care Services for Students

Epinephrine Auto-Injectors in Child Care Programs

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