New resources for providers

Home-based, child-care providers selected
to participate in the new Provider's Choice program
sign in for a reception that included UFT President
Randi Weingarten and other union organizers on
Jan. 22 at a Washington Heights restaurant.

Feb 15, 2007 1:17 PM

The UFT has helped to establish a program that will repay home-based child-care providers for out-of-pocket expenses they incur through their work. Provider's Choice, an arrangement modeled after the Teacher's Choice program that reimburses teachers for funds they lay out for classroom supplies, has been established through the efforts of the UFT and ACORN – which have been working together with providers to organize a union – and City Councilman Bill de Blasio. Provider's Choice is operating as a pilot program this first year. The city is mailing $150 checks to 3,300 providers in high-poverty areas to help cover their child-care-related expenses. The providers are required to turn in receipts to account for the money. The program is intended to enhance early child care and education, and union organizers hope to expand it next year to include more – if not all – of the 30,000 providers in the city.

To support Provider's Choice as a program
that will enhance education, UFT Vice President
Michelle Bodden tells providers about discounted
packages of learning materials.