About the Day Care Council of New York
The Day Care Council of New York, Inc., is a membership organization of over 100 agencies that operate more than 250 publicly and privately-funded child care centers and family child care programs in New York City.
Mission Statement
The Day Care Council of New York is a diverse membership organization of child care and family service providers, consumers and advocates.
The Council’s mission is to seek support for and assist in the development of quality child and family care services.
The organization works with its members to maintain high standards of child developmental, educational and social services.
The Council is committed to programs and services which are designed to promote the sound growth and development of children and their families necessary for a healthy society.
Re-adopted by the Board September 2012
Our History
1948
The First Board
These sponsoring boards first banded together in 1948, to fight for the survival of their programs when child care funds were eliminated at the end of World War II. At that time, New York City had 80 centers serving children of working parents.
1948
Tax Allocation for Child Care
Obtained the first peace-time allocation of City tax money for child care programs.
1952
Becoming the Council
With persistent effort and the support of New York City, the Day Care Council was incorporated in August 1952 as the coordinating body for the sponsoring boards. Since then, the Council’s membership has grown to include over 200 sponsoring boards serving more than 50,000 children in the five boroughs of New York City.
1962
Child Care in Public Housing
Obtained the first commitment to provide child care space in every low-income public housing development.
1962
National Organization
Helped develop the first national organization of child care advocates. This became the Day Care and Child Development Council of America, formerly National Committee for the Day Care of Children.
1964
Created the first program-wide staff pension plan for all personnel employed in New York City child care centers
1969
Developed and implemented the first credit-bearing training program designed to upgrade the skills and careers of child care personnel
1970
Developed in cooperation with the child care union, District Council 1707, the first comprehensive health and welfare program for child care personnel
1973
Helped develop the first state-wide association of child care and child development councils established in the nation; This became the New York State Child Care Coordinating Council.
1976
Implemented a CETA (Comprehensive Employment and Training Act) contract that provided social work counseling services to families at member child care centers
1977
Created a mediation program to address grievances filed by the union against child care employers
1982
Developed a comprehensive health and welfare program for the child care directors, in cooperation with the Council of Supervisors and Administrators
1983
Created a remedial training for bookkeepers who failed the Agency for Child Development (ACD) competency test
1984
Held a conference for employers to acquaint business leaders with the value of providing child care as a benefit for their employees
1985
Trained 1,500 support staff of ACD child care centers in Child Abuse and Maltreatment Prevention
1989
Awarded the first state-funded Child Care Resource and Referral contracts.
Program Staff
Office Support
Risa Bernstein
HR Generalist & Office Manager
Joshua Stoby
Assistant Office Manager
Sandra Vasquez
Office Cleaner
Fiscal Team
Ada Chen
Finance Associate
Aida Almonte
Grants Accountant
Child Care Resource and Referral
Delma Burgos
CCR&R Business Specialist
Angelica L. Carias
Infant-Toddler Mental Health Specialist
Rebeca Felipe
Provider & Community Engagement Specialist
Gabriela Gutierrez
Mental Health Services Manager
Joy Jensen
Provider Specialist
Jessica Laureano
Senior Child Care Specialist
Ingrith Marin
Child Care Specialist
Sharieka Mason
Infant-Toddler Mental Health Specialist
Almarie McCoy
Senior Provider Specialist
Lisa Plaskett
Infant-Toddler Specialist
Agusto Santana
CCR&R Business Specialist
Vanessa Torres
Senior Infant-Toddler Specialist
Member Support Services
Osberto Gomez
Education Debt Counselor
Jaeger Hessing
Summer Research Assistant
Shelby Lohr
Research & Policy Analyst
Raffi Salbashian
Counsel & Deputy Director of Labor Relations and Mediation Services
Gisselle Terrero
Member Services Specialist
Victoria Mutuku
Summer Research Assistant
James C. Hall, Jr. Family Child Care Network
Keishla Hornsby
Director, FCCN and CACFP
Asmaa Fajri
Education Specialist
Nalene Isaac – Jeremiah
Education Director
Karen McCray
Assistant Coordinator, CACFP
Sharon McLaughlin
Administrative Assistant
Ana Santiago
Family Worker
Consultants
Carey Solomon
Fiscal Consultant
Kishor Belani
Fiscal Consultant
Stacey White
Health Care Consultant
Board of Directors
Wanda C. Carter
President
Alice B. Owens
1st Vice President
Betty C. Jones
Vice President
Jean E. Jeremie
Treasurer
Pauline D. Chen
Secretary
Members
Takiema Bunche-Smith
Member
Pamela Haas
Member
Lorenzo Newby
Member
Vaughan Toney
Member
Tara N. Gardner
Executive Director
Elinor Guggenheimer
Founder
