About the Day Care Council of New York
The Day Care Council of New York, Inc., is a membership organization of over 120 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
Office Manager & HR Generalist
Joshua Stoby
Program Support Specialist
Sandra Vasquez
Office Cleaner
Fiscal Team
Ada Chen
Finance Associate
Aida Almonte
Grants Accountant
Child Care Resource Center
Sofia Lopez
Director of Early Childhood Services
Delma Burgos
Child Care Business and Training Specialist
Rebeca Felipe
CCRC Engagement Coordinator
Gabriela Gutierrez
Early Childhood Mental Health Manager
Joy Jensen
Provider Support and Training Specialist
Jessica Laureano
Child Care Resource Counselor
Ingrith Marin
Child Care Resource Counselor
Almarie McCoy
Provider Support and Training Specialist
Lisa Plaskett
Early Childhood Specialist
Vanessa Torres
Early Childhood Specialist
Member Support Services
Raffi Salbashian
Senior Counsel & Deputy Director, LRAS
Osberto Gomez
Education Debt Counselor
Shelby Lohr
Senior Policy Analyst
Gisselle Terrero
Member Services Coordinator
James C. Hall, Jr. Family Child Care Network
Keishla Hornsby
Director of FCC Network
Asmaa Fajri
FCC Senior Education Specialist
Eunjoo Geem
FCC Education Specialist
Cyissha James
FCC Education Specialist
Karen McCray
Asst. FCC Coordinator - J.C. Hall
Sharon McLaughlin
Administrative Assistant
Ana Santiago
FCC Family Worker Supervisor
Zenya Stewart
Asst. FCC Coordinator - J.C. Hall
Consultants
Carey Solomon
Fiscal Consultant
Mary Oyedijo
Health Care Consultant
Stacey White
Health Care Consultant
Board of Directors
Alice B. Owens
Interim Board President
Betty C. Jones
Vice President
Jean E. Jeremie
Treasurer
Pauline D. Chen
Secretary
Members
Takiema Bunche-Smith
Member
Pamela Haas
Member
Hugh Hamilton
Member
Lorenzo Newby
Member
Nilesh Patel
Member
Walter Reyes
Member
Walsy K. Sáez Aguirre
Member
Tara N. Gardner
Executive Director
Elinor Guggenheimer
Founder
