New York Community Trust funds three-year Westchester pilot to boost child-care worker pay

Laura Rossi, vice president of the New York Community Trust's Westchester office, described a philanthropic initiative the Trust is launching to address child-care workforce instability. Rossi told the Families Task Force the Trust's Westchester office is funding a pilot wage-enhancement program intended to bring private and public dollars together: "wage increase up to a limit of $350 a month," she said, while acknowledging the transcript also referenced an hourly figure ($3.50/hour) as a related framing.

Rossi said the Trust will pair grant dollars with research and evaluation. An outside evaluator will track whether the enhancement improves retention, classroom stability and the financial well-being of early-childhood educators over a three-year period. The program will target a mix of center-based and family/home providers and will test whether modest monthly boosts can be sustained with combined private and public funding.