Providing Child Care for Police Officers Gains Support

By Jennifer L. Warren

POUGHKEEPSIE – In a recently conducted study it was revealed that more than half of police officers had to leave their duties due to pressing child care needs.

United States Senator, Kirsten Gillibrand, relayed this alarming statistic Monday at the City of Poughkeepsie’s City Hall, inside the Council Chambers. This challenging reality-balancing work and home life- in law enforcement comes at an uncertain time when many New York Police Departments are dealing with staffing shortages. Realizing the urgent need to attract more people to this critically important and demanding job field, Gillibrand has been working on legislation aimed at improving the overall conditions surrounding police officers.

“Our police officers face so many pressures, and as a result, there are many shortages now existing,” said Gillibrand. “One essential and powerful way to attract more young officers is through providing day care (it’s oftentimes this population of police that has the least schedule flexibility and highest likelihood to have children); policing is one of the most noble and important jobs, and they need resources in order to do it well.”

Efforts to that end have been made with the construction of the bipartisan Bill, Providing Child Care for Police Officers Act. Designed to provide $24 million in fiscal funding for each of the next five fiscal years to establish a pilot child care services program to support law enforcement families, the Bill, which could be passed this year, would have those funds available for 2026. The likelihood is strong that the Hudson Valley would get a “good piece” of those monies. The focus upon and tangible actions to address daycare and its ensuing rippling effect on more young people becoming inspired to join the police ranks, are all positives that Mayor of the City of Poughkeepsie, Yvonne Flowers, is grateful for and excited to see the impact of on the police officer field as well as those protected by their priceless presence and actions.

“We all know to obtain and maintain safety we need higher qualified police officers,” said Flowers. “This legislation is a valuable resource to help working families while ensuring the safety of the residents.”

Another political dignitary on hand offering her unwavering support for the passage of this Bill was Dutchess County Executive, Sue Serino. Relating details about the long and oftentimes unpredictable work schedules of police officers and how traditional daycare facilities don’t always address those unique time frames, Serino too was excited about the prospect of providing integral assistance with specific child care needs for this population as well as getting the discussion around it rolling.

“This is an issue that’s not always talked about enough,” said Serino. “We see how tough it is across the state to secure and retain officers; this Bill definitely points us in the right direction.”

It’s a direction, Chief Richard Wilson, who has been with the Poughkeepsie Police Department for the past 31 years, knows first-hand, how incredibly important, career and life-changing such a child help program can be.

“When I was a beginning officer, the greatest piece my wife and I had to solve was how to secure childcare,” reflected Wilson, who noted there were currently over ten police officer vacancies in his department. “Anything this Bill-government can do to reduce that stress would be greatly appreciated.”