Providing child care services for police officers is the focus of a bill proposed by U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand.

The bipartisan legislation would provide $24 million in federal funding for each of the next five fiscal years for child care services to support people who keep our communities safe.

Finding child care is an issue for officers, who often work nontraditional schedules.

“During the pandemic, the Albany Police Department lost a lot of officers and recruitment slowed. This left the department with 60 to 70 vacancies at one time,” she said at a news conference on Friday at the department’s headquarters.  

A recent survey showed that nearly 20 percent of police officers are leaving the profession due to child care issues.

The issue disproportionately affects women, which make up 12% of sworn officers and 3% of police leadership.