http://www.nydailynews.com/front/story/131179p-117061c.htmlTens of thousands of children of the working poor are on a years-long waiting list for spots in city-subsidized day care and after-school programs - forcing parents in some cases to take desperate measures.
With the waiting list at record numbers, many children are being shunted off to libraries instead of after-school programs or left home alone - and in one heartbreaking case, a 7-year-old boy was left to wander a Brooklyn mall while his mother worked, a Daily News investigation found.
The number of children on the waiting list is 46,000 and counting - and there's no sign of help on the way: When the Daily News called a city day care hotline, a staffer said there was a "four- to five-year waiting list." Still, a recent audit found nearly 2,000 day care slots going unused.
Last night, elected officials demanded more help for struggling working parents striving to do the right thing as The News kicked off its Care for Our Kids campaign.