Agenda - 12-09-2014 - 7a - Laserfiche WebLink

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ORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS ACTION AGENDA ITEM ABSTRACT Meeting Date: December 9, 2014 Action Agenda Item No. 7 -a SUBJECT: Social Services Child Care Proposal for 2014 -2015 DEPARTMENT: Social Services PUBLIC HEARING: (Y /N) No ATTACHMENT(S): Chart of Child Care Recommendations Child Care Financial Plan INFORMATION CONTACT: Nancy Coston, 919 - 245 -2800 Tina Clark, 919 - 245 -2800 1 PURPOSE: To consider a proposal for serving children needing child care subsidy in Orange County with a plan that will only address the current fiscal year but will provide a framework for additional discussions during the next budget planning cycle. BACKGROUND: At a Board budget work session on November 11, 2014, the Department of Social Services (DSS) shared the impacts of recent budget cuts and eligibility changes on families in Orange County. The Board requested additional information and recommendations from DSS staff and the Board of Social Services on options for serving these children. The DSS staff and board have developed a proposal for the remainder of this fiscal year. The eligibility changes, recommendations and financial impacts for this year can be found in the attached chart. For several years, the state has not rebased subsidy allocations using the available census data. This year begins a six -year cycle to implement this rebasing and Orange County's base allocation has decreased by approximately $700,000. The second phase of the implementation will occur in July 2016. After the original allocation, Orange County received a reallocation of $290,000 and has been informed of the possibility of one more reallocation this year. The Orange County Partnership for Young Children has also applied for additional Smart Start subsidy funds and if received, these would be added to the DSS contract. In addition, DSS has received some funds through IV -E of the Social Security Act to serve low income children who enter foster care. All of these funds have been included in this proposal. After reviewing details about the families receiving child care, DSS projects that the State funds, Smart Start funds and $595,000 in County funds already in the agency budget should be sufficient to serve the existing caseload.