Agenda - 01-22-2015 - 6a - Laserfiche WebLink

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13 1 -- Youth Employment and Training Program (Building Futures Program) — This is targeted to 2 residents aged 16 -21, and it provides various means of educational support. 113 individuals 3 have been served with this program. 4 -- Job Fairs — Program provides job fairs to individual in the Work First program, as well as any 5 unemployed or underemployed individuals in the County. This has served over 600 6 individuals. 7 -- Partnerships with local employment agencies 8 -- Partnership with Access Wireless - This agency provides federal cell phones for low income 9 individuals. 1500 phones have been distributed. 10 11 Chair Jacobs said Southern Season has worked Work First clients in the past. He asked if this 12 is still in place. 13 Sharron Hinton said that is not in place at this time. 14 15 Nancy Coston she also comes tonight to get feedback on the childcare situation. She 16 said this is a very complicated picture with moving parts. She said one thing staff did not know 17 about was that the rebasing from the census was going to cause an enormous cut. She said 18 the County gave them $500,000 to help with the waiting list for working families, and this was 19 exciting. She said the cut from the rebasing was $700,000, which was very discouraging. She 20 said some of the rules and regulations affect the families very negatively. She said the updates 21 on this are listed in the charts she has provided. 22 Nancy Coston said, with what is proposed and considering the cut, they will be about 23 $100,000 short without taking anyone off of the waiting list. She said the department would be 24 able to continue to serve the target groups, which includes Work First, adolescent parents, 25 homeless children, and some of the welfare cases. She said these are not subjected to the 26 waiting list. She said, after this list, you begin to look at where the funds can be used. She said 27 one group that was hurt significantly were the families with children aged 6 -18, who lost their 28 eligibility. She said County money was used to give these residents 3 month notice until this 29 could come before the Board. She said she has put the amount in to show what it would cost to 30 keep doing the rolling 3 months. 31 Nancy Coston said the market rate increase for providers is a requirement, and it will 32 cost $150,000 - $200,000. 33 She said staff is very concerned about the relative child care and what affect that might 34 have on the child welfare program. She said when a child's relative is asked to consider taking 35 care of a child in lieu of placing a child in foster care DSS pays the childcare with no fee to 36 them. She said the new law counts their income starting in January. 37 Nancy Coston said the bottom line is that the department may be able to make it to May 38 with the money the County has already provided, but this is dependent on what is gotten in 39 reallocation. She said she is looking for direction on where the County money should be spent, 40 and it seems impractical to think that they can pick up everything that has been dropped. 41 Commissioner Gordon said the chart was helpful. She asked for clarification on the 42 issue with relative childcare. She asked if a relative's income is included when they receive 43 childcare money. 44 Nancy Coston said the statute affects step parents and other relatives, including aunts, 45 uncles, and grandparents. She said everyone pays the same rates now, and it is a percentage 46 of your gross income. She said if a relative were asked to take care of a child, 10 percent of 47 their income must go toward childcare, regardless of the actual cost of the childcare. She said 48 the concern is that relatives are going to be unable to afford to pay the childcare to keep the 49 child in the home. 50 Commissioner Dorosin asked about the 3 month rolling cost being paid to families of 51 children aged 6 -18. He asked where this money goes.