Minutes 11-11-2014 - Laserfiche WebLink

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