Agenda - 01-18-1994-IX-C - Laserfiche WebLink

Browse Search

h 5 good communication about family's needs and eligibility issues. Famlies may also apply for subsidy through DSS, as the}, have done in the past. By involvin- the child care provider in the recruitment of families, we hope to provide parents easy access to child care subsidy and to reduce the administrative costs of the program. Parents may be able to access child care subsid} and never have to go into any agency office. They will be given the opportunity to apply within the comfort of thc child care program that they have already selected. Applications for child care subsidy will also be available at Child Care Networks, DCSA and DSS, however funding will not be awarded until they have the signature of the child care provider. Families will be given a.list of all the programs willing to work with child care subsidy in our community. It is hoped that this list will include almost all centers in the county and most of the day care homes. Both the DSS and DCSA will pay providers up to the county market rate with the following exception: (1) any AA licensed center or NAFDC accredited day care home can be reimbursed up to 110 0 of market rate or their own fee, whichever is less; (2) any NAEYC accredited day care center can be reimbursed up to 120% of market rate or their own fee, whichever is less; and (3) any program can be reimbursed up to 175% of market rate for a child with documented special needs if the program can demonstrate additional programmatic costs associated with the care of the child. Using Smart Start funds, priority will be given to families who are working or in school and earn less than$25,000 per year. Smart Start funds will also be used to fund the reimbursement rate differences for both FSA and non-FSA families between what is currently allowed for Category B centers and those proposed above. In addition, Smart Start funds will be used by both DSS and DCSA to insure that baps in the current subsidized child care system are closed. For example, families who lose funding after one year on Transitional child care benefits and who are not DSS income ch-ible will be given funding priority through DCSA. Families who receive subsidy through DCSA, experience a fancily crisis, and need the help of a trained social worker, will be referred to a DSS day care social worker for help. Funding for child care will still come from DCSA. Intended Outcomes While the overall goals of this program are to increase the availability of and access to child care subsidy for families earning less than $25,000 a year, the program has set forth three measurable outcomes on which its success is to be measured. These are to 1) reduce the number of children on the DSS child care subsidy waiting list by 150, 2) reduce the number of families who are paying more than 10% of their income for child care for one child by 200, and 3 increase the number of higher quality child care spaces available to children receive child care subsidy by 10% or 80 spaces. Request for Funds The Board of Directors of the Orange County Partnership for Young Children requests that the Division of Child Development provide: 1. the Orange Count}, Department of Social Services with an additional $75,000 in Smart Start funds to be used as reimbursement for child care subsidy, 2. the Orange County Department of Social Services with $38,343 in administrative funds to provide staff support for the expansion of the child care subsidy program, 3. Day Care Services Association with $275,000 to be used for child care subsidy, with no more than 12.5 C of these funds to be used for administrative costs associated with training and recruiting child care providers, screening applications and reimbursing child care providers.