Orange County NC Website
4 <br /> 1 about 125 kids over the age of 5 who fit in that category and would be cut from the state funding. <br /> 2 She said funding for all of these children would total about $200,000 for part-time day care. She <br /> 3 said that does not factor taking any more children into the program. <br /> 4 Commissioner McKee asked if the County can re-structure their County programs to <br /> 5 support these people. <br /> 6 Nancy Coston said yes. She said the County can have their own local polices that are <br /> 7 funded locally. <br /> 8 Nancy Coston said a total of 850 children are being served now, and there are 85 on the <br /> 9 waiting list <br /> 10 Chair Jacobs said the original discussion was to allocate $170,000 of a possible <br /> 11 $650,000. He suggested that the remainder be allocated to the social justice fund, or separation <br /> 12 of what will be needed for childcare, with the remainder placed in the social justice fund. <br /> 13 Nancy Coston said there is funding for child welfare to help make up for some of the cuts <br /> 14 that the County experienced a couple of years ago. She said another approach would be to allow <br /> 15 the flexibility for some of those funds to come back to childcare. <br /> 16 Commissioner McKee said he would support putting the rest of the $650,000 into the <br /> 17 social justice fund since there is no way to know what the County will face in this next year. <br /> 18 Commissioner Pelissier asked Nancy Coston if there is any way to project how much of <br /> 19 the child welfare funds could be transferred to child care. <br /> 20 Nancy Coston said there is a formula used to fund this program, and she does not know <br /> 21 this formula. She said it will be less than the childcare amount needed, and she guesses it will be <br /> 22 around $100,000. She said this will not be known until the fall <br /> 23 Commissioner Pelissier noted that Commissioner McKee's suggestion would add about <br /> 24 $414, 587 into the social justice fund for DSS needs. <br /> 25 Commissioner Pelissier said she was not sure she would want to allocate the whole <br /> 26 amount. She feels that whatever dollar amount is allocated, the usage should be clarified. <br /> 27 Chair Jacobs said the Board could pass something to authorize the DSS director to <br /> 28 appropriate funds as needed over the summer to address childcare needs created by the state <br /> 29 legislature. <br /> 30 Commissioner Dorosin said he would be in favor of putting some of the money into DSS <br /> 31 now. He suggested an amount of$100,000. <br /> 32 Michael Talbert asked what would be needed to get through the summer. <br /> 33 Nancy Coston said she is not sure what kids will come up in the summer, but the cost will <br /> 34 be higher. She said it would be great to have the money, but the budget can be adjusted as <br /> 35 things move along. She said she would guess that it would be no more than $40,000 in the <br /> 36 summer. <br /> 37 Commissioner Price asked about the effects of the possible state cuts on staffing. <br /> 38 Nancy Coston said so far she has not seen this affect her staffing. <br /> 39 Commissioner Price said she is willing to do whatever needs to be done for the children. <br /> 40 Commissioner Rich said she likes the idea of keeping the bulk amount in the social justice <br /> 41 fund and allowing Nancy Coston to appropriate what she needs up to a certain amount for the <br /> 42 summertime. She asked how much money comes in through grants. <br /> 43 Nancy Coston said the childcare program does not get very many donations. <br /> 44 Chair Jacobs suggested putting the $414,000 into the social justice fund and allocating <br /> 45 $64,000 to DSS on June 17th for the summer coverage. <br /> 46 The Board expressed their agreement. <br /> 47 Michael Talbert said the $64,000 will be included in the mark up, as part of the budget that <br /> 48 will immediately go to social services. He suggested that Nancy Coston and other departments <br /> 49 come back after the summer to give an update on the impacts of the state budget. <br />