Orange County Child Care Task Force - 11-14-2006, Item 7b

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market rates paid by Orange County). Most families must qualify based on need and income,and are required to pay a percentage of child care costs based on their countable monthly income. The percentage depends on the number of people in the family,but ranges from,8 to 10 percent of income. As mentioned above,additional sources of subsidy come from specialized funding that may target specific groups. Examples of this type of funding are Smart Start,More at Four,the UNC Chancellor's Fund,and the additional funding allocated by the Board of County Commissioners in the Orange County budget. WAITING LISTS In recent years,the costs of and need for care have become so high that the demand for the subsidy system has far outweighed the supply. In Orange County,when insufficient funds are available to meet demand,waiting lists are implemented. There have been long child care subsidy waiting lists for the last few years,with Fiscal Year 2005- 2006 proving to be the worst. Not a single child was taken off of the waiting list at Social Services between March 2005 and June 30,2006,so that some families had been waiting over a year to receive subsidy. While funding to Social Services has increased the last few years,the increase was not enough to cover all the families requiring subsidy when rising costs are taken into account. The state budget crisis has also affected funds available through Smart Start,causing them to either hold steady or decline in recent years. At the same time,child care providers in Orange County worked very hard to improve their quality by sending more of the staff to school,hiring better educated staff, improving their child-to-staff ratios and earning higher star ratings. To support these changes in quality,they needed to increase their tuition rates for care. Higher tuition rates mean higher payment rates for child care subsidy. Higher costs per child per month without a commensurate increase in funds available has meant that fewer children can be served and waiting lists have increased. It also means that fewer parents are able to afford the costs of care on their own. The parent(s)in the majority of families both receiving subsidy and waiting are employed. The income generated by these working parents is simply not enough to be able to meet all the family's basic needs and afford child care. (See Attachment C for a list of the top employers of parents who are waiting for or currently receive Child Care Subsidy through the Orange County Department of Social Services.) Child care subsidy waiting lists remain a critical issue for Orange County. Additional funds for fiscal year 2006-2007 were allocated by the state and the Board of County Commissioners in Orange County so that families who have been waiting the longest are now receiving subsidy. While Orange County is currently serving roughly 600 children in the subsidy program,there are still over 150 children in Orange County who are eligible for subsidy assistance,but are not receiving it due to lack of funds. These children and their families are waiting. DISCUSSION ISSUES Because of the various backgrounds and interests of the Task Force Members, subcommittees were created to allow participants to identify issues and attempt to solve problems specifically relevant to their pursuits. The consumer subcommittee consisted of county-wide focus groups offered on two separate evenings during the week,one in Hillsborough and one in Chapel Hill.The child care 4