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

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1 provider subcommittee consisted of a discussion held at the Child Care Providers Association June Meeting. The business subcommittee met on three occasions at the Chapel Hill-Carrboro Chamber of Commerce. The committee consisted of large and small employers from the northern and southern portions of the county. For a list of all employer participants,please see Attachment D. The following is a list of issues identified by the various subcommittees. • The number one issue related to subsidy is the lack of sufficient funding so as to assure that all eligible families can receive needed service in a timely manner. • Waiting for subsidy is a hardship on families trying to work. • For parents with no child care and no way to afford the high costs,high quality is not as important as a safe place for the children) that allows the parent to gain or maintain employment. • Costs for child care are too high. • Families need support from employers. • Even a small amount of financial assistance would make a difference between working and losing a job. • Orange County Government should explore the possibility of a county-run center for county employees and/or residents. • Providers are paid rates for subsidy that are lower than what private paying parents are being charged. • Continuity of care for children should be a priority. • Employers are interested in child care so that they can have dependable employees who attend work regularly and who can focus on their jobs. • There are many employers who are willing to support employees'child care needs,and who may be able to provide on-site child care or other support. • All government employers in Orange County should provide some type of support for child care subsidies and be models for other employers. • There are various models for employers to provide support for employees'child care needs including sponsorships,onsite child care centers and flexible spending programs. • Some of the eligibility requirements of the subsidy program may actually penalize employees if they take advantage of employer financial incentives. • Families whose income falls outside of the guidelines for scholarships or subsidies also have financial issues in attaining quality child care. • Government should explore ways to incent private enterprise to aid employees with child care. While participants did not agree on all issues,the one common thread through all discussions was the need for additional money for child care subsidies. SOLUTIONS Based on discussions and feedback from the subcommittees outline above as well as on the charge given to the committee,the Task Force focused efforts on exploring possibilities for increasing private,business and public financial and in-kind contributions and support for child care. The Task Force worked with local businesses and local business leaders to determine what kinds of information employers would find helpful when attempting to assist employees with their child care needs. The three main ideas that the business community expressed interest in were exploring different benefit models that might be tailored to suite individual business needs,investing in 5