Agenda - 03-21-2006-7a - Laserfiche WebLink

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is ^ Children needing care for developmental needs For more infomration on the Department of Social Services waiting list policy, refer to Attachment 7.. Families Currently Receiving Subsidies and Currently on the Waiting List at the Department of Social Services In December of 2004, the Orange Cou~y Department of Social Services was serving over 656 children through the Day Care Subsidy Program.. Of'these children, 40%were school age, 28% were 3-5 year olds, 14%were 2 year olds, and 18%were infants/toddlers. The families being served by Deparhne~ of Social Services subsidy at the time broke down in the following way: 79%were being served for employment reasons, 2% for child welfare services, 11 % for training leading to employment, 7% for child protective services, and 1 % for developmental needs.. (See Attachment 8) Although many families are receiving help to pay childcare costs, there are currently 363 children eligible for Department of Social Services (DSS) subsidy that aze unnerved and waiting. This number is relatively low due to the recent purging of the waiting list, Of those waiting, approximately 25%aze school age, 2?% are 3-5 yeaz olds, 18% are 2 yeaz olds, and 30% are infantsltoddlers. Of the families waiting to be served, roughly 99% require services to maintain employment, and 1%require services to support training leading to employment. Waiting for Child Care While the Orange County Departrne~ of Social Services and Child Case Services Association do everything possible to provide all needy families with child care subsidy, there are rarely sufficierrt resources. Prior to the survey completed in November of 2004, there were over 300 children on waiting lists for child care subsidy, most of whom required child care to maintain employment. The goal of both organizations is to eliminate waiting lists and serve every diem as soon as possible, Unfortunately, this is not the reality, Families are often forced to wait for subsidy funds to become available, sometimes up to six months or more, In Orange County, there have been long child care subsidy waiting lists for the last few years. Smart Start first came to the community in 1993-94 along with a large influx of federal funds to the Depaztme~ of Social Services.. Due to increased funding, the waiting lists were eliminated for a few years and remained relatively short for a few more. Recently, however, the length of the waiting lists has reached the levels that pre-date Smart Start. There aze a few reasons for this. While funding to Social Services has increased, the increase is not enough to cover all the families requiring subsidy. The state budget crisis has also affected funds available through Smart Start, causing them to either hold steady or decline in recent yeazs, 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 staffs 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, I-Tgher tuition rates mean higher payme~ rates for child care subsidy. A higher cost 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 pazents aze able to afford the costs of care on their own,