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

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i+ After reviewing all of this information, the Task Force developed recommendations for the $100,000 Day Caze Trust Fund with two goals, First, the Task Force felt it was hnportant to use the largest portion of this fund to reduce the length of time families have to wait to receive the available subsidies from state and federal funds.. Ifthe waiting time can be reduced significantly through the use of the Day Care Trust Funds, then families will be able to make better plans for their children, The Task Force felt that all working families whose incomes aze low enough to qualify for subsidy experience these same hardships. For this reason, it is recommended that children be served in the order they Srst were added to the waiting list.. A second goal of the Task Force was to recommend the use of a smaller portion of the funds to address the needs of child care teachers or other low-wage workers, at the same time providing a stimulus for additional funds to be generated through scholarships. For this reason, a portion of the funds were recommended to be used to pay half of the costs of the day caze for the time period these persons were waiting for subsidy, Since there were many other groups with simiLu• issues, the Task Force recommended this be available for any paze~rts who could find a way to pay the remaining costs. As long as the amount of available subsidy funds is far below the need in Orange County, Urere will be hardships for families who are trying to work and to provide appropriate care for their children, Finding a fair way to duect these scazce resources was the primary work of the Task Force, Members of the Task Force were particularly pleased that the Boazd of County Commissioners recognized this need and hope that its wmmiiment to helping low wage families through child care subsidies will contnre, RECOMMENDATIONS The coumy funds appropriated in the Day Care Trust Fund will be used to reduce the amourn of time families must wait to receive services. The funds will be managed as follows: • Social Services will manage requests for childcare subsidy under the policies established by the Social Services Board. Social Services will maintain a waiting list of all families eligible for subsidy through Social Services and will serve families based on the date they were placed on the waiting list. When Social Services funds are not available to serve these families, the county child care trast funds may be used to pay the portion of care that DSS subsidy would normally pay to the provider for as many children on the waiting list as the foods allow u~il other subsidy becomes available. Up to 10% of the Trust Fund may be set aside as scholarships for eligible fan~ilies to be matched by a sponsor. To receive these scholarships, these families must meet the same eligibility criteria as established by the Social Services Board and be on the Social Services waiting list, The county Trust Fund will pay 50% of the rate that would Lave been paid through the DSS subsidy to the provider to assist with the costs, This payment would continue until the family becomes eligible for other subsidies. These .families may be served regardless of their relative placement on the waiting list as long as scholarship funds aze available, • The Trust Fund should become a recurring appropriation for future child care subsidies.