Orange County NC Website
<br />market rates paid by Orange County). Most families must qualify based on need and income, and are <br />required to pap a percentage of clvld care costs based on their countable monthly income. The <br />percentage depends on the number of people in the family, but ranges from,8 to 10 percent of <br />income. <br />As mentioned above, additional sources of subsidy come from specialized funding that map target <br />specific groups. Examples of this type of funding are Smart Start, More at Four, the I7NC <br />Chancellor's Fund, and the additional funding allocated by the Board of County Commissioners in <br />the Orange County budget. <br />WAITING LISTS <br />In recent years, the costs of and need for care have become so high that the demand for dze subsidy <br />system has far outweighed the supply. In Orange County, when insufficient funds are available to <br />meet demand, waiting lists are implemented. <br />There have been long child care subsidy waiting lists for the last few years, with Fiscal Year 2005- <br />2006 proving to be the worst. Not a single child was taken off of the waiting list at Social Services <br />between March 2005 and June 30, 2006, so that some families lzad been waiting over a year to receive <br />subsidy. While funding to Social Services has increased the last few years, the increase was not <br />enough to cover all the fanvlies requiring subsidy when rising costs are taken into account. The state <br />budget crisis has also affected funds available through Smart Start, causing them to either hold steady <br />or decline in recent years. At the same lime, child care providers in Orange County worked very <br />hard to improve their quality by sending more of the staff to school, Hiring better educated staff, <br />improving their clvld-to-staff ratios and earning higher star ratings. To support these changes in <br />quality, they needed to increase their tuition rates for care. Higher tuition rates mean higher payment <br />rates for child care subsidy. Higher costs per child per month without a commensurate increase in <br />funds available has meant tliat fewer children can be served and waiting lists have increased. It also <br />means that fewer parents are able to afford the costs of care on their own. , <br />The parent(s) in the majority of families both receiving subsidy and waiting are employed. The <br />income generated by these working parents is simply not enough to be able to meet all the family's <br />basic needs and afford child care. (See Attaclunent C for a list of the top employers of parents wlzo <br />are waiting for or currently receive Child Care Subsidy through the Orange County Department of <br />Social Services.) <br />Clvld care subsidy waiting lists remain a critical issue for Orange County. Additional funds for fiscal <br />pear 2006-2007 were allocated by the state and die Board of County Coininissioners in Orange <br />County so that families who have been waiting die longest are now receiving subsidy. While Orange <br />County is currently serving roughly 600 clvldren in the subsidy program, tlzere are still over 150 <br />clvldren in Orange County who are eligible for subsidy assistance, but are not receiving it due to lack <br />of funds. These clvldren and their families are waiting. <br />DISCUSSION <br />ISSUES <br />Because of the various backgrounds and interests of the Task Force Members, subcommittees were <br />created to allow participants to identify issues and attempt to solve problems specifically relevant to <br />their pursuits. The consumer subcommittee consisted of county-wide focus groups offered on two <br />separate evenings during the week, one in Hillsborough and one in Chapel Hill. The child care <br />4 <br />