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<br /> <br />Cabarrus County Department of Social Services <br /> <br />Memorandum <br /> <br />To: John Day <br />From: Jim Cook and SandyRussell <br />Date: 11/03/05 <br />Re: BOC consideration of Child Day Care Funding Request at November meeting <br /> <br />We are asking that you arrange for the Board of Commissioners to consider, at the <br />meeting in November, our request for an appropriation of county funds to support the <br />current child day care needs. <br /> <br />BACKGROUND <br /> <br />During FY05, additional child day care funding was received from state subsidy and <br />Smart Start. The agency was able to use these funds to respond to the need for child <br />care and eliminate a waiting list. However, this caused the number of children receiving <br />assistance at the end of FY05 to be at higher level than the FY06 allocation could <br />sustain throughout the year. . <br /> <br />To reduce the number of children served this year, a waiting list was implemented in <br />August (through October includes 244 children). To ensure children's safety, there are <br />several categories that are exempt from the waiting list. These include: child protective <br />services, foster care, day care for crisis situations, day care for Work First Employment <br />Services, before and after school care for children in the More at Four Program, and <br />teen parents who need child care to complete high school. The waiting list is prioritized <br />by the following method: <br />1. Employment <br />a. Full-time <br />b. Part-time <br />2. Education/training leading to employment <br />3. Child welfare services <br />4. Developmental needs <br />Based on current attrition rates and the addition of children who are exempt from the <br />waiting list, we are projecting an average monthly reduction of $7,200 in spending. We <br />have been averaging 104 children leaving day care each month, but have added an <br />average of 80 children a month to day care from the exempt categories. A large number <br />of these are children in CPS or foster care needing day care. The high number of <br />children added from the exempt category has resulted in a projected reduction that will <br />not be adequate to reduce spending to the current funding level for FY06. (Attachment <br />1) <br /> <br />We have contacted Peggy Ball, Director, with the Division of Child Development who <br />indicated that the State does not have funds available to provide additional allocations. <br />We were advised that the state will conduct a reversion and reallocation process in late <br />November but they do not anticipate having the amount of funding available to meet our <br />needs. (Attachment 2) , <br />I__i~ <br />