Committee on Family, Health & Human Services Minutes
August 22, 2006
Committee Members
in attendance: Judy Myers, Chair, Martin Rogowsky, Lois Bronz, and Andrea Stewart-Cousins.
In Attendance: BOL: Louise Gantress and Melanie Montalto. CEO: Andrew Neuman. Budget: Jim Arnett. Guests: Kathy Halas & Sandy Kewely of the Child Care Council of Westchester, Liz Anderson of The Journal News.
Items Discussed: The Child Care Council final presentation on the Westchester County Child Care Scholarship selection process.
Minutes
Chairwoman Myers called the meeting to order at 12:11 p.m.
Moved by Legislator Rogowsky and seconded by Legislator Stewart-Cousins, the minutes of the June 27, 2006 Committee meeting passed 4-0.
Moved by Legislator Myers and seconded by Legislator Stewart-Cousins, the minutes of the July, 18, 2006 Committee meeting passed 4-0.
Moved by Legislator Bronz and seconded by Legislator Stewart-Cousins the minutes of the July 25, 2006 meeting passed 4-0.
Chairwoman Myers gave a brief overview of the Westchester County Child Care Scholarship and the application process.
Kathy Halas, Director of the Child Care Council of Westchester, went through the Council’s final report on the Westchester County Child Care Scholarship application process. A copy of the report is on file.
The Council was able to award 55 households with scholarships, providing child care to 70 additional children. Kathy Halas explained that this is a twelve month scholarship beginning on September 1st.
Ms. Halas explained that there were 25 additional households who qualify for the scholarship program, but there was not enough funding to give them the scholarship.
The Council discussed all of the applications that they received with the Committee. Of those that were found to be ineligible, half were below the income required for the scholarship and financially qualified for subsidy from the Department of Social Services. The Council feels that many of these people may be trying to avoid social services, possibly because they do not want to comply with their requirements. The Council referred those applications that were below the income level to the Department of Social Services. Many of the other ineligible applications were returned incomplete, while others were over the income level for this scholarship. The Council stated that most of the people that were over the income still fell in a range where they would need help paying for child care.
The Committee discussed the breakdown of the ethnicity of the applicants with the Council. The Committee asked why there were so few Hispanic applications, why there were no applications from Port Chester, and only a few from Peekskill. The Child Care Council stated that the application was sent in English and in Spanish, but only one application was returned in Spanish. They were unsure as to why there were few applications from certain areas of the County as they advertised the program throughout the County and in all licensed child care centers.
The Committee asked the Council how much money would be needed to be able to provide the Scholarship to the 25 additional families. Mrs. Halas explained that we will know more about what is needed once the study due in December is completed. There will be an update as to the findings thus far on September 21st, and she will provide the Committee with the details for that meeting. She stated that they also plan the funding to provide a buffer for those families who change the type of care their children are receiving mid-year, and the award amount increases.
The Council feels that if the Scholarship continues next year they will need more time and effort to promote the program to make sure they receive the maximum amount of applications.
The Council also explained that there were some families who were ineligible for the program due to unique circumstances. These families include disabled parents who cannot work and would like their children to receive proper day care; parents who are not working because they are in school full time; and grandparents who cannot physically take care of the children for the entire day. Legislator Stewart-Cousins stated that the Committee and the Council should consider new eligibility criteria that would include these families during the next application process for the Scholarship.
Legislator Rogowsky asked the Council how we are able to know if there are too many or too few child care programs in the County. The Council explained that the results of the DSS research study should be able to answer that question. Ms. Halas feels that some communities have too many programs while some larger communities do not have enough. In the smaller communities with many programs, she feels shared service models would help reduce the cost of child care.
Legislators Bronz, Stewart-Cousins and Myers explained that most centers cannot be closed because families need conveniently located daycare for their children.
Ms. Halas noted that the number of people using family care has greatly increased, and is a large reason for the empty slots in child care centers. She explained that daycare seems to be changing, and quality care is now more important that the quantity of care available.
The Committee agreed to ask that an additional $150,000 be released from the budget to provide the Scholarship to the additional 25 eligible families. The Committee also asked how much money would be needed to provide the Scholarship to the families with disabled parents. The Council said they would provide that number by the end of the week.
Legislator Stewart-Cousins asked for a list of the daycare centers in Yonkers that would be receiving the Scholarship.
Moved by Legislator Stewart-Cousins and seconded by Legislator Bronz the Committee on Families, Health and Human Services adjourned at 1:09 p.m.
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