White Plains, NY - The Department of Social Services took emergency steps Thursday in an effort to keep the county’s non-mandated child care subsidy programs solvent until the end of the year.

Analysis by the department shows the programs, which serve families whose incomes are low but above the  federal poverty level, will run out of money as early as July 31 if nothing is done to shore up their finances.

The emergency steps include capping the number of child care slots available through the non-mandated Title XX program at its current number – 206 – and contacting the state Office of Children and Family Services to raise the amount of family contributions, where applicable, to 35 percent, from 20 percent, of the portion of income that exceeds the federal poverty level. This is the same contribution level set by neighboring New York City and many other counties around the state.

“Action is needed now or the programs will run out of money,” said DSS Commissioner Kevin McGuire. “The process to change the family contribution level will take about 60 to 90 days; the sooner we get the higher contribution levels, the better chance we have to maintain the program for the full year, because when the money runs out, the program has to stop.”

The county has budgeted $30.4 million for day care subsidies in 2012 and is currently serving 3,573 children. The emergency measures will not change the level of funding or slots. But capping slots and increasing the parental contributions will help the county stretch the subsidies, hopefully to the end of the year.

Both McGuire and County Executive Robert P. Astorino had asked for higher parental contributions in the administration’s proposed 2012 budget, saying they were necessary to fund the program for the full year. The county Board of Legislators, however, would only agree to a 20 percent family share.  Citing the board’s actions as irresponsible, Astorino vetoed the lower child care contributions, but the veto was overridden by the board.

“Unfortunately, the current situation was all too predictable,” said Astorino. “The problem has nothing to do with politics. It is simple math. You can’t run programs on good intentions; you need sufficient appropriations.”

“I certainly understand that family budgets are tight,” Astorino added. “But you have to look at the alternatives – asking families to pay about $6 dollars a day more for about eight months, or having the families pay 100 percent of the family day care bill starting in August. The whole philosophy here is to adjust payments in order to protect the long-term viability of the program.”

Increasing the family share from 20 percent to 35 percent will cost parents about $6 a day more for a typical family. It is also important to note that parents only pay for their first child in day care –additional children in the household are free to the family. Up until 2006, Westchester families in the program had been contributing at the 33 percent level.  The current federal poverty level for Westchester for a family of three is $18,530; for four it’s $22,350.  Only income above these amounts is used to calculate the family share.

DSS currently provides child care subsidies in three general categories: Public Assistance, Low Income and Title XX.

1. DSS is mandated to provide child care subsidies to families receiving public assistance.  The cost of these subsidies is split between the federal government (75% from CCBG: the Child Care Block Grant) and the county (25% from tax levy).  The county has budgeted $7.6 million for this type of child care but must spend whatever it takes to meet demand.  There is no cap on slots in this program and families contribute only nominally ($1) to the cost of child care.

2. DSS provides child care subsidies to Low-Income households earning from 100% to 200% of the federal poverty level.  Some of this is mandated; some of it is not.  This category of subsidy requires a family contribution based on the amount of income received above the federal poverty level.  Federal CCBG money is used to fund these subsidies until the county’s allocation runs out. After that costs are borne entirely by county taxpayers.

The Board of Legislators appropriated $21.9 million for this program based on a 20% parent contribution. Funding is projected to run out by October, or sooner if caseloads increase. There are currently 2,747 children in the program.

3. DSS provides so-called Title XX child care subsidies to households earning  200% to 275% above the federal poverty level.  These subsidies are not mandated and also require a family contribution. The     cost of this subsidy is borne entirely by county taxpayers.

The Board of Legislators appropriated $953,065 for the program.  Funding an average of 206 slots for all of 2012 is projected to cost $1.8 million with current funding running out at the end of July.

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