Local
After making gains, low-income child care threatened by cuts
By: William C. Flook
Examiner Staff Writer
November 21, 2008
The backlog of low-income families seeking subsidized day care in Fairfax County has shrunk dramatically with an infusion of state funds, but child advocates fear a looming budget crisis could undercut the program just as it begins to make gains.
“We know that’s going to be an uphill battle to maintain, given the state of the budget ... if we lose any more money here, that’s going to mean fewer children served, fewer families working,” said Kerrie Wilson, chief executive officer of Reston Interfaith, a nonprofit whose services include operating a day care center for 135 children.
The program, which serves about 5,000 children a month in Fairfax, is touted as a welfare-to-work initiative that allows poor parents to stay employed while defraying the cost of child care. The median income for families in the program is only $25,000, while the average cost of full-time pre-school care ranges from $8,000 to $12,000 each year, according to a mid-November report on the program.
The report detailed a waiting list of 1,165 children, down substantially from a backlog of about 3,200 at the same time last year. The change is in large part because of the $12 million statewide funding increase passed by the General Assembly this year.
Shortfalls at both the local and state level have advocates uneasy, however, fearing that the improvement could be short-lived. Fairfax County leaders face a $500 million budget gap for the coming fiscal year and have asked agency heads to draw up plans to slash up to 15 percent of their costs.
The Fairfax County Department of Family Services, among millions of other proposed cuts, suggested eliminating as many as 500 children from the subsidy, which would save about $3.4 million.
Gov. Tim Kaine announced in October that the state faces a $2.5 billion shortfall over the next two years, and some legislators and appropriations staffers expect that number to grow before they fully confront the problem in early 2009.
“It’s not just for child care subsidies, any gains that have been made for children, they could be at risk,” said Kathy May, director of the Northern Virginia office of Voices for Virginia’s Children, a child policy research and advocacy organization.
“We know that’s going to be an uphill battle to maintain, given the state of the budget ... if we lose any more money here, that’s going to mean fewer children served, fewer families working,” said Kerrie Wilson, chief executive officer of Reston Interfaith, a nonprofit whose services include operating a day care center for 135 children.
The program, which serves about 5,000 children a month in Fairfax, is touted as a welfare-to-work initiative that allows poor parents to stay employed while defraying the cost of child care. The median income for families in the program is only $25,000, while the average cost of full-time pre-school care ranges from $8,000 to $12,000 each year, according to a mid-November report on the program.
The report detailed a waiting list of 1,165 children, down substantially from a backlog of about 3,200 at the same time last year. The change is in large part because of the $12 million statewide funding increase passed by the General Assembly this year.
Shortfalls at both the local and state level have advocates uneasy, however, fearing that the improvement could be short-lived. Fairfax County leaders face a $500 million budget gap for the coming fiscal year and have asked agency heads to draw up plans to slash up to 15 percent of their costs.
The Fairfax County Department of Family Services, among millions of other proposed cuts, suggested eliminating as many as 500 children from the subsidy, which would save about $3.4 million.
Gov. Tim Kaine announced in October that the state faces a $2.5 billion shortfall over the next two years, and some legislators and appropriations staffers expect that number to grow before they fully confront the problem in early 2009.
“It’s not just for child care subsidies, any gains that have been made for children, they could be at risk,” said Kathy May, director of the Northern Virginia office of Voices for Virginia’s Children, a child policy research and advocacy organization.
