June 29, 2007 — Losing funding because of parents who game the system is a major problem for more than a dozen St. Croix child-care providers who came out to a public hearing Thursday to give input to Human Services on their biennial state plan for child care.
A general need for more funding underlay many of their other concerns. The public hearing was held to spread information and get feedback, as well as to meet the requirements of the federal block grant that pays the bulk of reimbursed child-care costs in the territory. This year Human Services is submitting a grant request for between $2.1 and $2.3 million dollars, which will largely fund its Office of Child Care and Regulatory Services.
Many receiving federal temporary assistance to needy families and parents in various job-training programs are eligible for some degree of assistance with child-care costs. The operators of area day-care centers get their revenue both from these government funds and from parents paying for child care out of pocket.
“I have personally suffered much loss from clients in job-training programs,” said Muriel Francis of Glynn Christian Academy. “When the training is over, they never tell me. I go to Human Services for reimbursement and they tell me the training has been over for weeks and they cannot reimburse me. Meanwhile the parents don’t have the resources to pay. Can you call us and tell us when they leave job training?”
“You can call and ask us too,” replied Assistant Human Services Commissioner Kim Gomez. “We have over 800 clients in child care. Human Services does not have the resources to follow up on every one and find out for you if they are still eligible. But if you called us when the child enrolls, you could find out then how long they are going to be in training. That might be helpful.”
Another concern shared by a several care providers was the cost of care for children left at the day-care centers after the end of business hours.
“The day ends at 5:30,” said Juanita Fergus of Little Buddies Development Center. “Many parents come at 6 o’clock. Some come at 7 or as late as 8 o’clock, and I’ve even had to bring children home with me because the parents were nowhere to be found. What can I do about this forced overtime?”
“The block grant does not pay for after-hours care, so you will have to address that with the parents yourself,” said Leitha Cummings, assistant director of OCCR.
Timeliness of government reimbursement was another concern.
“We wait as much as two months for payment sometimes,” Fergus. “Why not put the funds in by direct deposit? Wouldn’t that speed things up?”
“It goes back to technology issues,” Cummings said. “We are in the formative phase of that sort of thing, but it is still a ways off.”
Several questions related in one way or another to the possibility of more funding.
“We need more funding because so many young single moms — and dads, too — don’t make enough to pay for child care,” Fergus said. “After paying for child care, it isn’t even worth working for six or seven dollars an hour.”
“How much we give depends on how much we get,” Gomez replied. “That could be a comment. Write it down and give it to us to pass along.
Gomez and Cummings both encouraged the day-care providers to give them written comments, and gave everyone present a form for the purpose. Collecting and passing along the comments is a part of the federal grant requirements.
“It will help us if, whatever your comments are, you write them succinctly and give them to us,” Cummings said. “Then we will attach them to the state plan and submit it to the federal government. We cannot lobby for more money ourselves. They want to hear from you, the care providers, and from the parents.”
The efforts will help both children and working parents, Gomez said.
“We want our children in quality child-care centers, in a safe and growth-oriented environment,” she said. "That’s really the bottom line. Speaking as a parent, I know I feel better and work better knowing my child is being well taken care of when I’m at work.”
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