Child care: Budget forces cuts to county assistance

Families currently receiving assistance who now earn too much money will have until June 30 to make other arrangements.

Students receiving assistance can get help for only two years instead of four. Students who already have received assistance for the last two years will be dropped on Feb. 1.

Priority on the waiting list will be given to families who earn 130 percent of the federal poverty level or less, and teen parents attending high school or working toward a GED.For more information, including a complete list of income eligibility limits, go to bouldercounty.org/hhs/ccap.htm.

Working parents who need help covering their child-care expenses will have a harder time getting assistance in 2010.

Facing steep increases in demands for social services, Boulder County is freezing enrollment in its child-care assistance program and lowering the income eligibility, meaning some families now receiving assistance won’t qualify anymore.

In a letter to care providers sent last week, the county’s Housing and Human Services Department said families who earn 185 percent of the federal poverty level — or $3,400 a month for a family of four — will continue to qualify for the program.

Until now, families that earned up to 225 percent of the federal poverty level — or $4,135 a month for a family of four — had qualified.

Families already enrolled in the program who now earn too much money will have until June 30 to find less expensive child care.

Families applying now will have to meet the lower income levels to qualify and will be placed on a wait list.

Also, parents who are in school will be eligible for only two years of assistance, instead of four years, and student-parents who already have received two years of assistance will be dropped from the program.

The Colorado Child Care Assistance Program provides tuition subsidies to help eligible families cover their child-care expenses. Parents must be employed or enrolled in an approved educational training program or enrolled in Temporary Aid for Needy Families/Colorado Works.

Families participating in TANF/Colorado Works are exempt from the freeze in new enrollment.

In a written statement, the Housing and Human Services Department said the changes are necessary because applications for other types of assistance have risen dramatically. Applications for TANF are up 62 percent, while applications for food stamps are up 58 percent. That doesn’t leave enough money in the budget to accommodate the 11 percent increase in requests for child-care assistance.

Last year, the county provided assistance to 1,083 children. This year, it was 1,212.

Sarah Edwards, director and owner of The Elm Tree, a child-care center in north Boulder, said she can only take a few families with CCAP because her center is small and the program doesn’t cover the full tuition cost.

But she has seen a big increase in the number of inquiries from families using assistance in the last few months, and she knows that the families who use it depend on it.
“It does affect our families,” Edwards said. “If they’re at the borderline and lose their benefits, they might have to go elsewhere.”

Through a spokeswoman, Housing and Human Services Director Frank Alexander said Boulder County’s benefits were more generous than most of the state, and the county needs to focus its efforts on those who need help the most.

“Boulder County was one of only a few counties offering 48 months of child care for parents who are enrolled in post-secondary studies,” he said. “Decreasing the benefit to 24 months allows us to still meet the greatest needs, and we will be in alignment with similar benefits across the state.”