ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Friday, April 11, 1997 TAG: 9704110088
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: ELIZABETH SIMPSON LANDMARK NEWS SERVICE
With welfare changes coming, day care needs are sure to exceed the money available to pay for them.
One hundred million dollars may sound like a big wad of cash - until you try to divide the money among all the people in the state who need help paying for child care during a statewide roll-out of welfare changes.
The state's Department of Social Services is trying to hammer out a plan for how best to use a $100 million pot of federal and state funds designated for subsidies and improvements to the commonwealth's child-care system during the next fiscal year.
An initial plan put forth by the department is already mired in controversy.
Some child advocates say not enough money goes toward improving the quality of child care. Others worry that the working poor will be edged out of child-care subsidies by those who are just coming off welfare. And still others believe the plan doesn't designate enough money to help parents find quality day care in the first place.
The debate is coming down to a classic problem of too many needs and not enough money.
In the past, the money for child-care subsidies and for improving the quality of child care has been doled out of a variety of funds, each with a separate set of requirements. But this year the state Department of Social Services has combined all the child-care funding into a lump sum. The fund includes federal block grants, matching state dollars and money the state has transferred from Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (formerly known as Aid to Families With Dependent Children) because of declining welfare rolls.
A spending plan must be submitted to the federal government by July 1, and the state is asking for public comment before submitting a final strategy.
Written comments can be submitted to the department, or those interested can attend one of four public hearings.
``We want as much public input as possible,'' said Betsy Riopelle, planning and policy director for the state's Department of Social Services. ``This is a working draft.'' Riopelle said the state would take into account the concerns raised by the public before submitting a plan to the federal government.
Paul McWhinney, a member of the Virginia League of Social Service Executives, said one of the organization's concerns is that the plan allows welfare recipients who recently secured jobs to receive free child care, while working poor families who receive subsidies must pay some type of co-payment, generally 10 percent of their income.
McWhinney said the lack of a co-payment for welfare families will create an incentive for staying on public assistance. ``If you have people earning equal incomes under equal circumstances, there's an incentive to stay on welfare if everything is paid for,'' McWhinney said.
If the plan were changed to require welfare recipients to pay a small amount, the child-care subsidies also could be spread among more people, he said.
But Arlene Wright, a Norfolk woman who used to receive welfare and who now runs a day-care business, said some of the parents whose children she cares for are working their way off welfare. She said they would have a hard time paying anything in the early stages of getting a job.
``It would really help them to not pay anything in the beginning,'' she said. ``It's a tough transition.''
The current plan gives priority for child-care subsidies to people who have jobs over those who are receiving training or education, which also has raised concern.
``Those are people who really need to have some support while they are training, so they can get skilled jobs rather than minimum-wage jobs and stay off of welfare,'' said Kathryn Wolf, director of child-care services at The Planning Council, a Norfolk-based human services agency that administers child-care subsidies.
Wolf also believes that improving the quality of child care gets short shrift under the state plan. About 4 percent of the money, or $4 million, is pegged for scholarships for training child-care providers and for resources to help educate parents on choosing child care. That amount is the minimum the federal government requires be spent.
``Quality enhancement of day care is essential,'' said Suzanne Johnson, executive director of the Virginia Action Alliance for Children, a state children's advocacy group. ``The day-care industry will be having more and more children who come from more problematic backgrounds, and their lives and potential can only be enhanced if staff is well trained.''
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