The county has, over the past five years, cut the amount it pays toward child day care subsidies by approximately $2.6 million. County Legislature Democrats today asked County Executive Cheryl Dinolfo to put back $1 million of the funding in her upcoming 2017 budget proposal.
The ask echoes a request from the Children’s Agenda, which says that the need for day care assistance exceeds the number of available slots. Democrats and advocates say that an increase in child care subsidies would lead to more open slots, which would allow more low-income parents to work and become self-sufficient.Â
“If there’s good will for a cause, there’s a way,” Democratic Minority Leader Cynthia Kaleh said during a press conference this afternoon.
Through a series of cuts, the county dropped its funding for child care subsidies from $8.2 million in 2011 to $5.6 million in the 2016 budget. The state has modestly increased the amount of funding it provides the county for the subsidies.  So the funding has remained effectively flat, while the cost of child care has increased, and demand has grown, especially in the suburbs.
“We need this,” said Legislator Vincent Felder. “It’s important for all of our residents.”
Former County Executive Maggie Brooks and members of her administration pushed back against previous requests for more child care funding. They said that the county had done its part by consistently providing substantially more money than the state required, and that it was time for the state to step up and help the county meet local child care subsidy needs.
Dinolfo will most likely release her budget proposal after Election Day.
This article appears in Oct 19-25, 2016.
We are grateful to any and all champions of increased access to child care assistance, particularly for children of low-income working families in our community. But we do not wish to see the interests of children rendered into a partisan issue; that does not help the cause. Access to child care is not limited to city residents versus county residents, it’s not limited solely to people living in poverty, and its certainly not limited to champions in any single party.
We applaud County Executive Cheryl Dinolfo and her Administration’s commitment to child care assistance, as demonstrated by their increased spending this year over and above what the County budgeted.
This was not addressed as a partisan issue. Along with asking the County administration to increase its allocation we are also asking the Governor and State Legislature to increase child care funding. We also mentioned the new Federal child care regulations that amount to an unfunded mandate.
The information we presented about the cuts to child care funding over the last five years came from your office.
We stated that the need for child care subsidies is increasing in the suburbs, and that it is not just a City issue. We also said that we are hopeful that with a new County Executive and a new Human Services Commissioner, things will change. We fully understand that Mrs. Dinolfo is not the blame for what has happened in the past.
While I understand that you have been speaking with the Administration, and that you value your relationship with them, I am disappointed that you would frame what happened yesterday as the Democrats making this a partisan issue. You should have called our office and asked us what was said before posting your comments.
I look forward to continuing to work with The Children’s Agenda to make child care accessible and affordable for all who need it.
Vincent R. Felder
Monroe County Legislator
District 22