EXCERPT FROM: The Press-Enterprise
By Aaron Burgin
Working families in need of affordable child care in several Riverside County areas are set to receive a needed assist, Riverside County Office of Education and Riverside County First 5 officials said.
Since January, the children's services unit of the Office of Education's Division of Children and Family Services has been awarding scholarships to children across the county to partially or fully offset the cost of child care.
The program was made possible by an $8 million grant from First 5. Scholarships have been given to parents of children in several cities and towns designated as "high need areas," including Moreno Valley, Hemet, Perris, San Jacinto and several towns in Coachella Valley. Selection was based on income levels and a large number of children below age 6.
"We really feel that this program is making a difference and filling a need that is desperately needed," program Director Sharon Baskett said.
The First 5 Riverside Commission in August agreed to set aside more than $10 million to improve child care access and help struggling health and child care programs, $8 million of which is being used for the program.
Nearly 300 families have either applied or are in the process of applying for the scholarships, which will pay for child care through June 30, 2011, when the grant expires. The Office of Education is hoping to reach about 800 families.
Riverside County is notorious for its lack of affordable child care, usually ranking among the bottom of the counties in terms of access to the service, according to independent researchers.
One reason, Baskett said, is that many of the families who need child care make too much money to qualify for subsidized services, such as the state's Head Start program.
"We needed to raise the income ceiling so that we would be able to target many of these 'working poor' families," Baskett said. "The families who qualify for the low-cost programs are fine; it is the families who have to pay for fee-based programs who are suffering.
"In many cases, it's either child care or rent."
First 5 is a county entity that distributes state tobacco-tax money to early childhood programs, including those for health and child care and education. The money, which began flowing after voters approved Prop.10 in 1998, must be targeted toward programs that benefit infants and children who are younger than 6 years old.