EXCERPT FROM: St. Cloud Times
By Kirsti Marohn
Stearns County will get less money this year to help low- and moderate-income families pay for child care despite a growing number who are waiting for aid.
That's led county officials to call for statewide changes in the program, which has seen rising demand due to the tough economic times.
The county will receive $1.1 million in state funding for the basic sliding fee program this year, about $56,000 less than it got in 2009.
Each county's funding is based on what it spent two years ago.
Stearns County started a waiting list in April 2009, and by December it had swelled to 187 families, said Janet Goligowski, gateway services director with the human services department, at Tuesday's county board meeting.
In fact, Goligowski said the waiting list is longer than the number of families receiving assistance through the program, which numbers about 170.
To qualify for the basic sliding fee, families must earn no more than 47 percent of the state's median income — $32,167 for a family of three.
All families who receive the subsidy must pay a co-payment.