EXCERPT FROM: KPLU
By Gary Davis
(KPLU) - Among the budget cuts announced by Governor Chris Gregoire on Thursday are child care subsidies to families on welfare. Gregoire says September's revenue forecast is likely to be bleak, and the outlook prompted her to make $51 million in reductions to the state's Workfirst program.
The governor's plan means fewer hardship extensions for those who've exhausted their benefits. It also ends child care subsidies for families currently on the higher end of eligibility. The changes begin October 1st. Bette Hyde, who directs the state's Department of Early Learning (DEL), says that will give affected families a little time to plan.
"The (relatively speaking) good news is that none of this happens tomorrow, but it will impact a number of families," Hyde told KPLU News on Thursday morning while appearing at a Seattle early education conference.
About 25-hundred families, or about 6% of all families in the program, will be affected. Gregoire's directive eliminates those making 200% of federal poverty level (about $48,000 annual income) for a family four and moving the eligibility limit to 175% of the poverty level. Currently more than 60-thousand families in the state get some form of Workfirst assistance.