ASHEVILLE – Buncombe County may be in danger of losing one of its two child care centers licensed to work with children with developmental disabilities.
That's what parents and other community members fear will happen if the county sells the Buncombe County Community Child Care Center in West Asheville. In the interest of cost-cutting, the county is seeking proposals from agencies interested in acquiring its largest child care center.
The center's license to care for children with development disabilities is not transferable.
A new provider would have to earn its own license, and at the moment that is not possible. Because the state's mental health services system is in flux, there is no way for a child care service provider that doesn't already have one to obtain a developmental license. It is unclear when such a process will be in place.
As the economy continues to take its toll on local government, all Buncombe County department heads have been instructed to cut operating expenses by 5 percent in the current fiscal year budget, which ends June 30. One way to do that is to cut nonmandated services like child care.
“Two years ago, we were instructed to start methodically going through programs and for those that are nonmandated to look at our options,” County Manager Wanda Greene said. “We still wanted to continue to provide services, but we wanted to see if anyone else was interested in them.”
Last week, the county sent requests to child care providers asking them to submit proposals to take over the Community Child Care Center. The proposals are due by Feb. 13, at which point county officials will prepare a recommendation to county commissioners.
The county contributes $730,000 to its three child care centers, with the community center getting the largest portion of that. For now, the county plans to retain control of the other two, Valley Child Care Center at Community High School and A-B Tech Child Care Center on the Asheville-Buncombe Technical Community College campus.
Greene said all of those funds would still be used for child care, with money formerly spent at the community center being used for drop-in child care for parents taking classes or looking for a job. It could also be used for families awaiting approval of financial assistance for daycare.
“It would help us target that funding to meet some other special needs in that area,” she said.
The Community Child Care Center is one of only two centers in the county that are licensed developmental day care centers. The other center is the Irene Wortham Center. Those centers have significantly smaller staff-to-child ratios.
The center serves 60 children from infancy through age 5. From 30-50 percent of the population consists of children with special needs, and the center has nine children who receive developmental services.
“What I typically would tell a parent who comes along on a tour is every center has to take a child with special needs. We take the ones that other programs would not be able to take due to undue burden,” said Laurie Barnwell, director of the center.
More than 75 percent of the families with children at the center receive some sort of financial assistance.
The center is a five-star facility, the highest rating the state gives. In seeking a new provider, the county says it is looking for those that can maintain that high level of care, as well as one that can expand the capacity while continuing to serve children with developmental needs.
The county is also looking for a provider that could buy the building that houses the center, which is valued at more than $1 million.
Although the county would work to make sure that the new service provider could offer the same programs the center currently provides, there are no guarantees. There are also no assurances that the 16 staff members at the center will keep their jobs under new management. That worries parents.
Letters were sent home to parents Monday explaining the possible changes. The Buncombe County Child Care services director was also on hand at the center to answer questions. Several parents were planning to attend today's county commissioners meeting to voice their concerns.