PASADENA - Dozens of people marched in Old Pasadena on Saturday, protesting the threat of cuts to government-provided child care services.
Protestors met in Central Park, then walked up to Colorado Boulevard and did a short loop back to the park, blowing whistles and chanting in English and Spanish the entire time.
The group - made up mainly of child care providers and advocates from throughout Los Angeles County, along with some families - was trying to bring awareness to the risk many low-income families face in losing publicly-funded care.
That threat comes not just from cuts to the state budget, but also from a loss in state funding many county budgets are facing, said Sydney Kamlager, one of the march's organizers.
"This is the third year we've seen cuts it's really horrific," Kamlager said. "It's bad for the public too, because a lot of the families are former welfare recipients who are making the transition to work, and they need the child care to keep their jobs."
When lawmakers approved the state budget in July, it came with $11 billion in social welfare cuts, including cuts to CalWORKS, a state assistance program that covers child care costs for some low-income residents.
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger had originally proposed axing the program entirely, prompting concern about the program's future.
Many of the protestors on Saturday said they have personal stakes in the outcome of any state cuts. Mike Lee, an Alhambra child care provider, said he already has to turn away parents - further cuts would severely limit his ability to accept low-income children.
"There are already a lot of qualified parents that can't get this service," Lee said.
He said about 30 percent of his business comes from parents who receive state money. If that money is reduced, he said, he would have to look into accepting more business from parents who can afford to pay the full price.
For Irene Banuelos, a Monrovia resident who works in Pasadena, the state assistance she receives to send her two children to after-school child-care programs is crucial.
"Without that service I'd have a hard time finding a way to keep them in a program," said Banuelos, who has a 7-year-old and 12-year-old. "I'm concerned because I know there will be more cuts coming."