SANTA FE SPRINGS - There will be day care this year in the city for about 90 low-income families despite the state eliminating close to $300,000 in financial assistance.
The City Council has unanimously approved dipping into city reserves to subsidize these families, mostly single-parent households.
The $274,631 for the school age child care program, located at two sites, will come from the city's $12.4 million in reserves.
"It's not news we're in this position because of the state," said City Manager Fred Latham.
"They basically said to us, `Tell your parents to go home,"' he said.
Alternatives looked at where to send families out of the city to have access to affordable child care before and after school.
"This was unacceptable," said Councilman Joe Serrano.
A portion of the programs at the Los Nietos and Lakeview child care centers for those in kindergarten through sixth grade was paid through a contract with the State Department of Education.
"It enabled the city to offer reduced fees or no fees to qualified families," Latham said.
Councilman Bill Rounds said the council never considered closing the programs.
"They are too important to our families," he said.
Even under a new weekly fee structure, with before and after school costing $88 a week; $57 a week for after school only; and $36 a week for before school only, the cost was too expensive for some.