Early Childhood Focus

Agencies Say Losing Subsidies Would Hurt Services in Cash-Strapped Times

Mon, 15 Feb 2010 09:18:37 PST

EXCERPT FROM: Quincy Herald-Whig
By Edward Husar
Officials with agencies that get subsidies from the city of Quincy say the money is vital to their operations, and the agencies would be hurt or threatened if the money was taken away.

Parents Plead for Continued Child Care Subsidy

Wed, 27 Jan 2010 18:44:19 PST

EXCERPT FROM: The Buffalo News
By Harold McNeil
Sherine Weaver of Buffalo fought to keep her composure as she pleaded with county officials Wednesday not to cut off her child care subsidy for her two children.

Child Care Subsidy Dried Up in Madison County

Wed, 13 Jan 2010 10:23:49 PST

EXCERPT FROM: NewsChannel 9 WSYR
Syracuse (WSYR-TV) - It's only January, but Madison County�s child care subsidy for 2010 has already dried up. Parents and children are now on a waiting list for assistance.

Child-care Audit Finds 600 Overdue Inspections, Other Problems

Fri, 18 Dec 2009 10:41:49 PST

EXCERPT FROM: Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
By Raquel Rutledge
State auditors identified a string of regulatory gaps in Wisconsin's child-care program, including more than 600 sites with overdue inspections and at least 200 criminal background checks that hadn't been done.

State Delays New Child Subsidy Rules

Mon, 14 Dec 2009 18:26:37 PST

EXCERPT FROM: The Honolulu Advertiser
By Suzanne Roig
The state will delay, by one month, a change in the child care subsidy scale to give providers and families time to work out solutions and apply for federal grants.

2 Child Care Owners Charged With Defrauding Wisconsin Shares Program

Mon, 07 Dec 2009 09:27:05 PST

EXCERPT FROM: Journal Sentinel
By Raquel Rutledge
Two Milwaukee child-care providers who reaped more than $5 million from the troubled Wisconsin Shares program in recent years were charged Thursday with bilking the taxpayer-financed program out of more than $1 million.

State Suspends Payments to 36 Child Care Providers

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 13:10:21 PST

EXCERPT FROM: WKOW 27
By Associated Press
MADISON, Wis. (AP) - The state suspended payments to 36 child care providers in October based on suspicions of fraud.

Dover Child-care Center Asks City to Continue Full Rent Subsidy

Wed, 18 Nov 2009 17:48:55 PST

EXCERPT FROM: Foster's Daily Democrat
By Leslie Modica
DOVER � A nonprofit that provides child care primarily for low-income families is struggling to pay its rent in the McConnell Center and now the City Council must decide if it will increase its planned subsidy while the McConnell Center continues to operate in the red.

State Offers Subsidy on Child-care Fee

Tue, 17 Nov 2009 18:17:17 PST

EXCERPT FROM: The Arizona Republic
By Casey Newton
Licensing fees for Arizona child-care facilities will rise less sharply than first proposed thanks to a creative use of federal funds by the Department of Health Services.

Officials Examine 15 Child-care Providers in Fraud Inquiry

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 13:44:07 PST

EXCERPT FROM: Wisconsin State Journal
By Jason Stein
State officials looking for cases of fraud in a child-care subsidy program are investigating 15 providers getting paid by the state to watch school-age children nearly full time, saying they'll likely suspend payments to at least one of the centers as a result.

Legislature Passes Tougher Child-care Reforms

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 18:21:12 PST

EXCERPT FROM:
Journal Sentinel
By Raquel Rutledge
Madison - Lawmakers unanimously approved a wide-reaching bill Thursday aimed at curbing fraud and keeping criminals out of the state's troubled taxpayer-supported child-care program.

Action Allows Recovery of Payments to Child Care Scams

Tue, 20 Oct 2009 12:56:21 PST

Madison - A bill that would allow the state to recover improper payments from the Wisconsin Shares program - by holding child-care owners and officers personally liable - passed the Legislature without opposition Tuesday.

List of Child Care Providers Cut Off Hits 99

Thu, 15 Oct 2009 11:19:19 PST

In a fourth wave of crackdowns on child-care providers in the last month, state regulators cut funding this week to 11 more providers suspected of stealing tax dollars and committing other violations. The move brings the total to 99 since mid-September when the department launched the first major sweep following an investigation by the Journal Sentinel exposing ongoing fraud in the state's $350 million child-care subsidy program.

Funds Now Cut for 88 Child-Care Providers

Tue, 06 Oct 2009 12:05:47 PST

State regulators have cut taxpayer funding to 19 more child-care providers on suspicion of fraud or other program violations, officials announced Monday.

Cherokee Subsidy Program Helps Parents Go To Work

Tue, 06 Oct 2009 11:33:11 PST

TAHLEQUAH, Okla. � Cherokee Nation employee Jennifer Hughes works full time during the day and is a full-time college student at night. As a single mother, she would not be able to do that because of expensive child care costs if not for the CN Child Care and Development Subsidy Program.

New Bills Attack Fraud and Criminal Involvement in Child Care Program

Thu, 01 Oct 2009 10:09:46 PST

A new bill would make it a crime for state and county workers to look the other way when child care providers commit fraud in the Wisconsin Shares program.

Wisconsin Lawmakers Investigate Child Care Subsidy Fraud

Thu, 01 Oct 2009 09:04:38 PST

MADISON (WPR) The agency head in charge of Wisconsin's trouble-ridden child care subsidy says almost all of the program's problems with fraud originate in Milwaukee County.

Wis. Official Says Fraud Threatens to Crumble Entire Child Care Subsidy Program

Tue, 29 Sep 2009 14:29:50 PST

MADISON, Wis. (AP) � The head of the Wisconsin state agency in charge of overseeing a child care subsidy program says failing to stop fraud in Milwaukee County has the potential to "crumble the entire program."

Another Eau Claire County Childcare Shut Down After State Audit

Tue, 29 Sep 2009 13:07:14 PST

Eau Claire (WQOW) -Another Eau Claire County daycare is in trouble with the state for child care fraud.

Audit Matches 4 Child Care Addresses With Sex Offenders

Thu, 24 Sep 2009 09:37:44 PST

Madison � An audit of the Wisconsin Shares program released Wednesday found four cases where the addresses of in-home child-care providers matched those of registered sex offenders.