Spokane7
50°
November 13, 2010 in City
Cuts hit program funding child care
Subsidies help low-income workers
Crystal Watkins, a single working mother of two girls, Andrea, 4, and Autumn, 6, is in danger of losing her child care subsidy.
(Full-size photo)
More than 4,000 working poor households across the state will lose their child care subsidies in the coming year as a result of budget cuts to Washington WorkFirst, the state’s temporary assistance program.
Crystal Watkins, of Spokane, depends on the subsidy, called Working Connections, which helps provide safe child care for her two children while she works.
“It will totally turn my life upside down,” said Watkins, a 27-year-old single mother. “I will have to find another job for which I also will have to find child care.”
Watkins now works 40 hours a week for a local bank, and earns less than $2,671 a month, 175 percent of the federal poverty level, which qualifies her for Working Connections help with child care.
She pays $344 a month for full-time child care for her 4-year-old and part-time care for her 6-year-old kindergartner. The state pays the remainder of the cost of the family’s child care, which is nearly $900 a month.
But beginning Jan. 1, the state will restrict the eligibility for the program to households making less than 150 percent of the poverty level, or $2,289 a month for a family of three.
This means Watkins and 4,114 other Washington families will lose their child care subsidies as they come up for reauthorization next year, said Amy Blondin, a spokeswoman for the Department of Early Learning.
The reduction is intended to save the state about $31.6 million from the $300 million spent on the program in 2010 as Gov. Chris Gregoire orders an across-the-board state budget cut of 6.3 percent.
“This really is penny-wise and pound-foolish,” said Joel Ryan, executive director of the Washington State Association of Head Start and Early Child Education and Assistance Program.
“These are people who are off welfare or never have been on welfare,” Ryan said. “If they had to pay the full freight of child care, they wouldn’t be able to do it. Many will have no option and end up on (Temporary Assistance for Needy Families).”
The new cut to Working Connections follows a reduction in October, in which the eligibility requirement was lowered from 200 percent to the current 175 percent of poverty level, resulting in 2,500 families losing their subsidies.
More than 37,000 Washington households a month are helped by Working Connections, Blondin said. In June, more than 3,900 families relied on the child care subsidies in Spokane County.
“We know these cuts are going to be hurtful to families,” Blondin said, but they reflect the state of an economy in which the number of people needing help continues to rise even as the funding to support them dries up.
In a letter to WorkFirst employees this week, Susan Dreyfus, the secretary of the Department of Social and Health Services, warned that additional cuts of $25 million may be necessary.
In addition, Dreyfus said, “further reductions as high as $61 million may be necessary if Congress does not approve soon a one-year extension of the TANF Emergency Contingency fund.”
Rights panel poorly understood 
Bob_Knows on November 13 at 8:31 a.m.
Back in the day, women got MARRIED and became SAHMs. Now our state PAYS women to be single mothers. Its time to stop paying single mothers. Its time to stop paying to destroy marriage and family. The state should be encouraging marriage and family instead of paying young women to be single mothers. This is a step in the right direction, but the tax budget need a lot more cuts.
soccermomsusie on November 13 at 9:35 a.m.
“Bob Knows” - You are right! There ought to be an income tax deduction if you are married!
However, a lot of these ladies are going to marry guys without jobs, so we should make the deduction allowable only if they marry wealthy men.
BTW, I can’t believe you say that giving unmarried mom’s welfare money is destroying marriage! Everyone knows that these are the things that are killing marriage and the family in this country:
1. Gay marriage.
2. Not extending GWB’s (best president) tax cuts for billionaires (our betters).
3. People making fun of Sarah Palin.
4. Demoncrat’s War on Christmas.
5. Dino being denied-o by dumb-ohs.
6. Labor unions. I know they used to be the reason we had SAH moms, but now they should give up and join us in serving our betters (corporations).
7. Canada.
HEAR OUR VOICE!!!!
509ifyourlucky on November 13 at 10:36 a.m.
Its about time the state gets a little smarter on spending and cut paying child care when these single women earn more than $2000.00 for 2 children. I go by the rule if you think you cant afford children then don’t do the deed to make them.
Diana on November 13 at 12:23 p.m.
Gee, bob_knows_nothing, what about all those fathers who simply step away from their responsibilities? That didn’t happen back in the day?
misteralvin on November 13 at 1:23 p.m.
Self righteous ugly Christians here. Eastern Washington is full of them.Can’t read well enough to understand the bible.Bob knows nothing,soccer mom is lucky not to have an ex who beats on her or a flake,druggie or criminal to neglect her and the children. The aid is for the children mainly who are innocent.
These are the mom’s who didn”t take the easy way out and have an abortion and are working trying to stay off welfare, So a compassionate person would be sad for them,pray for them perhaps. Malicious attacks on the downtrodden, the victim’s of the Bush years is disgusting,
Dazzeetrader11 on November 13 at 4:53 p.m.
Alvin, DIan, etc…talk the women who can’t afford children ( except off the taxpayers’ money) to quit having kids. Sure the children are innocent..the culprits are the women…married or not. It’s the women. If you cannot afford kids, well…don’t have them.
OH I know…it’s those evil men who “hit and run”. Might be…irrelevant when the women are the ones who open themselves and their children up to poverty. This isn’t a diatribe against unwed mothers..it’s the irresponsible women who just have kids with no thought of their children’s future. But whining when you can’t provide and then stickin your hand out for other’s money seems a bit goofy.
Another solution might be to keep ur damned knees together and have some discipline. YOU screw up? YOU pay. It’s apycheck for many women…the more kids..the more money. Can’t continue.
hawken on November 13 at 5:58 p.m.
Thank you Daisy!
I had the same thought…. but I am totally unequipped to make the same point with any authority.
Diana on November 13 at 6:23 p.m.
Doozy, it takes two to tango. Why just blame the women? Oh right, I forgot. Women should keep their knees together per your suggestion.
hawken, maybe you can do the diatribe against irresponsible men who have kids and walk away with no thought of their children’s future.
hawken on November 13 at 6:36 p.m.
Diana …
No doubt… they are bums, jerks, low-lives, and on an on. Too many men, too often, think with only their penis…
In the end…. it’s women who say “yes” or “no”….
In the end… it’s women who decide whether or not there will be sex.
In the end…. it’s the women whom become pregnant…
In the end…. it’s such women who number in the millions, getting paid by the government to have children.
Liberal left, big government, facilitates such irresponsibility…. and thus, vicariously, pro-creates even more liberals…. whom want more and more from the government.
Yes,,,, blame it on the millions of women who don’t know how to keep their knees together.
Quit rewarding them for their irresponsibility.
misteralvin on November 13 at 10:33 p.m.
Here’s an idea. Let’s make it possible for women to get advice and education as to how to avoid an unwanted pregnancy. That way no one would have to pay for the consequenses of hot passion and love of the moment which, no doubt, is how a lot of us came to be. It has always been mistifying to me how most of the oppression of women throughout history has been at the hands of other women. So are you all anti sex,anti passion? Even our leader Sarah Palin has a bas**** in the family and punished her wayward daughter by making her appear at abstinance rallys. Absurd. It could happen to your rightous family too. In the end help to the working poor is about the children. We got money for the banks ,we got money for the war machine, got no money for the kids.
Ed Byrnes on November 14 at 12:55 a.m.
Whatever ones beliefs about sexual mores we should at least wonder what will happen to these children? Will they be left with irresponsible and possibly dangerous people? Will they live on the streets, or in temporary shelters at best, if their mothers cannot maintain the meager jobs that they have? It seems that many are willing, no eager, to visit the mistakes of the mother on the child.
These are the children who we have saddled with debt from the current and previous administrations expenditures. These are the children who will be supporting us in some form of Social Security and Medicare when we retire. What about paying it forward?
Ed
Rock60 on November 14 at 7:42 a.m.
Maybe they could use their income redistributive EITC (earned income tax credit) to pay for their needed childcare.
Coffee on November 14 at 9:44 a.m.
Here is an idea, reduce all state teachers, city and county government workers pay to no more than 50k a year. Give cops, firemen etc a 10% danger pay bump. Take all the money generated and use it for welfare.
zelda on November 14 at 11:04 a.m.
This is the culture of welfare that Sen. Patrick Moynihan so famously wrote about many years ago.
My advice to young women is that if you want a lasting memento of your undying passion for a man, get a tattoo that says “Laramie Forever” (or whatever truck he’s named after) and skip having his baby.
lauri on November 24 at 7:46 a.m.
Wow…I found these comments unbelievable in this day and age. As for bob_knows and the others that agree with him, Did you ever stop to think that, like me, the mother of a child who is getting help with daycare, who WAS married and WAS a SAHM to a man that worked and made plenty of money and took cared of the family, but he also became dangerously abusive AFTER our child was born…I suppose that is the womans fault as well? I suppose I should have stayed in that relationship for “the child’s sake” Or until I ended up dead and left my child with an abusive man…or maybe I should have been able to read into the future before getting married and having a child with him. I’m now a full time student getting my RN degree and without this help I would not be able to do it and the father is no where to be found and there is no child support coming in. Seriously, judge ye lest you be not judged!
cmg1069 on January 14 at 4:57 p.m.
You know what BOB! Let me educate you on something as you sound like you may need it! I am a single mom of 3 kids and I have a good job! Yes, I make above min wage because I have worked hard to better myself - to make a good life for myself and kids! I left a man that beat me because I didnt want my sons thinking it was ok to beat on a woman nor my daughter to think it was ok to take it. I was on welfare for 1 year and finally landed a break - Ive been at my job for almost 3 years now and I will continue to show my kids that if you work hard enough - good things will come to you. The state helped me with my daycare as I couldnt afford the total expense - I paid a copay based on my income. I receive not a PENNY from their worthless POS dad and I support them on what I make. Come Feb, I will now spend over 1200.00 on rent/daycare expense alone! Add in the utilies and other household expenses and I am working for free! Its sad that the governor that people elected in - is making cuts in the area that help people stay employed! Why doesnt she and her staff take a salary cut, and others in government? Oh NO they wouldnt take away from themselves! just others! Heres a news flash for you, BOB - come Feb 1st - the only daycare assistance will be given to those that are on TANF (in case you dont know what that is, its welfare)! So a family of 2 - on TANF makes 382.00 a month from the state and THEY will qualify for daycare assistance. Do you have ANY idea how many people are not going to be able to afford to work as they cant afford 550.00 a month for 1 child in daycare? You watch and see how many people end up on welfare with this ‘budget cut’…. In closing - yes in the good ole days, marriages stayed together no matter what… even if the woman was being beaten…. thank the Lord above that women learned how to stand up and say “NO MORE” and they take their children out of that situation!