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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Subsidy Plan Moving To State Welfare Offices Working Parents Receiving Help With Child Care Upset By Change

Associated Press

A new group of people soon will be visiting state welfare offices, although they may view it as a stigma.

By January, 4,000 Idaho families will have to apply for state child-care benefits.

Those families have been working through private and charitable groups. The change will consolidate eligibility calculations for most public assistance under one agency.

It is designed to bring speedier, one-stop shopping for people who receive child-care subsidies and cash benefits, food stamps or Medicaid, said Kathy James, a state Health and Welfare Department official managing the change.

The new policy is upsetting some people with subsidized child-care who are not welfare recipients, but work and support themselves for the most part.

“Welfare carries a stigma,” said Cheryl Heck, 28, a Boise mother who has received subsidies from the Idaho Child Care Program. “A lot of people aren’t going to want to go to Health and Welfare.”

A few families may even make other arrangements for their children, said Kasha Lawrence, who runs Healthy Beginnings Child Care in Meridian.

Parents might persuade relatives to take care of the youngsters, or take new jobs so at least one adult can be home.

“They’re hard-working parents. They’re proud,” Lawrence said. “Instead of getting a helping hand, they’ll be getting a handout.”

James said the state is not trying to embarrass anyone. It should help ease people’s fears to know that as of July 1, when most of the state’s welfare-reform plan took effect, welfare cash payments no longer are handouts and must be earned through work, she said.

Caught in the middle is Child Care Connections, a nonprofit Boise organization that now determines eligibility and refers families to child-care.

While Child Care does not expect a dramatic loss of revenue with the change, it is concerned about the people involved, director Sharon Bixby said.

About 610 families with 975 children receive state subsidies through Child Care Connections. After the new policy takes effect, many parents still will have to turn to the nonprofit agency after visiting welfare offices, Bixby said, because they will need referrals or advice on child care, something the state will not take over.

Bixby said it seems strange the state is trying to increase its responsibilities at the same time it is trying to curb them by reducing the welfare rolls.

“It makes no sense to move a program over to the welfare office when it has been operating in the private sector efficiently.” she said.