Fiscal Note
No expenditure is required to accept the report, nor does the Resolution commit the City to additional appropriations. Funding for the implementation of the report's recommendations would require additional appropriations and further Council approval via inclusion in future budgets or amendments to the current budget.
Title
Accepting a report from the Early Childhood Care and Education Board and requesting that the Common Council provide funding to support a series of strategies to stabilize and expand quality child care options available to families residing in the Allied Drive neighborhood.
Body
Whereas Dane County Human Services estimates approximately 321 children ages 0-5 in Allied Drive;
Whereas Dane County Parent Council has a waiting list of 123 children who reside in Allied Drive;
Whereas existing child care options located in Allied Drive are not sufficient to meet the need and therefore not sufficient to support the City's goal of opportunity for families in Allied;
Whereas, in many cases, Allied residents are selecting substandard care as the only available option;
Whereas many child care programs serving low income families have become unstable due to cuts in Wisconsin Shares with 13 family child care providers closing their businesses in Allied in 2006 alone;
Whereas it's no longer financially feasible to provide quality child care in low-income neighborhoods because the costs must be paid by parents without adequate funds;
Whereas disruptions in child care funding leads to instability for the child, which has shown to be developmentally harmful;
Whereas research has shown that children enrolled in high quality child care programs were more likely to have finished high school than children who were not in quality programs, less likely to have been held back in school, less likely to have needed remedial help and less likely to have been arrested;
Now therefore be it resolved that the Common Council receives the report of the Early Childhood Care and Education, "Child Care in Allied Drive" and
Be it finally resolved that the Common Council consider funding the recommended strategies outlined within the report:
Detailed Recommendations:
1. Explore the possibility of expanding the YWCA contract to provide additional transportation services for the purpose of allowing families to secure and use accredited child care outside of the neighborhood.
Projected Funding: $8320 funding per year would support transportation services for 5 children to and from a child care program within a 5-mile radius of the neighborhood.
2. Provide additional City funding to stabilize the Dane County Parent Council (Head Start) Great Beginnings program on Verona Road while working with the agency in developing short and long-term plans for financial stability, which may include relocation of the program.
Projected Funding: $35,000 will be help Dane County Parent Council cope with parents' inability to meet their co pay requirements and help cover lapses in funding.
3. Provide City of Madison capital budget funding needed to construct and provide for the start-up costs of a model center for early education and care. The City, working in partnership with the University of Wisconsin has developed a design for a 11,000+ square foot child care center for 80 children ranging in age from 6 weeks to 6 years, with the goal of serving 40 children from the Allied Drive area and 40 children of University faculty, staff and graduate students.
Projected Funding: Approximately $2.3 million would cover construction costs and start-up funding for the center. In addition, there would need to be an operating subsidy of $135,200, annually, to allow the center to serve low-income children whose families have unrealistic co-payments under the current Wisconsin Shares program.
Further Joint Solutions:
The Mayor solicit the cooperation of and work collaboratively with the Mayor of Fitchburg in order to develop a joint solution to the child care issues in Allied.