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Agenda 12/16/2008 Item # 6E Agenda Item No. 6E December 16, 2008 COllIER COUNTY Page 1 of 5 OFFICE OF THE COUNTY MANAGER 3301 East Tamiami Trail' Naples. Aorida 34112' (239) 252-8383' FAX: (239) 252-4010 December 3, 2008 Ms. Kathleen Reynolds, Executive Director Community Coordinated Care for Children, Inc. 201 81h Street South, Suite 200 Naples, FL 34102 Re: Public Petition Request to Discuss Funding For The Early Learning Program (Child Care Subsidy Program) Dear Ms. Reynolds: Please be advised that you are scheduled to appear before the Collier County Board of Commissioners at the meeting of December 16, 2008 regarding the above referenced subject. Your petition to the Board of County Commissioners will be limited to ten minutes. Please be advised that the Board will take no action on your petition at this meeting. However, your petition may be placed on a future agenda for consideration at the Board's discretion. If the subject matter is currently under litigation or is an on-going Code EnfOrcement case, the Board will hear the item but will not discuss the item after it has been presented. Therefore, your petition to the Board should be to advise them of your concern and the need for action by the Board at a future meeting. The meeting will begin at 9:00 a.m. in the Board's Chambers on the Third Fioor of the W. Harmon Turner Building (Building "F") of the government complex. Please arrange to be present at this meeting and to respond to inquiries by Board members. If you require any further information or assistance, please do not hesitate to contact this office. Sincerely, /7 ;~/ ~ ~:~~;r County Manager JVM/jb cc: Jeffrey Klatzkow. County Attorney if 2008-2009 Funding Request to the Collier County Board of County Commissioners ge de I~~~ Dee mbW' EARLY LEARNING co7\Tfrf6 N or SOUT"WfH ,';'"QiiD'A. Project for Which We are Requesting Funding: The Early Learning Program (Child Care Subsidy Program) Amoun~. of Funding Requested: $150,000.00 Petitioning Agendes: Early Learning Coalition of Southwest Florida 5256 Summerlin Commons Boulevard, Suite #201 Fort Myers, FL 33907 Internet Address: www.elcofswfl.orR FederallD # State Charitable 10 #: Contact Person: Kathleen Reynolds, Executive Director 239-267-4105 Kathleen.Reynolds@elcofswfl.org Community Coordinated Care for Children, Inc. (4C) 201 S,. Street South, Suite 200 Naples, FL 341D2 Internet Address: www.4d1orida.orR FederallD # 59-1371754 State Charitable 10 #CH2ooo Contact Person: Deborah Carr, Community Relations, 239-93S-6137 decarr@4dlorida.org The Eany Learning Program administered by the Early Learning Coalition of Southwest Florida and Community Coordinated Care for Children, Inc. (4C) provides a unique service to the local community by helping families meet the crucial need for accessible, affordable child care in Collier County. The program provides financial child care assistance to working poor families with children ages birth to 13 years of age living at or below 150 to 200% of the Federal Poverty Level, who otherwise could not afford the cost of child care. The program enables parents to accept or maintain employment critical to supporting the family, while facilitating eligible children from all geographic and demographic population groups throughout Collier County to attend high quality child care programs that prepare them for school and lifelong success. At the same time, the program supports families in moving toward self-sufficiency and contributes to a more viable economy. Poverty is a downward spiral for many families that exacerbates a host of life stresses. Without intervention, many families are forced to perpetuate a cycle of financial instability. The Early Learning Program is an empowering resource for Collier County supporting children who typically are in danger of educational deprivation. The Early Learning Program pays full or partial child care costs with the parent or guardian paying a small fee based on a sliding fee scale relating to family size, income and need. Over 1,800 total children in Collier County are currently being served through the Early Learning Program, including over 800 children in the category known as "BG-8 or working poor." Parents eligible for the program fill entry level and hourly jobs that while essential to maintaining Collier County's service economy, often pay low to moderate wages. These employees include ~ hotel/motel workers, landscaping and cleaning service personnel, restaurant and retail personnel, agribusiness, sanitation and public works, health care, and community and social services employees who are a vital part of the local business and tourism infrastructure in Collier County. ~1i~~Y}t,~rf~~~~~~~4P.1~~~~~~~i{~~Wd:~Wf(~~t"1.P')~il;tt*~~t~f~:t~~':<.';~IDJ.'~ti~~~~v~'t..g~!f-{&"??~~-;~'5%...,,;It,tj,~~~~p'i~~'~~\1f:ir~~~,i&~j~~~rv W. ~Ji ~ : 1.),,f >>;;' '1',; . 1.:' )It";; l'[. . '\ t \;1' 'l\ ", ~ ,,' 1, ' 1",~ 1','; '''" '-ic -: t. ., ,'t:, . "~" -; 1;';"" ~ 0 , . "',:: : ^: . ~\'P.:"f~tk~~"'t!~~Et>'7,,'x'1i"i(j~(,,;lt,,~ ~~~~ailil\f:i'~!'~~~~mri!!!til~~~~~'iY[.\~~tA~I"~I'j.~"i~,*[,,;tff:{)~~~~;'fi~\ifi?~'tl.'.li'f~;:l!Ji,,;;o';.~;'~j;'~f.f:Ifk~~'tj~,;0l~>t;;"1tll,'%\)~~~%~!!lI~!',iI;((':,i;;{:.~'1};:b-'/"l1!::7' Agenda Item No BE Children enrolled in the category of child care known as <<income eligible~' (also known as working poor,..BG-8) are subject to a 6% match requirement in order to draw down funds from the State of Florida to operate the Early Learning Program. A cha. in the State legislative proviso language resulted in match dollars having to be raised for every dollar used for child care assistance for the BG-8 category. For every $1 raised locallv. the Aaencv for Workforce Innovation Office of EarlvLeamina (AWIIOEL) matches $15.57 for a total allotted cao of $2.7 million in BG-8 funds set aside for the Earlv Learnina Proaram in Collier County. This translates into $161.155 in local match dollars that 4C and the Earlv Leamina Coalition must raise for the 2008-2009 fiscal year. Raisina local match dollars is crucial in servina aur Colliercountv children. If local match funds are not raised, State and Federal subsidies cannot be drawn down putting local families at risk of disenrollment from services. Hun- dreds of Collier County businesses who depend on reliable employees, as well as hundreds of local child care providers who depend on revenue from subsidized children to be able to maintain their businesses would suffer. A $150.000 contribution from the Collier County Board of County Commissioners would allow 4C and the Early Leamina Coalition to receive $2.3 million in State matchina funds for direct use for families residina in Collier County that otherwise would ao to another county in Florida. The Collier County Board of County Commissioners fundina will enable 4Cand the Coalition to continue to serve 800 of the County's most disadvantaaedchildren. Another 1,139 children are on the waiting list for services as slots become available. Grant dollars provided by the Collier County Board of County Commissioners are a vital and important part of providing children access to structured, high quality learning experiences that prepare them to enter school ready to learn, while increasing their likelihood of staying in school and becoming higher wage earners in the future. Having access to quality child care often has a life changing result fodamilies enabling Collier County parents to secure and maintain employment, while assisting them in having a better quality of life while becoming more self-reliant. One hundred percent of Collier County funds would be utilized to provideQualifving,low-income families with access to age and curriculum appropriate earlv learning child care programs. The Early Learning Program is the only program of its kind in Collier County that provides State and Federal child care subSidy dollars for working, low-income families in all population groups throughout all geographic areas of Collier County, including identified pockets of poverty in East Naples, North Naples, Golden Gate and Immokalee. .. For Collier County parents to participate successfully in the workforce, they must have care for their children while they work. While Collier County is considered a largely affluent community, thousands of its families live a world apart, living paycheck to paycheck and trying to provide for their families on low wages in an area where rates for housing, food and other basic necessitie's are among the highest in the state of Florida. Census 2000 data indicates that 57% of Collier County households with children underage 6 have both parents in the workforce, making child care a critical workforce issue. The same census date confirms that over 1,813 families with children under 5 in Collier County live below the FPL with over 2,900 children identified as poor and disadvantaged. While Florida's minimumwage increased to $6.79 effective January 1, 2008 this amounts to an annual gross income of just $14,123. With the annual cost of child care for a preschooler in Collier. County averaging $5,000 in 2007, child care costs absorb nearly one third of the wages for a family living on a single minimum wage income. For Collier County families with both an infant and a preschooler, the average costs of full-time care in a child care center averages more than $13,000 - nearly half of pre-tax income of a family with minimum wage earners. A single family existing on one minimum wage salary would find the cost of child care consuming nearly all of the family's income. For many working poor parents, the cost of child care is far out of reach, a situation that negatively affects their jobs and the well-being of their families. Absenteeism and turnover also costs businesses. When employees have to miss work to deal with child care concerns service and profitability suffer. . Research underscores the importance and the benefit of providing early educational support to low-income children. A 2006 report by the population Reference Bureau and Annie E. Casey Foundation found a disproportionate concentration of children with negative outcomes in families with annual incomes under $35,000. Children denied stable, quality care are at greater risk of dropping out of school, becoming involved in crime, having poor health and earning limited wages. Research also continues to reveal that children in lower-income families are at risk of educational dep- rivation. Many enter school behind their peers and they seldom catch up. Studies show that a kindergartner's knowledge of the alphabet is an effective predictor of the child's reading ability in the ninth grade. While children who live in poverty are at greater risk of school failure than their peers, the disadvantaged children's gains often will exceed those oftl1eir counterparts when they experience early learning opportunities in a supportive environment, according the Carnegie Institute. A longitudi- nal study for the Chicago Parent Center found low-income children participating in an early preschool program had higher lev- els of academic achievement, were less likely to be held back a grade or to require special education. When at risk children gain access to programs that help them enter school with a foundation of readiness skills, they are poised for success in school and in life. A cost-benefit analysis by the National Child Care Association found that for each $1 saent on auaiitv eariy child care. society ultimately aoins $9 saved on welfare. soecial education. criminal iustice casts and in- come received throuah taxes paid throuah aainful emo/oyment. The Early Learning Program provides child care financial assistance as well as related early care and learning services that enable working poor families to accept and retain stable employment. While parents work, children receive care in safe, nurturing educational environments that help build the skills that are critical to a child's success in school, and in life. The program values the parent's important role as the child's first and primary teacher and recognizes that the relationship between the child and the caregiver is an essential building block in the child's early childhood experiences. The program works in conjunction with local child care providers to deliver a curriculum designed to support early language, writing and reading development. Working actively with funded providers, 4C helps ensure that the environment of our funded child care centers promotes early learning/early literacy skills in children by providing appropriate settings for play and learning, for gross motor skills development, language and reasoning development, art, storytelling, and other fundamental learning ex- periences. With the requested funding from Collier County Board of County Commissioners, 4C and the Early Learning Coalition of Southwest Florida can help ensure that children and families can continue to be served, giving a hand up. The Early Learning Program promotes the development of strong families, fosters the healthy development of children, and contributes to building a stable, reliable workforce. Agenda Item No. 6E . Total Child Care Spending Budget Total BG-8 Child Care Slot Expenditures State BG-8 Draw Down Available for Collier County Local Mandated Match for Collier County: Funds Raised Collier County BOCC Match Amount Request $3,562,377.00 $2,882,866.00 $2,729,936.00 $ 161,156.00 * Note 1 $ 12,000.00 $ 149,156.00 Number of BG-8 (working poor) children to be served in Collier County: 800 * Note 2 Number of BG-8 eligible Child Care Providers in comer County: 105 *Note 1: The $161,156 match requirement for Collier County represents a State of Florida mandated proviso that 6% of total program costs to serve Collier County children designated in the BG-8, working poor category be raised locally in order to drawn down the full funding allocation from the State of Florida for Collier County. BG-8 funds for the program are capped at the State level at $2,729,936 million for Collier County at this time which is why we are asking for only $149, 156 to meet the match requirement. Any monies raised above and beyond the $162,000 match re- quirement would be used to assist children on the waiting list for service, however, those additional dollars are not matched by the State at the $15.67 on the dollar rate. There are other match programs available that The Early Learning Coalition of South- west Florida and 4C can discuss with the Collier County Board of County Commissioners to further expand any contributions the County might be willing to make above and beyond the $150,000, or we can approach the State of Florida to arrange to ha~ any additional dollars exceeding the match requirement "rolled over" to the ensuing fiscal year to assist BG-8 children. . Note 2: The 800 children refers specifically to BG-8 (working poor) children for which the match requirement is assigned. The Early Learning Program serves 1,852 total children (including children in DCF transitional situations, families utilizing Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TAN F), and other school readiness categories.) .