County Supervisors have renewed a multi-million dollar contract with a local non-profit to run a child care program aimed at reducing poverty and getting people off welfare.
According to a report from the County Social Services Department, the item was to renew a $2.31 million annual contract with Community Action Partnership of San Luis Obispo or CAPSLO, to provide child care to those in the Federal Temporary Assistance for Needy Families or TANF program, which began in 1997.
The Federal law left it to states to develop their own specific programs under TANF and California’s is called CalWORKS.
“California’s TANF program, California Work Opportunity and Responsibility to Kids [CalWORKS],” reads the report, “includes detailed requirements and funding for supportive services to help families move into and succeed in the workforce. Specifically, child care services must be provided to CalWORKS participants who are required to participate in the Welfare-to-Work (WTW) program.”
Participation is not mandatory but if a County decides not to take part, it must have a good reason. “If supportive services [i.e. child care] are not provided counties must give ‘good cause’ for non participation in the WTW Program,” the report said. “Child care is necessary for most of our participants to support participation in assigned activities including work, training, education, drug and alcohol treatment, and/or mental health services.”
There are three basic types of people affected by this — TANF/CalWORKS families (called Stage 1); families transitioning off TANF/CalWORKS (Stage 1 and 2); and, other low-income working families (Stage 3).
Five years ago the State changed the rules to expand the access to this child care. “Senate Bill 80 [SB 80] in 2019 increased access to child care services for CalWORKS families by requiring full time authorization to CalWORKS Stage One Child Care immediately upon CalWORKS cash aid approval and continuously for 12 months or until the participants are transferred to Stage Two.” Under the law, full time child care is defined as 25-hours a week.
As with many well-meaning government programs, expanding it has made costs soar. “This Immediate and Continuous Child Care,” the report said, “was implemented as part of a two generational approach to disrupt the cycle of poverty by simultaneously focusing on the needs of parents and children. This has led to an increased need for provider services and costs.”
Responsibility for the CalWORKS program is split between the State Department of Social Services and the California Department of Education with the intent to be making sure that child care services are not lost as a family’s economic situation improves. Families can choose their own child care provider, too.
CAPSLO, which started in the 1960s as the Economic Opportunity Commission, has contracted with the County for this child care program since 1998.
“CAPSLO is approved by CDSS,” the report said, “to handle State child care funds and generally serves an estimated 400 county children per year.”
CAPSLO has a representative stationed at each satellite County Social Services Department, armed with a list of approved child care providers, which the CalWORKS participants can choose from. Payments are made directly to the child care provider, via CAPSLO. See: www.capslo.org for information on this and the organization’s many other programs.
