500 kids in Mecklenburg County may lose day-care subsidies

[Thom Little]

Roughly 500 children from low-income families could lose their day-care subsidies in Mecklenburg County early next year due to budget shortfalls.

County staff members are scrambling to decide which children would be cut if the state or county can't pay for a reprieve.

Janet Singerman, president of Child Care Resources, the private agency that contracts with the county to run the program, said affected parents will likely have to find less expensive child care that could also prove lower quality and less reliable. The loss could also force some parents to leave their jobs if they can't afford other care.

The program, with an average subsidy of $436 a month, serves more than 7,700 kids in Mecklenburg. About the same number are on a waiting list.

"The demand for child care is enormous," said Jake Jacobsen, Mecklenburg's social services director.


http://www.charlotte.com/mld/charlotte/13487867.htm

[NC_Nurse]

1. Leave it to our state

to be a Repub, bible-thumpin' wunderland and not want to support good care for the children.

Even in Charlotte, the "big city" of NC where all the biggest banks have their HQ's.

Disgusting.