Your child care state assistance may be cut
WAPATO -- Mayra Chavez works full time during the week and goes to college on the weekend. She's studying to become a nurse to provide a better future for her daughter.
Chavez says she wouldn't be able to do this without help from Working Connections Child Care Program. It assists low income families with the cost of child care. However, it's the target of the budget ax -- amounting to 50-million in cuts. Thousands of families would be affected.
"If the assistance was taken off I would pretty much be just working and not able to get a better education for my daughter and for myself," Chavez said.
More than half of the clients at the Wapato Early Learning Center use state money to help pay for child care. Flora Viveros works with those families.
"If that state funding is cut then that means a lot of parents will be struggling to try to either further their education or become something, or get a career," Viveros said.
The Washington State Head Start Association tells KIMA the child care funding is very important for working class families because it keeps the parents involved in the work force so they can make a living for themselves and their children. Most don't have to turn to other state programs such as welfare or food stamps, which they say is a far more expensive burden on the state.
Mayra says without assistance, she might have to turn to an un-licensed childcare provider.
"Imagine if a kid was choking on something but she's not licensed to do CPR on her, on them, and she didn't know what to do," Chavez said.
The budget will be finalized in the next few weeks. Only then, will this uncertainty be made clear.
Chavez says she wouldn't be able to do this without help from Working Connections Child Care Program. It assists low income families with the cost of child care. However, it's the target of the budget ax -- amounting to 50-million in cuts. Thousands of families would be affected.
"If the assistance was taken off I would pretty much be just working and not able to get a better education for my daughter and for myself," Chavez said.
More than half of the clients at the Wapato Early Learning Center use state money to help pay for child care. Flora Viveros works with those families.
"If that state funding is cut then that means a lot of parents will be struggling to try to either further their education or become something, or get a career," Viveros said.
The Washington State Head Start Association tells KIMA the child care funding is very important for working class families because it keeps the parents involved in the work force so they can make a living for themselves and their children. Most don't have to turn to other state programs such as welfare or food stamps, which they say is a far more expensive burden on the state.
Mayra says without assistance, she might have to turn to an un-licensed childcare provider.
"Imagine if a kid was choking on something but she's not licensed to do CPR on her, on them, and she didn't know what to do," Chavez said.
The budget will be finalized in the next few weeks. Only then, will this uncertainty be made clear.
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