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Q&A
Council Member Restler questions ACS Commissioner on child care voucher funding and recertification
0:56:00
·
9 min
Council Member Lincoln Restler engages in a detailed discussion with ACS Commissioner Jess Dannhauser about child care voucher funding and recertification plans. They explore the implications of recent state budget decisions, the city's commitment to maintaining vouchers for eligible families, and the potential challenges in meeting future demand.
- Restler seeks clarification on the funding required in the city's adopted budget to ensure continued recertification of child care vouchers.
- The conversation touches on the complexities of federal and state funding streams, including a one-time $350 million match from the state.
- Dannhauser expresses cautious optimism about the ability to recertify most eligible families but notes uncertainties in future funding and demand.
Lincoln Restler
0:56:00
You keep surprising me, but I'm happy to have the opportunity to ask questions.
0:56:04
Commissioner, good to see you.
0:56:06
I wanna thank chair Brannan and chair Stevens.
0:56:11
Chair Stevens for her, like, exceptionally strong and outspoken advocacy for childcare vouchers, and chair Brannan has made childcare funding one of his top priorities as chair of our finance committee, which has been to the great benefit of families across the city.
0:56:25
Commissioner, I I do agree with you and the and chair Brannan that ACS has, you know, done a great job in enrolling more families and childcare vouchers under your leadership and during your tenure.
0:56:40
I also think that city hall has been totally MIA on this issue and we all could see the emerging crisis of the lack of childcare funding in the state budget, and we heard no public advocacy from the mayor and his team throughout the entire budget process.
0:57:00
When you came before chair Stevens committee on March 20 for our preliminary budget hearing, there was zero traction or progress whatsoever toward funding appearing in the state budget.
0:57:10
And as a result of advocacy from this body and providers across the city and our great colleagues in the state legislature and leadership in the governor's office, we have now have access to funding to maintain child care vouchers for the 60 plus thousand kids who are enrolled.
0:57:25
I credit your team for coming up with a plan that meets the federal requirements and the state for approving it.
0:57:33
I'm really focused on what funding we need in the city budget when it's adopted to ensure that we can maintain recertifications for all kids who currently have childcare vouchers.
0:57:48
So is the 53,000,000 that's been the maintenance of effort for the past, is that currently in the in ACS's budget?
Jess Dannhauser
0:57:54
Yes.
Lincoln Restler
0:57:56
Now, obviously, the state budget was adopted post the city's executive budget.
0:58:04
Does that mean that we should fully anticipate that the $328,000,000, is that the right number on the new maintenance of effort figure, that will be included in the city's adopted budget in June?
Jess Dannhauser
0:58:16
That is the the conversations we've had with OMB.
0:58:19
That is our expectation.
Lincoln Restler
0:58:20
Great.
0:58:21
And for us to reach the full match of accessing the full state funding that's available to us and and enrolling you know, leveraging this $350 in in state funding, that would mean that $403,000,000 really should be in the city budget come adoption in June.
0:58:35
Is that right?
Jess Dannhauser
0:58:36
No.
0:58:37
So the match is available.
0:58:40
It's a one match, $350,000,000.
0:58:43
It is available both for federal fiscal year '25, which we're in Right.
0:58:48
And federal fiscal year '26.
0:58:51
So Some of
Lincoln Restler
0:58:52
the funding you're spending down this current fiscal year will this the current federal fiscal year will count toward it.
Jess Dannhauser
0:58:57
It could.
0:58:57
The OMB is is making doing an analysis and making a judgment about whether or not it is more advantageous to the city budget to take it now or later and the best way to add those
Lincoln Restler
0:59:09
But still, we're talking six weeks before the end of the fiscal year for our purposes.
0:59:13
Right?
Jess Dannhauser
0:59:14
It's federal.
Lincoln Restler
0:59:14
Understood.
0:59:15
It's the federal fiscal year, but the question of what needs to be in the adopted budget and what we're spending down now for the current year versus what we need in the adopted budget for next year, it shouldn't be far off the $4.00 $3,000,000 that are needed to ensure that we're able to recertify each and every, you know, 97% of the kids as you testified to today.
Jess Dannhauser
0:59:33
Yeah.
0:59:33
I don't expect that it's going to take us a long time to figure out what that
Lincoln Restler
0:59:39
But it should be a number close to 400,000,000 and it should fully appear.
Jess Dannhauser
0:59:41
Across the two years, yeah.
Lincoln Restler
0:59:43
And it should across the two federal fiscal years, but it should appear in this budget, in the adopted budget.
Jess Dannhauser
0:59:49
It could come into city fiscal year '25 to some extent, it could come into Citi fiscal year '26.
0:59:57
The key is that we have sufficient every dollar over the $53,000,000 maintenance of effort is eligible for the match.
1:00:08
And so I think it's just some analysis of what is best for the city to make sure we can obviously close this year well and be positioned next year to implement the plan that we're talking about around recertification.
Justin L. Brannan
1:00:24
So
Lincoln Restler
1:00:26
we're just now beginning the federal work requirements again for public assistance recipients.
1:00:30
HRA has begun implementing that policy.
1:00:34
They're ramping up.
1:00:36
If the modeling that you all in HRA have done for the anticipated take up for the mandated vouchers comes to fruition, about 40,000 additional kids is what has been predicted, Are you confident that we could that we have the resources in place to recertify and provide a voucher to every single kid who meets the criteria that you've laid out and that has been approved by the state for the upcoming fiscal year?
Jess Dannhauser
1:01:06
I think that is to be determined.
1:01:08
Think mayor
Ira Yankwitt
1:01:10
the mayor
Jess Dannhauser
1:01:10
really deserves a lot of credit for putting allowing us to continue with this plan and go as far as we can with recertifications, even, you know, continue to pay attention to whether we can have any opportunities on the wait list.
1:01:23
The But separate apart
Lincoln Restler
1:01:24
from the wait list, just asking on the recertification piece.
1:01:27
As we go out If the federal if the public assistance recipients, the mandated vouchers come in at the estimates that you've all made.
1:01:34
Obviously, if it's way above, then that changes the game.
1:01:36
Or if it's way below, it changes the wait list game.
1:01:38
But if it comes in at approximately those estimates, that seems like the biggest unknown variable.
1:01:43
What do you have are you confident, you and your team, that you have resources to recertify every eligible family that has met the criteria that's recently been approved by the state?
Jess Dannhauser
1:01:52
And I would say for the foreseeable future, we're gonna have to look we have not gotten our allocation from the state yet.
1:01:58
We know it's flat funding statewide, but we don't know what it looks like for the city yet.
1:02:04
We
Althea Stevens
1:02:05
have
Jess Dannhauser
1:02:05
to see if, you know, if all of these projections come to fruition.
Lincoln Restler
1:02:09
The state funding is comparable to last year?
1:02:12
It is comparable statewide.
1:02:14
I mean, if it's comparable we've spent Separate apart from the 350,000,000 match, if the existing funding that we've been getting from the state is comparable to previous the previous year.
1:02:22
I'm just trying to understand.
1:02:23
It doesn't it sounds like we should be able to recertify every single child that meets the eligibility criteria, which is 95 plus percent, 97% of kids.
Jess Dannhauser
1:02:32
As we get out deeper into federal fiscal year '26, right, we're talking a year plus from now, this 350,000,000 is a one time match.
Lincoln Restler
1:02:44
We have a lot of federal unknowns right now that we're all reckoned with.
Jess Dannhauser
1:02:47
And What I can promise you is, like, we are going to be assessing that constantly.
1:02:51
The policy of the administration is
Lincoln Restler
1:02:53
to certify I hear you.
1:02:54
But I don't
Jess Dannhauser
1:02:55
wanna give you a level of confidence when we don't have an allocation.
Lincoln Restler
1:02:57
No.
1:02:58
That's fair.
1:02:58
I just look.
1:02:59
We're as of March 20, we were OMB was planning to start kicking kids off their childcare vouchers in the upcoming weeks, and we've now been able to secure additional funding and have a plan in place for every kid who to be able to get their childcare voucher renewed for another year.
1:03:14
That's a huge victory and it's a credit to your team that you've enrolled so many kids efficiently and effectively that we're in a position to be able to do this.
1:03:21
We barring, you know, dramatic changes, we want to be in a position we want to be confident we we are confident that the resources are there to recertify every single kid for another twelve months for their vouchers.
1:03:33
And we want to understand that the city is similarly committed to that goal.
1:03:36
Our analysis shows that we have the resources to be able to do it, that we can keep every kid who has a childcare voucher enrolled in their voucher for another year.
1:03:44
It sounds like you also think we have the resources to be able to do that barring dramatic unforeseen
Jess Dannhauser
1:03:50
This is absolutely the administration's goal and I do want to note that the another reason we are here where we have a plan where we're gonna be able to recertify the vast majority of families is because in January the mayor and the budget director said you can continue to enroll, you can continue to recertify as we advocate around a state budget.
1:04:14
They took risk at the city level, added city tax levy dollars to make sure that they could happen.
1:04:20
So I do take issue with the idea that this was not something that the administration was deeply supportive of.
1:04:26
The way in which that was done, you might take issue with, but they put real resources on the table to make sure we could get to this point.
Christopher Lewis
1:04:33
Understanding is that the state
Lincoln Restler
1:04:34
directed the directed the city to do that, but under any circumstances, I'm happy that we're that it that we've continued that we continue to recertify and enroll kids through the state fiscal year, and that we are now in a position to have the resources to ensure every kid essentially every kid who has a voucher today should be able to have it for at least twelve more months while we navigate future state and federal funding dynamics.
Jess Dannhauser
1:04:54
And families should know anyone who gets a recertification is eligible for the entire year.
1:04:59
This is not something where you get recertified and then six months later you have to get recertified.
1:05:05
So families should be assured if they get word from ACS that their voucher has been recertified, they have that for the entire year.
Lincoln Restler
1:05:12
I've talked too much, I apologize to the chairs.
1:05:15
The last question is just should we develop some sort of more frequent reporting structure for you all to share information with the council so that we understand how enrollment is proceeding, how take up is going, how spending is going to be able to course correct as needed through the fiscal year?
Jess Dannhauser
1:05:36
We are very open to to that conversation.
1:05:39
And as you know, we've been working hard to keep the council up to date constantly.
1:05:42
And so you let us know what's needed and we'll work to make it happen.
Lincoln Restler
1:05:46
I appreciate the answers today, commissioner.
1:05:47
I appreciate the work of you and your team.
Jess Dannhauser
1:05:48
Thanks, councilmember.