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Q&A
Funding needs and budgeting for child care vouchers
0:33:22
·
157 sec
Council Member Althea Stevens inquires about the additional funding needed for child care vouchers in fiscal years 2025 and 2026. Commissioner Jess Dannhauser provides details on current funding allocations and the ongoing assessment of future needs.
- For fiscal year 2025, $739 million has been added to the child care budget, including city, state, and federal funding.
- The exact funding needs for fiscal year 2026 are still being assessed, pending state budget appropriations.
- ACS gets reimbursed by the state as they submit claims for enrolled children, making it a dynamic spending plan.
- Dannhauser assures that resources will be available to continue recertifying families for the foreseeable future.
Althea Stevens
0:33:22
Childcare vouchers similar to city feps housing vouchers, cash assistance benefits, and shelter costs are not fully funded at the adoption, instead the city adds additional funding needs for entitlement programs as the fiscal year progress progresses.
0:33:38
How much additional funding is needed in fiscal twenty twenty five and fiscal twenty twenty six to eliminate the need for child care vouchers waiting list so that all families on the wait list could be provided a voucher?
Jess Dannhauser
0:33:50
So this is still something that we're assessing, but I can for fiscal year twenty five, '7 '30 '9 million has been added into the child care budget.
0:34:02
That's about 70,000,000 in CTL, 57,000,000 in state dollars which is for families who qualify for child welfare involvement, and $613,000,000 in federal funding.
0:34:16
And so right now since we get the appropriation from the state budget, state fiscal year '20 '6 will be for federal fiscal year '26.
0:34:26
So once we get that we'll be clear on what should be added.
0:34:31
OMB is also looking at now that this introduction of this match, what should be what dollar should we take for a city fiscal year twenty five since it covers across the federal fiscal years, and what should we put forward for fiscal year twenty six, so that analysis is happening right now.
Gale A. Brewer
0:34:52
If the fully, if the
Althea Stevens
0:34:53
full need for fiscal twenty twenty six was not adopted, was not budgeted by adoption, would ACS be able to resume enrolling new clients and processing renewals for childcare?
0:35:03
If it was assumed the entire entire amount needed would be allocated in November in preliminary plans, is this typically done for entitlement programs?
0:35:14
If not, why not?
Jess Dannhauser
0:35:16
So in this instance we get reimbursed by the state as we submit claims for enrolled children.
0:35:25
And and part of it is sort of looking at what those claims are, drawing down the federal dollar through the state and adding it into the budget.
0:35:35
It is such a dynamic spending plan that I think it's important for us to be in constant conversation with OMB and adding those dollars as we go.
0:35:45
But again, the plan for this year has been approved that we are going to continue to recertify families, and so we're confident that the resources, at least for the foreseeable future, will be there to be able to do that.